BOOK REVIEWS DICTIONARY OF COMMERCIAL CHEM- ICALS, by Foster Dee Snell and Cor- nelia T. Snell. D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., Princeton, N.J. 1962. 795 pages, indexed. Price $12.50. The text is classified by type of compound, such as acid, alkali, etc. Each commercial substance in the group is then considered with the formula, general description, method of commercial manufacture, impurities and commercial grades. Only items of general industrial use are discussed. Thus we find that the term sodium molybdate covers a series of compounds. While two forms of aluminum chloride are mentioned, the rather widely used aluminum chlorohy- droxide is not included in the review. Beeswax is mentioned as being avail- able in slabs and bricks although discs are common in trade circles as are flakes. Witch hazel leaves are said to be astringent, a doubtful property. A desirable quality of this book is its wide and all encompassing scope. By the same reasoning, it is weak in its description of many substances. The arrangement of the entries appears to be well or- ganized, yet it is a bit problematical to locate a given substance except by referring to the index which is very well done. This is a good general dictionary, particularly in its description of articles of commerce within the scope of the text.--M. G. DEN. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF CHEMICAL TECH- NOLOOY, Second Supplement Vol- ume, edited by Raymond E. Kirk and Donald F. Othmer. Inter- science Publishers, Inc., New York 1, N.Y. 970 pages, illustrated and indexed. Price $25. The entries starting with acet- ylene and ending with unsaturated polyester resins, add information on older subjects and introduce a number of new subjects. A few subjects close to the heart of the cosmetic chemist not found in earlier volumes: nonionic surfac- rants, oxo process, PVP, polyethyl- ene oxides, sugar derivatives and U. ¾. absorbers. The entries discuss each subject quite well, documenting the same with enough references to support text statements. The style is sim- ilar to that used in earlier volumes. The section on polyethylene oxides could have stressed the Carbowaxes a bit more. You will want to add this to your previous set of sixteen volumes to keep them up to date.--M. G. DEN. THE CONDENSED CHEMICAL DIe- TIONARY, by Arthur and Elizabeth Rose, 6th Edition. Reinhold Pub- lishing Corp., New York 22, N.Y. 1961. 1257 pages. Price $17.50. One has seen this useful reference grow steadily over the years. This sixth edition is justified by the excellence of earlier ones and by the need to keep up with all the new things coming under the head- ing of "chemicals." Among the new entries are the polymers, ferrocenes, metal organics and plasticizers. There are thou- sands of new substances mentioned 483

484 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS in only about 60 more pages, but the page size has been increased by nearly an inch each way. Some of the older subject matter has been completely revised where necessary. Chemical substances are first given by name alphabetically, then the chemical formula, properties and uses. Specialties, in addition, carry the source of supply. No library can go without this valuable dictionary. It will save you a lot of searching elsewhere.-- M. G. DEN. WATER-SoLuBLE RESINS, by R. L. Davidson and M. Sitrig. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New York 22, N.Y. 1962. 209 pages, indexed and illustrated. Price $7.50. Eleven authorities write a total of nine chapters on a "semi- technical survey of natural and synthetic water-soluble polymers," according to the book jacket. On the face of it, here is an op- portunity for writing a very useful book. But the results are disap- pointing. The authors too often describe their own company prod- uct to the exclusion of others. One can get a great deal of this informa- tion from the suppliers' booklets and save the cost of a book. If the book title is not a misnomer, then some of the contents are. Since when are the cellulose ethers resins? If it is a misnomer, why weren't the Carbowaxes included with Polyox polymers? One comes to expect "good" books from the present publisher, but the reviewer feels that someone was sleeping on the job when this manuscript was passed on for pub- lication.--M. G. DEN. CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION, by J. w. Haefele. Reinhold Publish- mg Corp., New York, N. Y. 1962. 306 pages, indexed. Price $7.95. John Haefele has essayed a dif- ficult task: as a chemist, to give advice in the field of human be- havior. From the viewpoint of a psychologist, he has done quite well. Obviously himself a crea- tive individual, Dr. Haefele has written a manual on creativity, the climate which fosters creativity, and methods of improving one's own creative ability. Although he indicates his suggestions are useful in all fields of human endeavor, they are actually not universal and are, in truth, most applicable to scientific pursuits. The level at which the book is written is somewhat uneven. Some portions are well written, carefully organized, and informative. At times, however, the author seems to under-estimate the intelligence and experience of his readers. In addition, references and evidence for some of his conclusions are tenuous at times. Occasionally, Dr. Haefele uses psychological terms in explaining his ideas, terms which he uses and defines in ways that are somewhat strange to psychologists. Examples are "insight, .... motivation," and "personality integration." For example, Dr. James Lawrence, a psychologist, who wrote the chapter on "The Creative Personality," states that the truly creative in- dividual is mentally healthy. On the other hand, Dr. Haefele lists among aids to creativity poor personality integration, an er- roneous idea, since to psychologists this term means an immature or mentally ill individual. Considering the plainness of the format and the quality of the p.aper, the book seems to be over-priced. Furthermore, the proofreading of the bibliography is the poorest this reviewer has ever seen with regard to rules of style and also the spelling, especially of the names.