j. Soc. Cosmet. Chem., 37, 501-503 (November/December 1986) Book Reviews THE MANUFACTURE OF SOAPS, OTHER DETERGENTS AND GLYC- ERINE, by Edgar Woollat. Ellis Hor- wood Limited, Publisher, Division of John Wiley & Sons, 1985. Here, indeed, is a book that will find avid readers in practically every country in the world. It is a rare country that is not producing its own soap requirements, and many have sulfonation and spray-drying facilities for production of light-duty and heavy-duty detergents. Engineers, chem- ists, and technicians involved with the manufacture of soap and detergents will welcome this book which gives a good, general overview of the manufacturing processes involved--past and present. It has been a long time since anyone ha• made a serious attempt to cover these sub- jects. Undoubtedly, the best book on soap technology and manufacture by saponifi- cation is that by Davidsohn, Better and Davidsohn entitled "Soap Manufacture" published in the USA in 1953. These au- thors detailed thoroughly the theoretical principles that must be understood as a foundation for studying the practical soap processes, and their scientific treatment of the batch saponification manufacturing process still remains unequaled. The present book by Mr. Woollat is less concerned with the science and tech- nology of soap and detergent manufacture but does cover in a cursory manner those physical principles involved in the various steps of the manufacturing processes de- scribed. The author's expressed purpose is to present the manufacturing processes and equipment requirements for the pro- duction of soaps and detergents as well as for the recovery of glycerine. The soap- manufacturing processes are covered fairly thoroughly as are the glycerine recovery processes, but the sulfonation and spray drying processes for detergent manufac- ture are covered superficially and with little technical detail. For example, sul- fonation-sulfation is covered in 29 pages and manufacturing of detergent powders includes 32 pages, a total of 61 pages, while recovery and refining of glycerine alone encompasses 59 pages. There is much covered in this book. The reader is led into the subject matter by sections covering the terminology used in these fields, followed by a list of the chemicals used in making the many soap and detergent products. Peripheral items such as analytical methods, government regulations, water quality, and biodegrad- ability are also discussed. Included is a section on detergency and the factors that affect cleaning, including the array of sur- factants, hydrotropes, sequestrants, other key ingredients, and the manner in which they contribute to the cleaning process. In presenting the manufacture of soaps by saponification, the oils and fats used are discussed as to their composition, pre- treatment and handling. The classical batch saponification, glycerine extraction, and fitting process is presented in detail along with the standard phase diagrams and basic material balance calculations. The recent developments in continuous saponification soap-making processes are presented with description and flow sheets from the manufacturers of such plants. Soap manufacture from fatty acids is mainly a presentation of the processes and plants offered by several suppliers which 501