Phase transformations in solids: edited by R. Smoluchowski, J. E. Mayer and W. A. Weyl. 660 pages, illustrations, diagrams, 14 × 22 cm. New York, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1951.Price, $9.50

✍ Scribed by A.D. Franklin

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1952
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 152 KB
• Volume: 253
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-0032
• DOI: 10.1016/0016-0032(52)90443-2

✦ Synopsis

This book is a general survey of certain selected topics in the field of surface chemistry. These topics include: adsorption from the vapor or liquid phase on solids; determination of particle size and shape, and their influence on the bulk properties of powders and friction of metals; wetting and adhesion as influenced by adsorption; and catalysis, especially that part associated with chemisorption. The emphasis in this book is largely on adsorption and its effects, so that large areas of the field of surface chemistry are neglected, such as colloid phenomena, electrode effects, the kinetics of evaporation, etc. Actually the author points this out himself in the preface, and claims only an attempt to give a few of the topics in the field.

The author is essentially interested in describing quantitatively the phenomena that arise from adsorption. There is no intent to give a description of the fundamental physics of the processes taking place, nor yet of the detailed chemistry involved. It does have a very great virtue, however, in that it presents a picture of some very diverse fields based on the same fundamental process, that of adsorption, and succeeds in unifying these fields. The references given are not very voluminous, but they contain most of the basic references and texts in the fields covered. It must be mentioned, however, that even the fields selected by the author are not in every case thoroughly covered. For example, the discussion of interfacial tensions and the spreading of liquids over solids is quite sketchy and neglects large areas of work in this field, notably that of Bartell. This book will be of most value to the newcomer in surface chemistry, as a review of the fields mentioned above, giving him a good picture of the phenomena involved before he goes on to more detailed texts.

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