VOLUME 1 on “Physical Methods of Organic Chemistry” which Interscience Publishers of New York have issued in a new series on “Techniques of Organic Chemistry” is one of the many recent American scientific books which will, on grounds of cost, probably be consulted in reference libraries by most English readers and not purchased for personal use. It has to a surprising extent copied in style both the merits and the defects of German technical handbooks. The printing and illustrating are excellent, and references have been included with Teutonic frequency ; but most contributors have treated their subjects very narrowly, by referring almost exclusively to recent American work, and describing specialized instruments of particular American firms or university laboratories. Physical Methods of Organic Chemistry Edited by Arnold Weissberger. Vol. 1. Pp. vii + 736. (New York: Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1945.) 8.50 dollars.