514 B o o k REVIEWS
in this relatively short period of time these
products have graduated from laboratory
curiosities to potentially some of the most
valuable tools available to industry and
science. Uses for the ion-exchangers embrace
many fields, b u t the author covers the most
important ones, namely: analytical chemistry
(frontal, elution, and displacement chroma-
tography, ionophoresis, amphoteric separa-
tions, redox reactions, etc.), ion-exclusion
(separation of ionic from non-ionic materials
by selective reactions), solubilization of in-
soluble inorganic salts, ion exchange mem-
branes for selective ion permeability, and
m a n y specialized therapeutic applications in
which advantage is taken of the specificity of
the resins (treatment of acidosis and hypo-
potassemia as examples).
The author, a true expert on ion-exchangers,
realized t h a t the knowledge and application
of these materials is mushrooming, and t h a t
the scientist who must use them cannot
possibly keep up with the flood of literature
on new types and uses of, and theories on,
ion-exchangers. He has therefore prepared
this little book in which he critically reviews
all of the latest advances in both the science
and technology, and then provides a compre-
hensive bibliography for the worker who needs
more detailed information on specific subjects.
This very extensive bibliography is divided
into two parts. The first section, arranged
according to subject, covers applications and
the second part, arranged according to author,
lists publications on theoretical aspects.
This book represents a rather refreshing
departure from the usual a t t e m p t to compre-
hensively cover a branch of science in a single
text. I t is a t once both a resume of the
author's expert opinion of the field as a whole
and a ready source of reference of the most
current information on the subject. Scien-
tists concerned with either the development
or the application of ion-exchangers should
most certainly add this valuable work to their
book shelf. D . H . RtlSSELL
PULSE AND DIGITAL CIRCUITS, by Jacob
Milhnan and Herbert Taub. 687 pages,
diagrams, 6 X 9 in. New York, McGraw-
Hill Book Co., Inc., 1956. Price, $12.50.
Historically we m a y place Millman's and
Taub's new book among those fostered by an
era of computer, television, and radar develop-
[J. F. I.
ment. The important thread of pulse circuit
technology from all three of these distinct
fields has been incorporated in this work.
In general one can say too t h a t the scientific
personnel working in one of these fields are
rather singly devoted to their specialties and
seldom double for instance as television and
computer engineer. Specialized company in-
terests as well as the enormous complexity of
these highly developed fields are factors
responsible in forcing the engineer to make a
choice of only one.
In view of this tendency it is evident t h a t
the subjects covered in the book cut signifi-
cantly across a very large segment of con-
temporary electrical engineering activity.
When used as a text for the instruction of
students in any of these electronics and com-
munications subjects, this book will con-
tribute to their understanding of pulse circuits
regardless of later specialization.
The method of presenting subjects has been
to give circuits for doing various jobs and
accompany them with a word description of
their operation. In some cases a mathemati-
cal analysis of the effect of important parame-
ters is included. Most of the book deals
with vacuum tube circuits, but a final chapter
takes up transistors and their use in accom-
plishing some of the pulse forming and count-
ing operations.
As one reads, there exists an impression of
the authors' brevity in passing from one type
of circuit to another. In consequence of such
abridgement it would be essential to accom-
pany the teaching of these subjects with some
experimental experience. By thus illustrat-
ing in the laboratory the devices t h a t are being
discussed, practical visualization of useful
circuits would be more surely achieved.
Following a thorough grounding in basic
electron tube a n d circuit theory through
prerequisite studies, this volume should pro-
vide excellent preparation for professional
circuit applications practice.
C. W. HARGENS
NUMERICAL ANALYSIS, VOL. VI, edited by
J o h n H. Curtiss. 303 pages, graphs,
91 × 61 in. New York, McGraw-Hill
Book Co., Inc., 1956. Price, $9.75.
Included in this volume are all b u t two of
the papers presented a t the Sixth Symposium
in Applied Mathematics of the American