for the first time since 1945 a sharp Inorganic Preparations ings and diagrams and contains a large

reaction against militarism, is it inevita- number of useful tables. A feature I

ble that public support of universities The Synthesis and Characterization of In- found particularly attractive is the large
should also be declining? organic Compounds. WILLIAM L. JOLLY. number of problem sets contained in
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., the various sections.
Hilbert possessed a robust common 1970. xiv, 594 pp., illus. $15.95. Prentice-
sense which allowed him to see the folly Hall International Series in Chemistry. I think that the author has lived up
of wars of national aggrandizement and to the objectives he stated in the preface
still remain a patriotic German. Politi- To those who are familiar with the and the book will be "a useful refer-
cally, his finest hour came in Octoberauthor's contributions to synthetic in- ence guide for all experimental chem-
1914. The German government then organic chemistry the excellence of this ists."
book will come 'as no surprise. There is
published a Declaration to the Cultural ALAN DAVISON
World in which the leaders of German no comparable book available in in- Department of Chemistry,
organic chemistry, and this one will
science and art and literature were in- Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
rapidly assume the position of a stand-
vited to proclaim their support for the Cambridge
German war machine. Among other ard text. The book is far more than a
revision of the author's previous mono-
dubious statements, the Declaration said:
graph on the subject, Synthetic Inor-
"It is not true that Germany violated the
neutrality of Belgium." At a time of ganic Chemistry (Prentice Hall, 1960), Semiconductor Technique
although the themes developed in that
intense nationalistic hysteria, to refuse
to sign the Declaration was in many work have been utilized more effective- Current Injection in Solids. MURRAY A.
ly in this volume. LAMPERT and PETER MARK. Academic
people's eyes an act of treason. Almost Press, New York, 1970. xiv, 354 pp., illus.
all the Germans of international repute, The book falls naturally into four $18. Electrical Science stries.
including Rbntgen and Planck, signed. sections. The first section, which as-
sumes a knowledge of thermodynamics
Of the leading scientists, only Einstein The literature on current injection in
and Hilbert refused. and kinetics, shows quite clearly the solids is very extensive, and it is there-
The catastrophe of 1933 found Hil-application of these subjects to syn- fore enormously beneficial to scientists
bert already retired and too old to thetic chemistry. The second is con- or engineers engaged in research in semi-
comprehend fully what was happening. cerned with the techniques available conductor physics to have available to
"The so-called Jews are so attached toand utilized in preparative chemistry. them a lucid and comprehensive book
This section quite naturally varies wide-
Germany," he said at that time, "but the on the subject. The conduction of elec-
ly in amount and level of presentation.
rest of us would like to leave." He did tricity in semiconductors or insulators
The author seems, wisely, to have
not leave, but stayed in Gottingen to the is frequently nonohmic, and it is not
chosen to survey some areas critically
bitter end, a relic of past glory. Of his always easy to separate out the various
and to concentrate on those subjects
vast circle of brilliant pupils and friends, effects that produce such behavior. One

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concerning which information is not
only Sommerfeld, a relic like himself, set of such effects results from carrier
remained to stand at his grave. so readily available, rather than to injection, usually from the contacts,
compete with other well-known texts.
The author says in the preface that leading to a disturbance of the carrier
The third section deals with structural
the book was "to a large extent written concentration in thermal equilibrium.
from memory." By this she means that charaeterization; here again the author Majority and minority carriers, to-
she has mined the memories of the undertakes a critical survey with nu- gether or separately, may be injected
many people still alive who have been merous well-chosen examples rather and can then give rise to unusual cur-
colleagues of Hilbert's or wives and than an exhaustive review of each tech- rent-voltage relations and field distribu-
children of colleagues. Looking at hernique. The last section is a truly repre- tions within the solid. An understand-
sentative set of inorganic preparations
list of sources, it is hard to think of any ing of the field is, however, desirable
chosen to illustrate not only the tech-
important witness that she has not suc- not merely for the purpose of unravel-
niques and principles outlined in the
cessfully contacted. In addition, she has ing nonohmic behavior phenomena. As
previous chapters but, more important-
researched all the surviving correspond- the authors point out repeatedly, car-
ence and public records that have any ly, the diversity of preparative inor- rier injection can be used as a tool to
ganic chemistry. In addition to ac-
bearing on Hilbert's life. As a work of study the solid itself. Examples abound
historical scholarship, this biographycounts of the preparations described in in the book, but just two of them will
Synthetic Inorganic Chemistry, all of
maintains a consistently high level of suffice to illustrate the point. From ex-
which have been rewritten and im-
critical accuracy. Hilbert is shown as he periments with single-carrier space-
was, warts and all. proved, in some cases substantially, charge-limited currents it is possible to
But the book is much more than a this section contains detailed descrip- gain information about trap densities
tions for the preparation of some 50
piece of conventional historical research. and energies. From single-carrier drift
compounds. Considerable emphasis is
Beyond this, it is a poem in praise of experiments it is possible to measure
mathematics. It brings to life throughalso placed on adequate characteriza- mobilities in solids (usually films)
the many-sided personality of Hilbert tion of the materials when obtained. I which do not lend themselves to steady-
was particularly struck by the organ-
the struggles and glories of mathemati- state, thermal-equilibrium determina-
ization of this section into types of
cal creation, giving birth to the purest tions of mobility.
and most durable works of art that theoperations and classes of compounds The book is admirably organized and
spirit of man has yet produced. rather than a random list of increasing- lucidly written. The theoretical treat-
FREEMAN DYSON ly difficult experiments. ment is always carefully broken down
Institute for Advanced Study, The text is exceptionally well refer- into approximate and analytical sec-
Princeton, New Jersey enced and well illustrated with draw- tions. Uniform treatments are also fre-
966 SCIENCE, VOL. 170
 Inorganic Preparations: The Synthesis and Characterization of Inorganic
Compounds. William L. Jolly. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1970. xiv,
594 pp., illus. $15.95. Prentice-Hall International Series in Chemistry.
Alan Davison

Science, 170 (3961), • DOI: 10.1126/science.170.3961.966.a

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