Mechanical Behavior of High Polymers

THE unusually wiae range of subjects covered by this work,the sixth volume in this series of monographs on high polymers, makes it difficult to give an adequate idea of its contents and method of approach in a short review. The book begins with what might be called an introduction to rheology– a concise treatment of the classical theory of elasticity, flow in Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquids, plasticity and thixotropy, and the simpler types of visco-elastic behaviour. This is followed by a discussion of the molecular mechanism of flow in amorphous linear polymers, and its formal analysis in terms of model systems, leading up to the development of the concept of a distribution of 'retardation times' or 'visco-elastic spectrum', from which the behaviour of a body under any type of stress variation may be derived. The third chapter deals with the statistical theory of the elasticity of cross-linked polymers (rubbers), and the statistical approach to the study of cross-linking and copolymerization—a fascinating field in which the correspondence between theory and experiment is refreshingly close—and associated problems.Mechanical Behavior of High Polymers By Assist. Prof. Turner Alfrey, Jr. (High Polymers, Vol. 6.) Pp. xiv+581. (New York and London: Interscience Publishers, Inc., 1948.) 9.50 dollars.