An lntroductlon to General Chemktry. Thlrd Editlon Jerome K. Holmes and Victor S.Kriimsley, Salinas. California. C. V. Mmbv Co.. Saint
This text is intended for a one term course t o prepare students, with limited background, to entera regular General Chemistry course for science majors. For this purpose it is one of the best texts which this reviewer has seen The book rovers the h e w prmc~plesof chemrstry with no gmmwk for relevrnce or environmental salvation. The topics covered are in order presentation are: Measurement, Matter, Atomic Structure, Ionization Energy and the Periodic Chart, Light Energy and Atomic Orbitals, Covalent Bonding, Ionic Bonding and Nomenclature, Gas Laws, Stoichiometry, Solutions, Equilibrium, Acids and Bases, Ionic Reactions, Oxidation Reduction, Nuclear Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biochemistry. The topics are covered in a clear, detailed fashion a t a level appropriate for the student. There is a limited amount of descrintive materral in the wrt. What is presenttd is that uhirh is essential to the dewlopment 01 the tupir under discussion. T h i j may make the book uninteresting to some students hut the text reads quite well without many of the details found in other tents. The example problems are numerous and excellent. They are presented in considerable detail with each step completely explained. The text has an excellent feature which should be incorporated into every General Chemistry text. Scattered through the text are short practice sets of prohlems which are devoted solely to the topic just covered. This provides the student with drill on almost everv. tooic . which can be treated with numh m . Answers to these drills are at the end of the text. Additional mare complex problems orr included at the end of the chapters NO answers are given for these problems.
There is a laboratory manual toaccompany the text. The authors feel that the student learns descriptive chemistry from seeing it and the experiments provide the student with the opportunity t o see chemistry. There is an excellent mixture of activities where students observe properties of materials, and where they make quantitative measurement in hasie areas such as titration or weighing. These books are relatively free from printing errors and the illustrations are adeouate. >~~~~~~~
This text is worthy of consideration for all courses which have a9 their primary objective the preparation of students for General Chemistry. Slippery Rock State College Slippy Rock, PemSyIMnia 16057 Chemistry: An lntroductlon Sydney B. Newell. Little, Brown & Co., Boston, 1977. 544 pages. Figures and tables. 18.5 X 23 em. $13.95, hardback, with ' accompanying Teacher's Manual. Sydney Newell's new text is designed for the one term general intraductory course. For one term, 18chapters and 464 pages allow the instructor a lot of freedom to select desired topics. The text is complete enough t o work well in a one year low level course. T o i m ~ r o v einterest and motivation. the t a t intentionnlly awrrds the trsditimal scienr~fiemethod (data tu theory) and historical treatments. The lack of experimental data makes the text read like a fairy tale. This reviewer missed bright line spectra supporting energy levels and conductivity data supporting dissolved ions. Historical sketches for the atom and the periodic tahle are included. The individual chapters start off with macroscopic observations and proceed to microscopic explanations. The chapters are
Jerome K. Holmes and Victor S. Krimsley, An Introduction to General Chemistry. Third Edition Sydney B. Newell, Chemistry: An Introduction C. C. Vlossis, Alchemy Revisited. Chemistry Experiments for Today Philip W. West and Roberts Austin, An Experience,Approach t o Experimental Chemistry Francis Nosh Collier, Jr., Royce W Murray, and Richard H. Kherlopion, Quantitative Laboratory Experiments for General Chemistry Marion H. O'Leary, Contemporary Organic Chemistry John Nicholas, Chemical Kinetics Horace D. Crockford, John W Nowell, H. Wallace Baird, and Forrest W. Getzen, Laboratory Manual of Physical Chemistry. Second Edition James D. Watson, Molecular Biology of the Gene E. Cileadi, E. Kirowa-Eisner, and J. Penciner, Interfacial Electrochemistry: An Experimental Approach
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also ordered from the macroscopic to the microscopic. Atomic structure is discussed in chapter 9 after naming, equations, and bonding. I t seems t o work well. Some instructors will feel awkward discussing Lewis structures and valence electrons before atomic structure. The t ~ x its very easy to read. The readabdlty is prumoted by a cartoon charastrr called llaxwell's Demon. Newell uses t h ~ s character and many good analogies to picture the microscopic world. In one analogy, the distribution of the velocity of gaseous molecules a t one temperature is compared to the distribution of the velocity of shoppers in a store. The text has ample evidence that Dr. Newell has spent time teaching introductory students. She presents oxidation potential and reducing potential charts side by side. She also writes that placing the number two as a subscript (H2Clz) is not the proper way to double the ouantitvaf H and C1 atoms in common problems. Newell has two superb presentations. Chapter 7 discusses the formation of ionic compounds from an energy point of view. Chapter 9 relates electron configuration t o the periodic table. While discussing naming, -ic and -nus endings are ignored. S I units are mentioned but ignored in most of the calculations. The conversion factor method is used for problem solving. Environmental chemistry is included in the chapters on gases and organic cbemistry. Precipitate formation, indicator color changes, and redox reactions are descriptively discussed. The chapter on nuclear changes is like the chapter in most texts. Newell's organic chapter helps the student understand the biochemistry chapter. The problems available a t the end of each chapter are numerous and vary in difficulty. Because of the excellent teachinethroueh " the use of Maxwrll'?i Demon. analopiez, and gmd writing, this text should be considerrd ti,r adoptrm hy all instructors of intrductory chemistry courses. Bill Nickels schwfcranCollege Livonia. Michigan 48151
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Reuiewer Herbert L. Smith Bill Nickels A. Truman Schwartz Donald D. Marshall Gerald W. Gibson Ronald S. Lenox Halbert Carmichael Mervin P. Hanson William E. Marzluff, Jr. William R. Heineman
I Volume 54, Number 4. April 1977 / A239
