Chemistry Explained Robert L. Wolke, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1980, vii 550 pp. Figs. and tables. 27 X 22 cm. $17.95.
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A textbook that offers the choice of something different to the professor whois interested in the pedagogy of chemistry is now available. The hook successfully meets the author's objectives of showing "that chemistry is alive, involved, and relevant to everyone's life, that it makes perfectly good sense, and that chemical knowledge is created by real people in areal world." Many of us who teach chemistry are feeling the pressures of the larger classes as a greater numher of students reeister for colleee chemistrv. Manv secondary school preparation in science and mathematics often because they are now technically inclined and have delayed an experience in the natural sciences until required to complete a distribution requirement in their college curriculum. "Chemistry Explained" has been written primarily for the one-semester or two-quarter course. There is sufficient material that selectivity will he required for the shorter courses. The shortest courses will probably not include the last five chapters: Chapter 14, "Materials, Part One: Some Natural Materials;" Chapter 15, "Organic Compounds and Their Reactions:" Chanter 16. "Materials.
represent approximately one hundred pages or twenty percent of the text. A minimum of supplementary material in addition to the above chapters would be required for an academic year offering. The author has been very helpful with suggestions far the longer course and suggests that student, interests be allowed to dictate the selections. This reviewer believes that the text has sufficient
outstanding features that many teachers will consider the text for students who wish to he science majors but who have not had adequate secondary school preparation in mathematics and the sciences in addition t o the "liberal arts" students for which it was primarily written. The course for the unprepared science majors would probably require a weekly "problems session" using a supplementarv list of oroblems and he accomoanied by a sirang laboratory syllabus &sing "discovery" and quantitative experiences. The text indudes a minimum number of problems but is not deficient in the types of problems included and explained. The first thirteen chapters include aspects of general chemistry, nuclear, and physical chemistry. The text, therefore, presents a complete mini-curriculum in chemistry. The author has described his approach in The Preface: "Ideally, if the textbook could satisfactorily fulfill the role of explaining-of instilling understanding, rather than compiling facts-the instructor might not have to spend so much time paraphrasing the text in lectures and explaining again to individuals in the office. Instead. he or she would be
act as a facilitator, a human resource, rather than as a translator and rehasher of the material that the student has already read."To successfully implement this approach the author has kept the organizational thread of the text chemical, rather than societal or applied, although the text discusses as many if not more applications than the average textbook. A nondogmatic attitude and a light conversational writing style has been adopted. This style created a doubt the first time that I read the text. Upon rereading the text, and having my wife, a nonscientist, read oortions. the imoression became one of "it
chemistry course must he missing. However, after checking the text chapter hy chapter, I found that all relevant topics are presented. The book is written as if the reader is pragressing sequentially through its pages. It is, in fact, similar to a PSI (Personalized System of Instruction) teachine method. I t is arranged for the sequentid mastery of a carefullv worked-out series of conceotual hits.
the concept under discussion. The narrative flow of the text should not offer difficult problems for the instructor who wishes to omit a topic or to rearrange the topics to fit a particular syllabus. Although different in style, which may require a second or third reading to overcome habits formed in reviewing texts, "Chemistry Explained" offers too many possibilities for student instruction to ignore the text beesuse it is different. Several readings by the pro^ fessor. reading if oossihle as throueh the eves of a student Ghdhas minimum p k p a r a t k for a mllege chemistry course, may result in many pleasant hours in the classroom as we discuss examples of current interests to both the students and ourselves with "prepared students." The University of Alabama In Huntsville Huntsville. AL 35807
Basic Mafhematics for Beginning Chemistry Dorofhy M. Goidish, California State University, Long Beach. Macmillan Publishing Company, Inc.. New York. 2nd Ed. 1979. x 208 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.3 X 23.3 cm. $5.95.
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This short paperback is intended for stu (Continued on page A66)
Reviewed in this Issue Reviewer W. F. Arendale
Robert L Wolke, Chemistry Explained Dorothy M. Goldlsh, Basic Mathematics for Beginning Chemistry Richard A. Y. Jones, Physical and Mechanistic Organic Chemistry Royston M. Roberts, John C. Gilbert, Lynn 6.Rodewaldand Alan S. Wingrove, Modern Experimental Organic Chemistry
Herbert R. Ellison
Frank J. Welcher and Irwin Boschmann, Organic Reagents for Copper
L. B. Church
John C. Stowell, Carbanions in Organic Synthesis D. J. Boud, J. G. Dunn, T. Kennedy, and M. G. Walker, Laboratory Teaching in Tertiary Science (A Review of Some Recent Developments)
Shelton Bank
Nomenclature Committee of the International Union of Biochemistry, Enzyme Nomenclature J. C. Johnson, Immobilizing Enzymes, Preparation and Engineering Recent Advances
Richard Pagni Margaret-Ann Aromour
M. Larry Peck and Joseph A. Marcelio Collis R. Geren Rodney F. Boyer
Volume 58
Number 2
February 1981
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dents who consider themselves "no good a1 math" but who are taking a science course. 11 the students have essentially no ability witt mathematics, then this text may be of assistance. As pointed out in the review of the first edition (Hubbard, C. D., J. CHEM. EDUC. %A522 (1975)) muchof the book coversver) elementary material in a most tedious fashion. T h e first four chapters (3fi% of the book) cover material a t such an introductory level that it would be a waste of time for most eollege students. One definitely gets the impression that the tent is aimed at the high school level.
Graphs, and Logarithms contain murematerial that might be useful for students whc are having difficulty with mathematics. Many worked out problems and problem sets with answers a t the end of the text are valuable. T h e final chapter "Special Topics" deals very briefly with significant figures, calculators (somewhat condescendingly since earlier the author stated "However, aslide rule hassome advantages for calculathms. I t is easily portable, requires no batteries or electric outlet, a i d can be used very rapidly after a little practice."), trigonometry (2 pp.), and the notation of calculus. I question why the last two sections were even included. Several of the shortcomings noted in the first edition appear in this edition as well,
dard notation of placing the dependent variable on the left side of an equation with the dependent variable on the right is not noted in chapter 6. T h e discussions of the mole concept and stoichiometry problems in chapter 7 are somewhat weak. Figure 8.6 in chapter 8 could he very misleading to a navice since the scales on the plot are not indicated, and i t is clearly possible to have a plot where the line is a t 45" from the horizontal and have y f- x, but rather y = C x. The discussion of graphs is elementary with much omitted. T h e major limitation of this book appears to he the level to which it is aimed. A far more useful textbook would have resulted by seriously ahridging (or eliminating entirely) the first few chapters that deal with grammar school arithmetic and expanding the remaining chapters that begin t o deal more directly with chemistry.
HERBERT R. ELLISON Wheaton College Norion, MA 02766
'PhLsical a n d Mechanistic Organic Chemistry Richard A. Y. Jones, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1980. v 357 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23 cm. $17.50 (soft cover) $57.50 (hard cover).
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This textbook, which is intended for use by advanced undergraduate and first year graduate students, is one ol'a growing number of up-to-date texts devoted to physical and
A66
Journal of Chemical Education
mechanistic organic chemistry. Althoug relatively short in length when compared t other books on the subject, most importar topics are covered, nonetheless, and mor with clarity and thoroughness. The autho as noted in the intnlduction, has not intende to discuss every relevant suhject; his objec has been to enumerate the basic principles b which organic reactions mechanisms ar studied. I believe the author has succeeded i this objective. The book is subdivided into twoparts, wit part 1of six chapters dealing with the tech niques of physical organic chemistry and par 2 with mechanisms of the major reaetiol types. There is extensive reference to t h literature, with coverage through early 1979 There are also suggested readings from book and review articles at the end of each chapte on topics relevant to the chapter's suhjec matter. At the end of the tent one can alsc find a list of other books on physical organi, chemistry and, in each ease, the author' perception of the emphasis of that hook. 08 the negative side, this textbook offers nc practice problems. On the positive side, onl! a small number of typographical errors car he found in the text. Specifically, the book begins with aver! enjoyable chapter on how chemists appmaet mechanistic problems. The author has ver! cleverly used the von Richter reaction t o i l lustrate this approach. This discussion pre. sents a beautiful example of how chemists ir different times have studied reaction mech. anisms and how better tools have made thit study easier. Chapter 2, which deals with kinetics, demonstrated to me one of the eharmt of the book. T h e mathematical derivations although terse, are almost always presented in a fresh manner. The author also has a knack for comparing mathematical expres~ rions in a most insightful way. The remaining chapters of part 1 deal with acids and bases, the importance of the reaction medium, and molecular orbital methods including Dewar's PMO technique. In part 2 one can find discussions of ali,hatic nucleophilic substitution, elimina.ions, additions to carbon-carbon double mnds and earbonyls, aromatic eleetrophilie md nucleophilic substitution, hydrolysis of :stem, molecular rearrangements, and, in the ongest chapter in the bonk, pericyclic reac.ions. Among the many interesting topics iescribed in these chapters, of particular inerest to this reviewer were the diseussionsof on pairs in nucleophilic substitution reacions, the way in which changing reaction mditions and concentrations can alter the ate determining step of the reaction, and romatic electmphilic nitration and all of its ntricacies. This reviewer f w n d the presenation on pericyclic reactions, however, t
