manual is devoted to discussion of specific experiments and to answers to problems. This viewer strongly recommends that anyone wishing to consider this textbook seriously secure a copy of the manual. Some of the material in the manual also appears in Chapter 2, "Education in Modem Analytical Chemistry," by B. Kratochvil and W. E. Harris, "Treatise on Analytical Chemistry," 2nd Ed., Part 1,Vol. 1, I. M. Kolthoff andP. J. Elving, (Editors), John Wiley and Sons, 1978. The reading of this chapter is a logical place to start one's consideration of the textbook. 'Chis teatbwk,according to rheaurhor;l,3.i designed fur students who have a background in general chemistry and have sufficient appreciation of the need for bigh-quality experimental work to benefit from an intensive course in chemical measurements. No prior analytical experience is assumed. The textbook treats noninstrumental and instrumental topics with about equal emphasis. Forty-five experiments are included. Thirty-two of the experiments also appeared in the authors'laboratory textbook, "Chemical Separations and Measurements: Background and Procedures for Modern Analysis," W. B. Saunders Company, 1974. Nineteen of these experiments also appeared in the authors' earliest laboratory textbook, "Chemical Analysis: An Intensive Introduction to Modem Analysis," Barnes &Noble, Inc., 1970. One can thus feel fairly certain that the experiments have been thoroughly tested in the authors' laboratory by many students. Two minor criticisms about the style of presentation of the procedures for the exoeriments are that the t w e is smaller than t& typeitw the text and ;hat in some p n m . (lures rather lmg parayraphs are used. The studrnts will hnvt to read carefully t,r avoid errors. For experiments using instruments instructions are given for one specific make of instrument (obviously, the one used in the authors' laboratories). It would have been better to have included onlv .. eeneral iustructiuns, since many lahoratorie~will not have the specific instrument dercrihed. At the end of each chapter are suflicirnt problems and questions to keep the most ambitious student busy. Answers to the numerical problems appear at the end of the hook. Again the main criticism is the small type used for the problems. In fact, it is even smaller than the type used for the experimental procedures; it is the size used for footnotes in the hook. People with weak eyes could have trouble reading the problems. The level of difficulty varies throughout the textbook. Some discussions such as thwe on chemical equilibrium, acids and and bases, and oxidation and reduction include much material a t the general chemistry level. On the other hand, some of the discussions on instrumental methods overlap considerably with discussions in instrumental analysis textbooks. Same topics which normally are discussed in instrumental analysis textbooks are discussed in such a hrief,superficial form that one questions whether they should even be mentioned; e.g., X-ray fluorescencespeetroscopy. Especially good are the chapters that cover material beyond the general ~~
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Journal of Chemical Education
chemistry level, such as acid-base titrations in nan-aqueous solvents and complexation equilibria and titrations, which is nut included in instrumental analysis textbooks. The chapter on introduction to spectral methods and ultraviolet and visible spectraphotometry is well written for the level of the textbook. The next to last chapter in the book. "Evaluntim of Experimental Data," gives a good ewerage uf thtr important topic; however, this reviewer would have put the chapter a t the beginning of the book. The final chapter, "Analytical Problem Solving. Use of the Chemical Literature," contains an excellent set of problems in which the students need to comoare anahtical methods in order u, discuss how to w l w sp~ciflcanalytical pnhlems. T h ~ xexercise i < a very des~mble act~vityfor the c u m l ~ ~ n ~ofo nan analytical chemistry course. Scattered throughout the textbook are appropr~atequotes from chemists and other well knuwn people One quow frum I .M. Kulthuff is e s w r d l v suitable for thw textbook, heor or; guides, experiment decides." The student using this textbook will obtain a good introduction to modern analytical methods; enough theory is included so that the student will understand the basis of the methods. If one agrees with the teaching philosophy of the authors, then one definitely should examine this textbook in detail. Alvin L. Beilby Seaver Chemistq Laboratory Pomona College Claremont. CA 91711
Biochemistry, S e c o n d Edltlon Luberi Stryer. W.H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, 1981. xxvii 949 pp. Figs. and tables. 20.5 X 26.5 cm.
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In a reviw uf the first edition of Stryer's excellent Wxt, Cusanov~ch(J. CHEM.EDIIC.. 53. A343 (1Y:fill . . . noted that this text orrwidw a "well written. . useful and somewhat different approach. tu biochmnistry. 'The features that attracted many ofus to the first edition 08 this text are still present in t h ~ second edition: (1) the extraordinary care, beauty, and clarity with which figures are used, (2) the structural rather than thermodynamic or biomedical approach to biachemistry, (3) the care with which topics were selected for inclusion in the book, (4) the balance between the treatment of metabolism and molecular biology, and (5) the clear and concise style of writing. If this book is not quite so encyclopedic as White, Handler, Smith, Hill, and Lehman, "Principles of Biochemistry," 6th edition, it is more teachable, particularly with undergraduates. If Stryer does not devote as much space to metabolism as Lehninger, "Biochemistry," 2nd Edition, he may provide a more balanced view of the totality of the field of biochemistry. The organization found in the first edition remains the same: (I) conformation and dynamics, (11) generation and storage of metabolic energy, (111) biosynthesis of macromolecular precursors, (IV) information storage, transmission and expression, and (V) molecular physiology. With the exception of
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minor re\,isions in the order uf presentation
