BOOK
REVIEWS
Elements of General and Biological Chemistry: An Introduction to the Molecular Basis of Life
John R. Holum, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, Minnesota. John Wile? and Sons, Inc., New York, 19G". ix 470 pp. Figs. and tables. Ih..? X 23.5 cm. $5.95.
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Experiments In General, Organic, a n d A Lmboratory Biological Chemistry: Manuml
John R. Holum. John Wiley and Sons, 119 pp. Inc., New York, 1963. viii Figures. 22 X 28 em. Paperbound. $2.95.
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This hook is presented for use in 8, onesemester or two-quarter course, with students who may have received no previous chemical training. The subject material in general chemistry is restricted t o the absolute minimum the author considers necessary to gain an understanding of complex organic chemical structures and the sophisticated terminology of biochemical processes, which must be martered before the theme of the hook, the chemistry of the life processes a t the molecular level, can he followed intelligently. General inorganic and physical ohemistry is ruthlessly pruned to the first seven short chapters; the following six chapters deal with the organic chemistry of simple molecules. The subjects
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discussed, and the examples presented, are all designed to stress those aspects uf chemistry which are involved in the life process in general, with particular emphasis on human metabolism. The remaining eleven chapters, almost half of the book, are devoted to the molecular hasis of life. Chapters on the structure of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids are followed by discussions of their metabolism, with interrelatmns s t the detailed molecular level through the major metabolic cycles. Other chapters deal with enzyme action, the chemistry of heredity, physiological fluid balance, and aspects of radiation and radioactivity related to human physiology. The book is addressed to a wide audience, but i t is clear that the subject material is presented with the specialist requirements of the future nurse as a principal objective, with d e tailed consideration of, for example, determination of D-glucose and acetone in pathological urine, and malfunctions in heme metabolism in relation to jaundice. Several of the experiments in the accompanying laboratory manual are relevan to the needs of the future nurse. Modern biochemical concepts are stressed, with consideration of the mechanism of eneyme action, eneyme inhibition, and chemotherapy. Food metabolism is discussed in detail, and the interrelationships of the intermediates in the glycolytic, lipigenetic, fatty acid, citric acid, and other metabolic cycles are well presented
in this Issue
John R. Holum, Elements of General and Biological Chemistry: Gewge E. Rysehkewisch, Chemical Bonding and the Geometry of Mulecules J . D. Fmt, Entropy: The Significance of the Concept of Entropy and I t s Applications in Science and Technology Richard B. Hahn and Frank J . Welcher, Inorgmio Qualitative Analysis: S. Walker and H . Straw, Spectroscopy. Vol. 1, Atomic, Microwave, and RadioFrequency. Vol. 2, Ultra-Violet, Visible, Infra-Red, and Raman Virgil Boekelheide, editor-in-chief, Organic Syntheses. Volume 42 G m f t a D. Chase and J . L. Rahinowifa, Principles of Radioisotope Methodolo~v I,. M . Michejeva and N . B. dfichejev, Radidioaktive Isotope in der Analytischen Chemie E . H. Rodd, editor, Chemistry of Carbon Compounds. Volume 5 R. A . Raphael, E. C. Taylvr, and H. Wynberg, editors, Advances in Organic Chemistry: Volume 3 Klaus Biemann, Mass Spectrometry: Organic Chemical Applications Kaj Linderstrdm-Lang, Selected Papers M . F~ancon,Progress in Microscopy. Volume 9 Melville L. Wolfrom and R. Stuart Tipson, editors, Advances in Carbohydrate Chemistry. Volume 17 M . Shcey, J . C . Tatlow, and A . G. Sharpe, editors, Advances in Fluorine Chemistry.
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V"lllrn* -. ..... .?.
C . B. Anfimen, Jr., editor, Advances in Protein Chemistry. Volume 17 The Harvey Lectures. Series 57 Klaus H. Behmdt, editor, Vacuum Microhalance Techniques. Volume 3 G. H. Bou~ne and J . F. Danielli, editors, International Review of Cytology. Volume 14 Harris Busch, editor, Biochemical Frontiers in Medicine. Francis A . Gunffiw,editor, Residue Reviews. Volume 2
so as to emphasize the unified nature of the metabolic processes a t the molecular level. The chemistry of heredity is discussed on the basis of the WatsonCrick structure for DKA, with its implicstions on the structure of RNA and on protein synthesis. Rather frequent. errors and ambiguities, particularly in the general chemistry section, detract from the value of the hook. On p. 110 it is implied that one of the bonds in the hydronium ion differs from the other two; the dilrerence between a strong acid (sulfuric acid) and a weak one (boric acid) is illustrated by the fact that the former is corrosive while the latter can be used in eye-wash preparations. On p. 198 it is stated that Cu(OH)*is a mild reducing agent, and on page 199 hemiaeetals are said to he rather exotic and obscure functional groups. The farmulas used for sugar molecules on pages 252, 253, and elsewhere are not definitive for the structures described, and on page 260 hydrogen bonds are depicted between pairs of oxygen atoms, and between pairs of hydrogen atoms. The physico-chemical relationship between molecular weight of a salute and the osmotio pressure of s solution is not explained. The non-technical reader, to whom the language of biological chemistry presents a formidable barrier, will find this hook an excellent stepping stone to an understanding of modern developments. To provide a biochemical orientation for a general elementary course, the book could advantagevusly he used after a. more detailed course in fundamentals. The book itself provides for the requirements of s brief cmrse for nurses.
DEREKHORTON The Ohio State Uniwrsitu Colmdws, Ohio Chemical Bonding a n d the Geometry of Molecules
Geor~eE. Ryschkewitseh, University of Florida, Gainesville. Reinhold Publishing Corp., New Yark, 1963. 116 pp. Figs. and tables. 12.5 X 18.5 cm. $1.75. In the fourth volume in the paperback series, Selected Topics in Modern Chemistry, George E. Ryschkewitseh goes exploring in the world of atoms, molecules, ions, and crystals. Although chemistry must remain empirical if it is to remain a science, it is certainly true that i t has moved steadily forward from crude empiricism toward the deductive character of a. mature discipline. This has happened because of the success which chemists have had in correlating the properties of substances with the structures of their constituent entities. As Sisler and VanderWerf say in their Series Editors' preface, this is "the hesrt of modern chemistry." A teacher and apraductivs experimental chemist, Ryschkewitseh has written a book which exposes the reader t o the spirit of modern chemical rreearch. The inquisitive student cannot he required t o wait until he has acquired mathematical sophistication before considering mode& structural concepts. Thus, in a new and challenging sense, texthook authors nowadays are writing for the Volume 40, Number 8, August 1963
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441
layman when they write for the beginning student. Ryschkewitsch's aim is to pr* vide the student not only with information but with a measure of intellectual stimulation. The evidence for the constitution of the atom provided by electrolysis, radioactive decay and t,he bombardment of metal foil with charged helium atoms is quickly s u c veyed in the first chapter, and the periodic arrangement of the elements by atomic numbers is presented. The second chapter deals with the electronic structures of atoms. The first point developed is the difficultyin accounb ing for the fact that electrons are held t o atoms by using simple electrostatic theory; next, the quantum nature of electromagnetic radistion; then, logically, to the conclusion that the energies of the atoms themselves have distinct values. This brings the reader up to 1913, one of the most important dates in the present century. Then come Heisenberg's Uucertainty Principle, de Broglie's mrttterwaves, and the full application of the mathematical theory of waves to the description of electrons in atoms by Heisenberg and Schraedinger. The ooncept of the orbital, replacing theideaof a strictly d e h e d orbit for an electron, is introduced next, along with the idea of four quantum numbers and Pauli's Exclusion Principle. A summary of the electron configurations of neutral isolated atoms is presented in the format of a periodic table. Each chapter in this book is substautially longer than the one preceding it. The t,l>irdchapter deals with ionic bonding and discusses such topics as ionization potential, electron affinity, dependence of crystal geometry on ion siaos and ion charges, and the Born-Haber cyole. The fourth and last chapter devotes 47 pages to covalent bonding. The topics discussed in the first half of the chapter include orbital overlap, the octet rule and its limitations, electron pair donation, odd electron molecules, multiple bonding, formal charge, dipole moments, and electrouegativity. These are discussed quite dearly and should be understandable to competent and interested first-year 001lege students. The concluding 22 pages are devoted to molecular geometry. Bond lengths, bond angles and covalent radii are discussed, with meaningful examples; and i t is shown how molecular geometries are accounted for from a consideration of electrostatic repulsions of electron pairs. The necessitv for the concent of hvbridization is explained and the sigma and pi bonding in ethylene are described. Resonance structures, electron delocalization, and the attendant increase in stability are the concluding topics. Ryschkewitseh writes well and he includes useful diagrams and tables. A well-chosen list of selected readings is added as an appendix. In spite of its small size the book is cs.refully indexed. I t is a valuable supplement for a. student whose introductory text does not adequately or systematically discuss the correlation of structure with properties.
P. EBLIN LAWRENCE Ohio University Athens 442
!Journal
of Chemical Education
Entropy: The Significance of the Concept of Entropy a n d Its Applications in Science and Technology
J. D. Fast, Technical University, Eindhoven, MoGrrtw-Hill Book Co., 313 pp. Inc., New York, 1962. vii Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $10.75.
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This is a. nice book. I t is well written; the viewpoint is mature; it is rich in examples; and throughout, the pace and level of presentation are well suited to the author's purpose, which is "to reach all those students and researchers to whom thermodynamics and statistical mechanics seem a little frightening, although a certain knowledge of these subjects is indiepensable to them." Science students that possess an ordinary knowledge of calculus and a normal interest in their subject should find this an enjoyable book to study. Beyond that, students with a particular bent toward physical chemistry, or metallurgy, or the solid state, mrty find in i t a deep source of understanding and, stemming from this, an inner sshisfaction and inspiration t o explore further in these areas the applications of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics. The book is an introduction to both disoiplines and also to quantum mechanics. The baok is divided into six chapters of sppraximately equal length. It opens, after a brief general introduction, with a conventional, but readable discussion of classical, Clausius-Kelviu-type "black box" thermodynamics. Internal energy and entropy are introduced through a discussion of thermodynamic systems, state^. and variables. exact and inexact differentials, reversible and irreversible changes, and Carnot's cycle. The second chapter, The Strttistical Significance of the Entropy Concept, nioely illustrates how to blend mathematical logic with apt examples to achieve a treatment that is both humane and robust. Dr. Fast treats large numbers and most probable states clearly and in some detail without getting bogged down in mathematical details. Included, also, is a disoussion of Einstein's Solid (and the The third chapter, Applications of the Cuncept of Entropy, mrty strike many teachers in this country-although not necessarily their students-as the least conventional chapter in the book. Not to be found is a discussiou of Maxwell's relations, the Gibbs-Helmholtz equation, the Clausius-Clapeyran equation, calligative properties, the phsse rule, or partial mold quantities. Instead, the examples chosen-the author says, "mare or less a t random," although there is to them a unity this statement does not reflect-include the following: the "free enthalpy" (G-H-TS), chemical equilibrium (illustrated chiefly by the reactions of oxygen with met& and carbon); paramagnetism and low temperatures (an unusually clear discussion of adiabatic demagnetization); interstitial &oms in body-centered cubic metals (probably
the most autharative section of the baok); substitutiond alloys and ferromagnetism; vacancies and diffusion in solids; elasticity of rubber; solutions of polymers; black body radiation; and fuel cells and heat pumps. The fourth chapter, Quantum Mechanics and Statistics, contains brief, but lucid, discussions of the uncertainty principle, the wave equation, and the statistics of Fermi-Dirac, Bose-Einstein, and Maxwell-Boltemann. Appropriately, the particle in a box is treated in cansiderable detail. The chapter closes with nine pages on electrons in solids. The last two chapters, The Entropy of Monatomic Gases and The Entropy of Diatomic Gases, contain more modern physical chemistry than one might suspect from their titles. Teachers and students dike should find these two chapters pmticularly useful for their well-worked out numerical examples. Cover to cover, this carefully written book nioely illustrates the view that while a study of broad theories, such as statistical mechanics, which apply to many phenomena, is indeed often profitable, it is sometimes equally profitable and probably mare in keeping with the general character of a growing science to focus attention a t times upon a phenomenon, such as entropy, to which many theories apply. "Entropy" could probably be used in some schools in a beginning physical chemistry course, if not as a text (it contains no problems), then as a reference or supplemental reading. Graduate students reviewing for examinations in physical chemistry should 6nd it very useful; there is much in it they should know. HENRY A. BENT Uniuei.sity of Minnesota .Ilinnmpolis
Inorganic Qualitative Analyrir: Short Course for Introductory Chemistry
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Richard B . Hahn, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, and Frank J. Welcher, Indiana University, Bloomington. D. Van Nostrand Co., Inc., 304 pp. Figs. New York, 1963. ix and tables. 14.5 X 21.5 cm. $4.95.
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The authors state that this book was designed especially for courses in general chemistry which include qualitative analysis as the laboratory portion of the second semester. Their objectives are (1) to acquaint the student with the properties of common inorganic substances; (2) t o apply this knowledge in the development of a system of inorganic qualitative analysis; (3) to study chemical equilibrium as i t is applied to qualitative analysis; and (4) to teach useful laboratory techniques. The book is divided into two parts: Theory and Laboratory. Part One consists of six chapters which cover the nature of qualitative analysis, solutions and colloids, and ohemical equilibrium. Part Two presents some preliminary
