BOOH REVIEUJJ
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Toxicity information is given for each chemical,and a section on hazards is included in appropriate experiments. However, beyond the substitution of toluene for benzene, no attempt has heen made to avoid the use of hazardous chemicals, and some experiments will have to be modified or omitted in the interest of safety. Several experiments utilizing IR, NMR, and GC are included. I was surprised to find only one experiment using TLC, but the design of the hook allows such deficiencies to be remedied easily. The author makes an effort to counteract the cookbook tendency of students by eompletely separating the operations from the experimental procedure. Procedures do not give information on what size flask to use in a distillation, how much solvent is to be used in an extraction, etc. Rather, the student is expected to deduce such information from the guidelines given in the opbration section. (The instructor's manual eives soecifies.1 ~. Co~aequrntly,inrtrurtora must be prrpared to deal w ~ t hq u e s t a m and inevitable errors which will result, particularly in earlier experiments. This is not a book to be used in a laboratory where instruction is casual, but where students get close supervision it is worth considering and has the potential for producing students who will know haw to work independently in an organic laboratory. James U. Piper SimmOns College Boston. MA 02115
fication of biological agents, exempting strictlv animal . oathoeens. Bibliomaohical references are sparse. The Preface comments in interesting fashion on the ironic relationship between actual hazards and the fears they engender in potential victims. Whereas, the health hazards resultingfrom the habitual ingestion of ethanol or frequent cigarette smoking have been well-publicized for years, their selfabuse still is widespread. Legislation to restrict their use continually meets strong resistance. Conversely, the sight of a snake or sharks, even on film, makes many people recoil with fear, despite the rarity of shark and snake attacks. Evidently, we fear most strongly what we do not understand or a n a t control. Whether one smokes, drinks, or drives a car is largely self-controlled;whether a shark attacks is notoriously unpredictable and is controlled by the shark rather than the person attacked. Similar relationships between hazard and anxiety exist in the scientific laboratory. Overfamiliarity tends to make scientists at work on virulent pathogens and toxins view them with about as much fear as the general public feels for a cigarette or a congested freeway. This may, in unfortunate instances, lead to the harmine of laboratow workers. The editors of the hook have attempted to bridge the gap hptween frnr of the unknown and familiarity Ired of dnily work. They stress the important concept that even the best equipped and well-designed laboratory will be only as "safe" as the people who work in it. Without consideration of behavioral factors contributing to accidents, laboratory safety will he an administrator's theory rather than a laboratory reality. Malcolm M. Renfrew
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University of Idaho
Laboratory Safety: Theory and Practice Anthony A. Fuscaldo, Barry J. Erlich. and Barbara Hindman (Editors). Academic Press. New York 1980. xiv 357 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $39.50.
Chemical Equilibrium a n d Analysis Richard W. Ramene, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co.. Reading. 1981. xv 765 pp. Figs. and tables. 17 X 24 cm.
This hook differs significantly in content from the laboratory safety books with which chemists commanlv are familiar. As such. it will romplcmrnt the referenre mnnuals klready prwent un a departmental lmokshelf. bur rt rs more likrly to find use as a lmrnary source in hiology departments. The first section of the book deals in eoncise fashion with General Laboratory Safety. This includes a chapter by well-known Norman V. Steere on Physical, Chemical, and Fire Safety. Another chapter deals with classes of toxic compounds and the evaluation of toxicity. A third covers radiation hazards. The second section, Biological Laboratory Safety, has chapters on viruses and cancer, recombinant DNA research, and biohazards with lahoratory animals. The remaining third of the book is devoted to Medical and Psychological Factors, coverine..tooin outside of the exoerience of most chemish. These include some medical probl e m uf laboratur). workers, rlrk nmessment. nnd ocrupatiunal health in a lahoratory, genetic monitoring, and behavioral factors (personnel characteristics and the modification of unsafe acts). An Appendix carries a three-page classi-
In recent vears there has aooeared an the market a laree number of introductorv nnn~, lytiral texrhwks. eithrr new offerings or revired editions of previously puhliihrd w
