REVIEWS
BOOK
Chemical Pvinciples in Practice
Editor: W. F. KIEFFER College of Woorter Woarter, Ohio
Edited by Jewy A. Bell. AddisonWesley Publishing Co., Reading, Mass., 273 pp. Figs. and July, 1967. xi tables. 21.5 X 28 em. $4.50. Paperbound.
+
I suppose that if you were to choose two ehemistrv.. ~rofessorsa t random and ask f w their idens wn~vntingtlte appmpriute content of a fim year colleye lnlmratury rmrir, yuu m ~ l d pnhably tina von.iiderable disagreement. I t seems rather surprising therefore that most primary college tions a t the end of each chapter should Chemistry laboratory texts in the lsst decade or so, prove extremely useful. have had s certain "sameness" about B. Richard Siebrino. Univer~it,v ~~~-~ " of -The chapter on the inorganic chemistry them. "Chemioal Principles in Practice," Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Macmillan Co., of carbon leads into section three, a edited by Jerry A. Bell of the University New York, 1967. viii 743 pp. Figs. two-chapter organic chemistry unit. I n of California, Riverside, is most decidedly and tables. 16 X 24 cm. 88.95. this 56 page unit, the chemistry of hydronot in the preceding category; in fact this carbons and their derivetives is discussed. text offers a radical and refreshing deparThis text is intended to provide an up to Optical and cis-trans isomerism are inture from the "classical" approach. date, broad treatment of chemistry suitcluded. The sigma and r bonding for For several years now colleges offering able for the firsbyear college student in s benzene is presented. Eleven classes of advanced freshman chemistry lecture two semester or three quarter course. The monofunctional derivatives are presented courses have been faced with the problem author states in the preface that he feels and a very brief presentation of protein of providing suitably challenging labor* equations, stoichiometry, and chemical and carbohydrate chemistry is included. tory experiments. I n many cases exequilibrium as well as descriptive and h% Solution chemistry is covered in section periments have been oustom-made for the torical aspects of chemistry are an imporfour. This unit includes a n introductory individual courses because of the lack of a tant part of the introductory chemistry chapter about properties of solutions, a suitable text. For instructors in such course. The hook wnsists of 32 chapters chapter to develop acid-base chemistry courses, and for those wishing to upgrade divided into seven sections. and ionimtion equilibris, and a. chapter and update more conventional oourses, Section one is a 216page coverage of for the presentation of the solubility prod"Chemical Principles in Practice" deprinciples. Electronio properties are reuct concepts. serves thorough contemplation. lated to the periodic table and to bond Chemistry of metals and metal ions is This well written and readable manual types, a brief wverage of chemical nopresented in the six-chapter unit five. contains some 33 experiments under eleven menclature is included, and one chapter is This unit is organized according to analytidifferent headings ranging from somewhat devoted to chemicd equations. Worked cal groups of qualitative analysis to aid in conventional gravimetrio analysis to simexamples of problems are in the text mathe presentation of qualitative analysis in ple yet sophisticated. experimentation terial, including reasons far eachstep in the the first year chemistry course. with nuclear magnetic resonance. Seemsolution of the problem. Industrial processes are discussed in the ingly routine experiments such as preSection two presents the descriptive four-chapter unit six. Unit seven is s cipitation, are given an interesting twist, chemistry of the non-metals. This eightseparate chapter on nuclear transformsin this oase by use of radioactive isotopes. chapter, 148 page unit, starts with the tions. Qualitative inorganic snslysis is comchemistry of oxygen. Other chapters This book places more emphasis and pletely absent, thus continuing the trend cover hydrogen, water, sulfur and its concern for the historical aspects of of recent years. Experiments are outlined compounds, phosphorus and its comchemistry and for descriptive chemistry which should go well with courses stressing pounds, the halogens and their compounds, while emphasizing equations, stoichiomstructure and bonding, kinetics and/or and inorganic carbon, silicon, and boron. etry and equilibria. It should prove thermodynamics. Some of the experiI n general, non-metals are presented in to he a welwme addition to the available ments have been published previously in terms of occurrence, history, laboratory freshman college chemistry texts. THIS JOURNAL and others have been culled preparation, physical properties, chemical properties, and wmpounds. The brief ALFREDT . ERICSON from various unpublished sources, several in both categories were devised hy the hist,ory is interesting and the study quesKansas State Teachers College editor and Leonard Nash of Harvard UniEmporia versity. The editor (Bell) states that his own classes complete about one half of the experiments in a. full year general chemistry course with two 3-hour laboratory sessions -Reviewed in this Issue per week. I t can be deduced from this that most of the experiments last for more than one lab session giving an unstrucB. Il'iehard SSiebrzng, Chemistry tured pattern which seems desirable in culturing student creativity. At the Jerry A . Bell, editor, Chemical Principles in Practice same time a large amount of background material is required which demands a great C. B. Anderson and J . I,. Hawes, Baiie Experimental Chemistry: A Laboratory deal of the instruotor(s). Probably the Alanual for Beginning Students text is most germane for an integrated lecture-lab format. Stanlelj W . Angrist and Loren G . Hepler, Order and C h a a e L a w s of Energy and The textual msterial is hard to find Entropy fault with; the following are just s few minor personal grievances. Several of the S.B. Hannau, Solid-state Chemistry kinetic experiments involve organic m e terials, e.g., ethyl diszoscetate, cyclo. I . K . Galz~.ey,Chemistry of Solids hexanone, eto., implying some organic chemistry background. I t seems to the V. Theilbeirner, Synthetic Methods of Organic Chemistry reviewer that an introductory experiment
.
0 ,
~
+
(Continued on page A334)
276 / Journal of Chemical Education
BOOK REVIEWS of the detective type (given ten unlabolled bottles containing. . . identify which is which) in organic chemistry might have been a logical preoursor. Also it seems t o be comn~on experience that in instrumental labs students tend to be bored if only one piece of eqnipment is available to a large gronp and a "dry" lab resultsseveral experiments of t,his type are included. Measurement of the sun's temperature as an introduction to quantum concepts is fun for the students. Unfortunately, students a t the reviewer's University have s. distinct disadvantage compared with California students in the availability of seesonal sunshine! On a more serious note, the synthesis of trans-ethylene diamine dichloride oobalt (111) chloride presented in Chapter 4, indudes no mention that the complex is precipitated as a hydrochloride, which is confusing since the experiment calls for chloride analysis. I n the synthesis section, the formation of transition metal oomplexes wonld seem to be an ideal place for the insertion of the elements of ligand field theory and s. simple magnetocbemioal experiment, neither of which are included. In summary, my impression is that a lab course based on this text will require a sophisticated first year course as bsckground or will demand a great deal of the laboratory instructor. I t requires inquisitiveness and perseverance from stodents. Given the preceding "parameters," the manual is likely to provide a great stimulus to the first- (and possible sobsequent-) year laboratory program. It seems well worth trying and is, by this reviewer, highly recommended. ALANWALTON Case Western Reserve Uniuwsily Cleueland, Ohio Basic Experimental Chemistry: A Labordory Manual for Beginning Students
C . B. Anderson, University of California, Santa Rarbara, and J . L. H a w s , Wiley College, hI.~arshall,Texas. W. A. Benjamin, h e . , New York, August, 1967. vi 233 pp. Figs. and tables. 22.3 X 28 cm. 83.93. Paperbound.
+
This manual is yet another entry in the freshman chemistry sweepstakes. The experiments presented are largely those whieh one has come to expect in a manual to accompany the high level textbook (eg., Mahsn, Gray and Haight, Brescia, et al.). There are experiments in thermodynamics and kinetics in addition to the usual exercises in sboichiometry. The conductance bridge and the potentiometer are utilized. Several experiments involve the preparation and structure of complex ions. Less conventional experiments include the estimation of Avogadro's number by measurement of the area of a monolayer and the calibration and use of a gas thermometer. There is no experiment dealing directly wit,h atomic structure, such as an examination of the line spectrum of hydrogen. A nnique feature of the approach is the inclusion of historical introductions to
A334
/
Journal of Chemical Education
many experiments. Often this material proves to be largely a collection of names and dates. When the introduction is centered around the work of one individual, however, the information is interesting and entertaining reading. The actoal experimental procedures appear to be adequately described. A few errors were noted. The five-place figure given for Avogadro's number in the experiment on its estimation is not the most up-to-date value. In several places, densities of compounds are given with no mention of the temperature to which they pertain. In wmmsry, the authors have been successful in providing a core of experiments for the modern general chemistry laboratory. However, in these days of changing and conflicting views about what constitutes a satkfactory laboratory program, a supply of supplementary experiments must be on band for use with any freshman manual.
EUGENE E. SCHRIER
the truly summarizing, "What Else?" make the reader put the book on an easily accessible shelf. He will want it again soon. This would be a difficolt book for the layman, but it is one every physical chemistry student could read wibh profit.. I t is especially appealing to find a lighthearted book whieh does not leave entropy illnminrtted only by llaxwell's demon with a tennis racquet. The H*-I),-HI1 system and Mexican jumping beans in a barrier box illuminate each other, for example. Bny it, and see for yo~trself. W PK
Solid-state Chemistry
A'. B. Hannay, Bell Telephone Laboratories, JIurray Hill, New Jersey. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, 223 pp. Figs. New Jersey, 1967. xi and tables. 16 X 23.5 em. Clothbound, W.93. Paperbound, S4.95.
+
Slate University of New York
Binghnmton Chemistry of Solids Order and Chaos-Lows Energy and Entropy
of
Slanley W . Angrist, Department of hlechanical Engineering, and h e n G. Hepler, llepartment of Chemistry, both of Carnegie Institute of Technology. Basic Books, Inc., New York, 1967. viii 237 pp. Figs. and tables. 14.5 X 21.5 cm. 85.95.
+
The first impression one gets on leafing through this book is that it is a smorgasboard; one stops to sample the delicious morsels of anecdote, analogy, a p t quotation, clever footnotes, unique data, and deep scientific philosophy. One finds his plate so full that he resolves to return repeatedly. The book deserves more than such treatment, however. I t is equally rewarding when esrefully read. I t is a solid book. Thermodynamics (the fimt and aeeond laws with a nod to zeroth and the third) is t,he theme, and one is tempted to call it the "plot." The nsrrative style captures the reader's interest and never lets it lag. No professor who hm struggled to make students believe that thermodynamics has s, phenomenolagietll basis can help but admire the authors' knack for getting the point across. Proper use of cribbed portions of this book is bound to improve students' images of both thermodynamics and their professor's sense of humor! Anyone who teaches elementary thermodvnamies (and evervone tries these dam)
and continues making personal history real in the second chapter, "Temperature" (Galen to Giauque). The first law gets its due in "Bookkeeper's Delight," "Energy: Capital, Income, and Expense," "The Chemical C.P.A.," and "lMm: the Constant Temperature Energy Converter." The second law takes over the narrative with "Time's Arrow" and "Equilibrium: the Arrow's Target." The final two chapters, "Demons, Poetry, and Life" and
A. K . Galwey, The Queen's University of Belfast, England. Chapman and Hall Ltd. ( I h t n b u t e d in the U. S. by Barnes & Noble, Inc., New York), 1967. ix 210 pp. Fig. and tables. 13.3 X 21.3 cm. Clothbound, $9.00. Paperbound, $5.30.
+
These two books have been written to fill the void in textbooks that introdoce the concepts of the solid state to chemists. They cover many of the same topics in about the same number of pages, but the approach to the material is vastly different. The hook by Galwey is pitched a t an undergraduate level (junior year or below), contains very few mathematical equations and spends the first 80 pages on lengthy descriptions of molecular, covalent, and ionic crystals, X-ray diffraction, silicates, and organic polymers. This material is followed by a chspter on the band theory of solids; the completely qualitative treatment is unsoccessfnl. Very little appreciation or feeling for energy bands iu solids or semiconductor concepts is conveyed. The find one half of the book on the chemistrv of solid sorfaces material on specific cases, a t the expense of more detailed descriptions of basic cow cepk. The presentation of a very qoditative introduction to solid state chemistry, such as Galwey has used, is not opposed in principle by this reviewer. I t does seem, however, that a more detailed account of a few underlying princ~plescoupled with some simple analogies would give the reader a better grasp of the ideas and problems of the solid state, rather than the lengthy, and yet not very enlightening, discussions of many diverse topics. This text might be used as a supplement in general chemistry courses and possibly in a junior year inorganic course. But its
(Conlinued a page AS%)
