book reviews Editor: W . F. KIEFFER College of Woorter Woorter, Ohio
Chemical Principles William I,. Masterton, University of Connecticut, Storrs, and Emil J . Slowinski, Macalester College, St. Paul, Minnesota. 2nd ed. W. B. Seunders 705 pp. Co., Philadelphia, 1969. xix Figs. and tables. 19 X 27 em. $11.85.
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Chemical Principles in the Loborotary Emil J . Slowinski and Wayne C . Wolsey, both of Mecrtlester College, and William L. Musterta, University of Connecticut. W. B. Samders Co., Philadelphia, 1969. x 331 pp. Figs. and tables. 21.5 X 28 cm. Softbound, $4.75.
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The second edit,ion of Masterton and Slowinski's book is bawd upon the same general philosophy of teaching as tho first edition, but a good many changes and improvements in presentat,ion are apparent, and t,he baak should prove to be more "teachable" than its predecessor. As the name of the text implies, the authors emphmize principles rather t,han descriptive chemistry. Such topics as atomic structure, banding, kinet,ies, energy changes in chemical react,ions, changes in &te, equilibrium, and thermodynamics are dominant. Yet there is a good deal of descriptive chemistry here, too-much of it introduced to illustrate the more theoretical material. For example, three pages are devoted to the Solvay process, five to t,he softening and deionization of water, and four t o t,he corrosion of iron. On the other hand, the preparation of iron and steel and the mode of occurrenceof the element8 in nature are hardly mentioned. The book is easy t,o rend, for the authors' style of writing is informal and, in same places, almost conversational. Thin informal it,^ leadn to a lack of exactness in
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some of the definitions; for example, the terms ''atom" and "molecule" are scarcely defined a t $1, and nowhere is there a definite statement that a chemical formula is often used to represent one mole or one formula weight of the mbstance in question. Although such terms are introduced withoot rigorow definit,ion, the student donbtless understands them before he finishes the course. On the other hand, the derivations of chemical laws and principles are mare detailed and more rigorom than in mast text,books of general chemistry, and are well explained. At the end of each chapter, there is a long list of excellent problems. The especially diffimtlt ones artre so designated. Answers to some of the problems are given in the back of the book. The last two chapters in the text are entitled Nuclear Reactions and Organic Chemist,ry. Thus, a teacher who does not wish to include these topics in his program can omit them without interrupting the continuity of the course. The earlier part of the hook contains brief references to nuclear chemistry and to carbon chemistry as these fit into the general discussion. The preface of a textbook is expected to outline the authors' philosophy of teaching and their purpose in writing the book. The index of a baok also tells, in a more intimate way, what topics the aiithors think most important, m d in that connect,ion, the index is always worthy of st,udy. One will find, in the index of this book, "np junction," "Debye unit," "thermodynamics," "Clausius-Clapoyron equation," "Nernst equation," "entropy," "molecular orbital," and " q u a n t ~ ~ m mechanics," and t,he names of L. DeBroglie, F. Crick, 3. Willard Gibbs, E. 0. Lawrence, and C. J. Davisson. He will also find references to many classical topics
in this Issue
such as the Marsh test for arsenic, the Downs Cell, the ITaber and Ostwald processes, E.D.T.A. t i h t i o n s and the preparation of sulfnric acid. (The latter index entry refers only to the contact process. The lead chamber process is described in another part of the book as an illnstration of homogeneous catalysis.) One will look in vain in the index of this book for the terms "metallurgy," "alloy," "brass," "solder," "steel," "cadmium," "flotation," "persulfnrio acid," "gram molecular volume," and "isomorphwn" and far the names of Cavendish, Croakes, Frasch, and Lavaisier. This is an interesting and attractive book, and it deserved examination by teachers of general chemistry.
JOHN C. BAILAB, JR. Uniuersit?~o j Illinois Urbana, Illinois
Chemistry Glenn H. Miller, University of Cslifornia, Smta. Barbara. Harper and 418 pp. Row, New York, 1969. xi X 26.5 om. Figs. and tables. 8 $9.95.
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This text is designed for nonscience students taking a one or two semester terminal course in chemistry. I t has been attractively prepared with well designed diagrams, colared topic headings, wide margins, and convenient summaries of each chapter. There has been an obvious attempt to make the baak up to date and relevant with discussions of LSD, smog, atomic powered artificial hearts, element 105, fuel cells, eto. Yet, behind t,he beautiful layout and a veneer of modernity, in its essentials bhis book strongly resembles a typical high school text of a decade ago. The first 2 chapters are devoted to an exposition of systems of units and definitions of terms like "science" and "ehemistry." The following 27 chapters cover almost every conceivable topic from steroids, to close packing, to automobile engines. The basic organizational pattern is reasonable, starting with some fundamental physics, moving to the electronic structure of atoms; and eventually coneluding with chapters on fnta and proteins. The writing is clear and lucid, and the baok seems to be quite free of errors. Chemistry is presented as a collection of facts and key concepts to be accepted and memorized by the student. He is not asked to probe the logicsl validity of chemical ideas or to test theories by con~paring predicted and observed results. Beesuse of the great number of topics the author attempts to discuss, he does not have the space to explore or explain any of them very extensively. For example, in chapter 3 the theory of relativity is presented in one short paragraph, the law of definite composition is discussed without ever presenting an operational definition of a compound, and the statement is made that there are only 105 differentkinds of atoms without any attempt to explain why chemists accept t,his idea. Throughout the
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William L. Masterton and Emil J . Slowinski, Chemical Principles . ,880 Emil J. Slminski, W a p e C. Wolsey, and William L. Masterton, ~ h e m i c dPririnoiples i n the Laboratory ,880 Menn H. Miller, Chemistry ,880 S. M.Blinder, Advanoed Physical Chemistry: A Sumey of Modern Theoretical .A894 P~ineiples A. C. K. Smith, Applied Physical Chemistry Problems: For Chemists and A894 Chemical Engineers Arthur Reiaer, Essential Math for the Sciences: Algebra, Trigonometry, and . . .A899 Vectors E. H . E . Pietsch and the Gmelin Instilute, editors, Gmelins Handbuch der Anorganischen Chemie. 8. Auflage, System Nummer 48, Vanadium. Teil A, Liefemng 2, Das Element .A901 Alesander SchLhberg, Preparative Organic Photochemistry .A901
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