reviews Chemistry for the Health Sciences, Seventh Edition George I.Sackheim and Dennis 0.Lehman. MacMillan: New York, 1993.
The sixth edition of this texthwk was reviewed in J. Chem. Educ. 1991, 68, A231. As i n the earlier edition, the authors state i n the preface "Emphasis is placed on practical aspects of inorganic chemistry, organic chemistry and biochemistry. Theoretie topics are dealt with only a s a n aid to try to understand bodily processes in the human". This statement helps to explain why so little emphasis is placed an the use of logic, reasoning, and r a t i e nalization in the development of the subject. The authors continue to present most material as "fact" with little effort to help the students understand it or rognin any insight asto how we know these thmgs. There is httle effort to help the student gain an). experience or slull m owdiction of properties or behavior. For the student, I supposi, the course is one in developing memory and collecting facts, not in developing an appreciation for the "prettiness" and nature of science. Certainly, this is not a text for a real liberal arts course. The authors continue with their old organization of the book. "Inorganic Chemistry," the title of Part I, is dearly a misnomer. This section deals superficially with those parts of general chemi s t deemed ~ imnortant to Part 111. "Biochemistw". It does t m to d a t e the informntmn p v e n to Me processes. Part 11, "Organic Chemistry" introduces the runcrional groups of organic mmpounds and rclntes them to more complex classes as "carhohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, hormones, and nueleie acids". Students should, on the basis of this Part, recognize functional groups and know a little about their hehaviar. Parts I and I1 are quite similar to the corresponding sections of the earlier edition. Several topics have been introduced and a few have been deleted or reduced in Part III. The major a r t to bring the text upto-date h a s been here. There i s a tremendous amount of information here. Many reaction sequences and cycles are discussed. The role of various biochemical anomalies in various maladies is frequently mentioned. While I seriously doubt that the typical student will he able to follow and appreciate the details of the chemistrv , involved in the various seouences of reactions offpwd, an nppreciatmn for the fact that many have been studied le understood, should develop. Expoand, to a c ~ n ~ l d e r a bextent, sure to the vwabulary in this and thceorlicr pansshould help the student when the terms eome up in other contexts later, when further understanding may eome about. The tendency for sloppy or inaccurate offerings and defmitions is carried over into this edition. I have a few pages of notes, made a s I read the book, which record instances of these offerings. Afew examples will suffice. Figure 1.1is a picture of a bottle containing 10 mg Zestril tablets along with the statement that "prescription pills and capsules are measured by their mass in milligrams". My weighing of three samples of this product showed a n average 212 mg, mast of which must have been nonactive ingredients. Page 24 s t a t e s , "Elements a r e e i t h e r m e t a l s or nonmetals." ~
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Chlorofluorocarbons, contrary to page 113, have not, except for special purposes been allowed in spray cans for a long time. The Questions and Prahlems and the Practice Test a t the end of each chapter will be of some help in studying. However, moat of these seem to emphasize "facts" rather than thinking or reasoning. Answers to the odd-numbered Questions and h h l e m s are given. Chapter Objectives and Summaries are given also. The Glossary a t the end of the h w k is quite useful. Students probably will wont ta refer to it as new terms are lntmduvd and, somerlmes, not explained. Thr index also is quite userul Students who cho.ie to keep the honk prohahly will find the index useful in the future. In short, this book may he useful in givingstudents an exposure to a useful vocabulary and a survey of biochemistry. It falls quite short in giving students a feeling for chemistry as vibrant field, pursued hy real people who use their reasoning power, intuition, and theory to develop the field further and in helping them to d e velop their own ability to reason.
Albert W. Jache Marquette University Marietta, OH 45750
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Reviewed in this Issue Reviewer George L. Sakheirn and Dennis D. Lehman, Chemistry for the Health Sciences, Seventh Edition Textbook Announcements Monographs Titles of Interest New Volumes in Continuing Series
A132
Journal of Chemical Education
Albert W. Jache
A132
