The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual: A Student's Guide t o Techniques J a m s W. Zubrick, John Wiley & Sons. Inc.. Somerset, NJ, 1984. ui 244 pp. Figs. 16 X 23.5 cm. $11.95 PB.
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This book is designed for the one-year, suphomore-level organic laboratory course in schools that me their own experiments. Like the lab manuals of Fessenden' and Marmor,' i t concentrates on the techniques of organic chemistry without emphasizing specific exoeriments. The coveraee of the "Survival Manual" is slightly less than that of Fessen. den, and much less than the exhaustive coverage of Marmor. In contrast to the dry, authoritative prose of most laboratory manuals, Juhn Zubrick's style is deliahtfullv irreverent. He has antic. in&d t b e c o m m h misadventures in the &eanie ~"~ laboratorv and has exolsined how to avoid them. &her than simply giving dercriptions of techniques, he explains wh) eacb sequence of operations is necessary. His viewpoint is like that of a senior fraternity brother giving advice to the sophomores. Some instructors may feel that the friendly tone is excessive, but I found the style to be both eniovableand interesthe. Of the current crop o~laboratorymanuals,"rhis one is the most entertaining and the easiest to read. Every laboratory instructor should read this book for ideas to use in his own lab lectures. The organization of topics is standah, beginning with safety, notebook, and glassware, and proceeding through recrystallization, extraction, and distillation to the more advanced topics. It also covers some of the often-neglected topics such as sublimation, dry mlumn chromatography, HPLC, and the proper use of jointware, clamps, and drying agents. The illustrations and diagrams are of excellent aualitv throuehout. An index aopears a t the bafk of t h i book, allowing fbr convenient retrieval of information. As with most technique manuals, the students must read a large portion of the book in the first weeks of the course. To do a reuystallization and a melting point requires ~~~
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reading the fust 60pages. Extraction requires M) more and distiition an additional 40. The
large initial reading requirement is justiiied, however, by the amount of background information provided and the additional comoetence it eives the students. Altbougk I found the "Survival Manual" delightful to read, I have a major philosophical reservation about its approach. The book is written as if working in the organic laboratory is like walking across a river an the backs of crocodiles. As the title suggests, organic lab is something to besuruiued, hoped with one's eves. skin. and GPA intact. The porsihility that'the s;udent might onjoy the work and choose chemistry a s a career is nor considered. One gets the impression that the author's interesting style and humor serve to spice up an otherwise dull and uninteresting subject. The "Survival Manual" would he an excellent supplement to a procedures manual or a set of experiments generated by the instructor. In addition, the book would be valuable in a c o m e taught by many different graduate students of varying abilities. It would amplify the graduate instructors*lab lectures and ensure that every student bas access to the needed information. The book's tone and anoroach are suited to a service .. course for premedical students, and the coverage is appropriate fur this group. For a class of chemistry majors and chemical engineers, however, I prefer a book with more coverage of the principles and a more enthusiastic attitude toward laboratory organic chemistry as an interesting discipline. Fessenden gives a more oositive outlook in a book of sliehtlv greateriength and depth, while ~armc;;h i wrirlen for the chemistry majom and his book can serve as a reference throughout the student's undergraduate and graduate study. Fessenden, R. J., and Fessenden. J. S., "Organic Laboratory Techniques," Willard Grant. Boston. 1984. hiarmor. s., "Laboratory Methods in Organic Chemistry," Burgess. Minneapolis,
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Chemistry of t h e Elements N. N. Oeenwwd and A. Eamshaw, Pergamon Ress, New York, NY, 1984 xxi 1542 pp. Flg. and tables. 17 X 25 cm. $34.95 PB.
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1981.
In perhapa the most significant one-volume inorganic chemistry work since Cotton and Wilkinson's "Advanced Inorganic Chemistry" which f m t appeared in 1962, Greenwood and Farnshawhave produced a landmark contribution with their "Chemistry of the Elements." Even in the Enzliuh tradition of thoroughness in coverage of descriptive inorganic chemistry, one would have to go back to Partington's teats to find material which is included in this book. It is hoped that we are in the beginning of a new wave in descriptive inorganic chemistry. The authors have organized their material following the families and the periodic table. Nearly 213 of the 1542 pages are devoted to the chemistry of the representative elements. There is agood blend of descriptive and structural chemistry. The major reactions and major compounds are frequently summarized in product d i r a m a , using arrows radiatinr! out from the center of the l i i . Much i%omtion on industrial processes and commercial uses of chemicals is included. The authors obtained much of this information directly from major chemical manufacturers throughout the world. The first member (and occasionally the second member) of each family is generally treated in a separate chapter. Each chapter is organized around the occurrence of the elements, production, atomic and physical properties, chemical properties of the elements, followed by the chemistry of the major classes of compounds. Frequent insertsgiving a chronology of the landmark developments and interesting presentations of industrial processes add to the completeness of coverage. The many excellent fxures showing structures of key compounds reflect the structural background of the authors. ~
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Leorv G. Wade. Jr. (Continued on page ~ 1 3 4 )
d in This issue
James W. Zubrick, The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual: A Student's Guide to Techniques N. N. Greenwoodand A. Earnshaw, Chemistry and the Elements P. A. H. Wyatt, A Thermodynamic Bypass GOT0 Log K R. Daudel, G. Leroy, D. Peeters, and M. Sana, Quantum Chemistry J. W. Akin, NMR and Chemistry: An Introduction to the Fourier TransformMultinuclear Era F. W. J. McCosh, Boussingault, Chemists and Chemistry William L. Jolly, Modern inorganic Chemistry C. J. Adkins, Equilibrium Thermodynamics, Third Edition Irwin Talesnick, Idea Bank Collation: A Handbwk for Science Teachers David A. Pipitone, Safe Storage of Laboratory Chemicals X F. Careke, Making Science Laboratory Equipment Volume 62
Reviewer Leory G. Wade, Jr.
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Wayne C. Wolsey S. 0. Colgate William C. Herndon Juana V. Acrivos
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George 0. Kauffman E. J. Billo Robert G. K w s e r Frank Mikan Malcolm M. Renfrew Dennis Sievers
A134 A137 A137 A140 A140 A140
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April 1985
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Needless to say, the boron chapter is espeeiallv well done. The onlv maior omission is, R dldruasion of ~-~~ - - the a n a l v t h chemistrv & elements. Frequent references are given to o r i g i n a l a e and key review grticles. References to 1982 literature were noted The transition metal coverage is again organized by families following a chapter on coordination chemistrv. Theoretr. 7L conceots.. TanabeSueano diaerams and the like. " are given at appropriav spots in the chapters on the families of elements. Some may complaim about the lack ofspace given to reaction mechanisms, but the organometallicwverage is good. Frequent mention is made of bioinorganic compounds. The book concludes with chapters on the lanthanides and actinides. A verv, detailed index is included. Here. finally ia a place (since Partiogton or ~ e m y j where one can find listings of such ivms a.i Pharoah's serpents, obsidian, Marsh test, Nessler's reagent, and Caro's acid. One would naturally wonder if this is an appropriate text for the senior advanced inorganic chemistry course. The authors have done a good job of blending theoretical concepts into the descriptive chapters and give wave equations and symmetry elements in the appendices, but it is the opinion of this reviewer that this book is not an ideal student text. Sharpe's, "Inorganic Chemistry," (Longman, 1981), is more appropriate. Its more limited coverage and expanded theoretical presentation is better for a text with a descriptive focus. Greenwood and Earnshaw's book is one, however, which every instructor of inorganic chemistry should have on hidher shelf. It should be included in every library collection as well as be in the hands of industrial chemists. This book will be astandard reference work for many years to come. Wayne C. Wolsey Macalester College St. Paul, MN 55105 ~~~~
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A Thermodynamic Bypass OOTO Log K P. A. H W ,,Royel Society of Chemistly, England, Dlstributd by American Chemical Society,Washington. CC,1983. vii 70 pp. Figs.13.5 X 21.5 an. $9.00 B.
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Elementary thermodynamics is probably the most abundantly documented and least develooine tooic in ohvsicd chemistrv. For this reason it b easv-to-aooroachnew works on the subject w&;autiok skepticism even while hoping to find perhaps a uniquely lucid development, applications in some new areas, or a fresh appmacb to some tiresome prohlem. In the preaent case, the author's offering, suggested by the title, involves a revision of standard thermodynamic tables to include entries of the common logarithm of the equilibrium constant for the formation of one mole of material at temperature T from its elements, each in its standard state at the temperature T. These columns which take the place of -(Go-HT,O)IT entries in con-
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Journal of Chemical Education
ventional tables-"permit a good deal of chemistry to he discussed in quantitative terms before anything which passes for 'tbermodynamies' is tackled." While the desirability of that goal may be uestioned, it is certainly true that tabula~ o n of s log K facilitate the computation of equilibrium constants and should be welcomed by students. The author makes his case for tabulating log K in ashort chapter (6 pp.) then illustrates it with ten well-solved problems. The remainder of the w a t i v e sxtions of the hook constitute yet another condensed survey for elementary chemieal thermodynamics. I t is little noteworthy except for its unusually forceful treatment of the inadequacy of equilibrium thermodynamics to predict the outcome of reactions in which equilibrium is never allowed to o c m including both induntrial and biologid processes. The main value of the work is the appendix in which data from standard tabulations (JANAF, Pitser and Brewer, Lahy etc.) has been converted to log Kvalues and tabulated a t 298.15,500 K and 1000°K along with the unusual AH& and S& values. Authors searching for a gimmick to help justify the apparently insatiable urge to write physical chemistry and thermodynamics text8 could do worse than adont this method. It desewes to be introduced ibca chemistry curricula; it seems a shame that the essential featurev were not simply published as a short paper plus tables in a journal such as this. S. 0. Colgate University d Florida. Oainesville Oainesvllle, Fl32611
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the many practical examples reflect an emphasis on structure and reactivity problems that have been of particular interest to these authors. This book is a worthy successor to its progenitor, "Quantum Chemistry" by Dsudel, Lefevre, and Moser. Prof. Bernard Pullman states in the preface to the new book that the authors have accomplished a remarkable synthesis of concepts, ideas, and methods. I certainly agree, and I think the new "Quantum Chemistry" is a required addition to the personal libraries of those interested in quantum chemical concepts. William C. Herndon Universiv of Texas at El Paso El Paso, TX
NMR and Chemistry: An lntroductlon to t h e Fourier Transform-Muninuclear Era J. W. Akin, Chapman 8 Hall, New York, NY, 1983. xiii 283 pp. Figs. and tables. 13.5 X 21.5 cm. $39.93 HB $16.95 PB.
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Quantum Chemistry R. Daudel, G. Leroy, D. Peeters, and M. Sam, John Wiley 8 Sons, lnc., New York. 558 pp. Figs. and tables. NY, 1984. xv 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $97.00.
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This is not an elementary quantum chemistry textbook, and it is also not a suitable text for sole use in an advanced course. Why then, do I feel that every chemist with a more than casual interest in quantum chemistry should have a copy? The reason lies in the authors' idiosyncratic approach to the subject. For example, the theory of partitioning electrons into regions of space called "loges" in one of the central themes of the first part of the hwk. The relationship of loge theory to the bond-orbital concept (Leonard-Jones and Hall), information theorv (Adangal)and Rader partitioning is careid; presented. The relationships to qualitative ideas uf Cillespie and Linnett are also delineated, along with many summaries of results and comparisons with experiment. Nowhere else can one find such a useful and understandable exposition of the loge idea, which of course was developed and espoused by this group of theoreticians. The latter half of the book is concerned with more general questions about the practice and applications of quantum chemistry. Many topics are covered including hybridization, the SCF method, and technical questions regarding computations, but the treatment of reactivity by quantum methods is the main focus of the material. One can again detect the personalized viewpoint, and
"NMR and Chemistry" is the second edition of a book published ten yeam ago. It gives in the first four chaoters a thoroueh review of the theory of spin-spin coupling kcessary to interpret 'H and I3C NMR spectra. This topic is of interest to organic chemistry student and this intmductory material is usually covered in undergraduate courses. The other chapters require more knowledge of instrumental techniques. The chapters on modern spectroscopy systems may be used in advanced courses, such as instrumental anal& where the students have a background in electronicstechniques. The laat two chapters are devoted to the brief description of new (1970 and later) developments in the field. There are simple problems at the end. NMR is a fast growing field and there are still new techniaues beine develooed todav.. e.g., for body im&ogandiolid sla'teanalyais (multiple quantum transitions). Therefore, this book may be used as a reference for undergradate courses together with others describing the more recent developments. Juana V. Acrivos San Jose State University San Jose, CA 95912
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Bousslngault: Chemist and Agriculturist F. W. J. McCosh. D. Reidel Publishing 280 Company, Boston, MA, 1984. xv pp. Figs. 16 X 23 cm. $53.50.
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How many of you have heard of Jean Baptiste Joseph DieudonnC Boussingault? Not many, I would guess. Yet the development of agriculture from an art and empirical bodv of facts to the status of a science in the nmeteenrh century can be artr~butedlargely tu the fundamental research of thls French agricultural chemist in the study of soil science and the study of plant nutrition. This
