General, Organlc, and Biological Chemldry Drew H. Wolfe. McGraw-Hill: New York. hY. 1986. xvii r 883 pp. Figs. and taoles. 20 X 26 cm. 537.95.
laboratory manual, a computerized test bank, and overhead transparencies but these were not available t o me for review. General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry is a reasonable choice for an allied health science course expected t o he the terminal ehemistrv course for students enrvlled in if.'l'he zrudpnrs will receive n hroad rxposure tu wme of the mmt pignificsnt applieatiuns of chemlsrry m our world On the other hand, a student required t o complete a full year of organic chemistry or a junior or senior level biochemistry course with no more chemistry background than provided hv this hook would be a t a serious disadvantage, compared to classmates with the standard general chemistry background. ~
General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry is aimed a t allied health chemistry courses and is also intended to prepare students for future chemistry courses. Chapters 1-11 cover the general chemistry topics and the author nates these were also the last to be written with the comment "I was therefore able to delete or deempbasize chemistry topics that did not support either organic or biological chemistry discussions in the remaining chapters of the book". Chapters 12-18 are devoted t o organic chemistry, descriptive biochemistry is contained in chapters 19-23, and physiological chemistry occupies the final five chapters. A review of basic math skills is covered in a 10page appendix, uith the revww lrm~tedto thr mu31 ba4c algebra skill9 and screntific notation. I.ugarithm keysun aralculaturare mentioned but no attempt t o explain either natural or common Logarithms is made. At nearly 800 pages, GOBC is definitely a full-length textbook requiring a full-year course to cover all the material. Anv student surcessiully completing such a courae will haw been erpowd to a fair amount of the nmwnclature of organir and biochemistry, have seen the names and structures of huudreds of molecules, and learned of the more important practical applications of these molecules. True to the author's goals, most of these applications are in the biological and oharmacoloeieal realm. At the same time, this student will n
