chemical reaction included. I t is really too spectacular to omit. Then, the activity in which a cork is propelled from a bottle in whieh carbon dioxide is being generated is called Carhon Dioxide Rocket Launch (#2, Vol. 1, p 9). The analogy is not correct. This is a carbon dioxide cannon. Arocket moves by expelling material carried in the racket; an example would be to fill a balloon with carbon dioxide, release the neck, and watch it fly about. Finally, and I am really nit-picking, the prefatory material and appendices ought to follow the same format in both volumes. I have no hesitation in recommending this set to any elementary or high school science teacher who wants to enliven the course with instructive as well a s interesting activities. Even the college teacher might profit from it.
R. F. Trimble Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL62901
Concepts and Models of Inorganic Chemistry, Third Edition Bodie Douglas, Darl McDaniel, and John Alexander. Wiley: New York, NY, 1994. xviii + 993 pp. Figs. and tables. 19.8 x 24.2 cm. $75.95. This edition continues the pattern of an excellent balance of theorrtir and deseript~vrmatenal w t h a thuruug.h integration of thelatter i n ~ u t h e f o r n ~Thc r . length of the hook mcansthat rithcr a two-term course is required or the instructor must make a selection of topics for a one-semester course. The authors have been tu thr lattrr possibility hy envcrmg topics in progressympathe~t~c s i v r depth. 'lhus, the inrt~uctormay r h m e nut tu pursue, say all chem~ralamlwatron* bf svmmetrv ~ C h a o i r r3,. ~ H u rit is llkelv that once s'tarted, better &dents will press on using their awh time. The material grabs you.) This edition has been reorganized extensively into six parts: Basic Concepts, Bonding and Structure, Chemical Reactions, Coordination Chemistry, Organametallic Chemistry, and Selected Topics. General references and problems follow each chapter. A third edition of the companion book Problems for Inorganic Chemistry is available. Those who valued the clarity of the writing and the creativity of the presentation in previous editions will be even happier with this edition. Those who missed the previous edition should consider using this one.
Dean F. Martin University of South Florida Tampa, FL 33620
Reflections on Symmetry in Chemistry.. .and Elsewhere Edgar Heilbronner and Jack. D. Dunitz. VCH: New York, NY, 1993. 154 pp. Illustrations. Along day over, you hurriedly finish off the last morsels of supper and scurry out to the local a r t museum. Tonight, by special invitation, a famous scientist will speak about symmetry in chemistry and elsewhere. The hall brims with high expectations fostered hv tremendous nreviews based on ~ r e v i o u seneaeements. As the lights dim into the haze of post-prandial narcosis, the entertainment begins. The speaker, distinctly aware of the demographics of his audience yet unmistakably shackled to the tenets ofhis profession, begins to slalom his way down the slopes of symmetry between art and science. He leans dissymmetrically to the latter. The task, admittedly a precarious one, seduces him to gloss over some of his expertise in order to deepen a connection "elsewhere." Rapidly, however, he succumbs to his science and drops all but the literary allusion to the arts. His mastery of the science is impressive. Drifting mellifluously, you find yourself engulfed in a contiguous array ofanecdotes and aphorisms. Some strike a familiar chard kg., the cigar game from Henry Dudney'shusements in Mathematics and the tiling problem from Martin Gardener's Aha series), others add insight (e.g., the discussion of the historical development of structural chemistry and the motivation behind Alice), and still others create intrigue with their indecipherability. As confident as you are about precisely how each idiosyncratic story affects you, you know equally well that this kaleidoscopic colloquium must generate a distinctly different motif of daisies and daggers for your neighbor.
Although the structure of the lecture is fairly formal, the speaker rambles in a '"nomesy" kind of common parlance. This casual style causes only a few aberrations. A dide appears to show the principle ofbalanced weights about aleverand fulcrum. There is a boarddecorated with solid and dotted lines. Cutting along the solids gives three pieces that hang in balance, cutting along the dotteds lets two pieces fall to the ground. The speaker describes, "The b a r d is now sawn along the dotted lines . . ." In a later slide the speaker refers to the existence of two structures as meso and different, but the slide depicts the same structure twice in each of two different schematic forms. To quantify symmetry the speaker declares that the '"greater the number of symmetryoperations possessed by an object, the more symmetrical it is," and '8eauty = symmetry x constant." This forces you to question whether a hospital corridor is architecturally more beautiful than a spiral staircase. Minor glitches of speech can barely distract your attention from the slides. Indeed, the exquisite quality ofthe speaker's slides makes you a believer in the power of graphic arts. These pictures well exceed the proverbial 1000-wordallotment. Surely the bulk ofthe message can be found in these wonderfully sumptuous images. After the talk they are selling copies of the lecture, expanded and fully illustrated in book form: Reflections on Symmetry in Chemistry and . . . Elsewhere. The price causes you to consider waiting for the video, but finally you opt for a copy. Who knows, you might add some of this to tomorrow morning's lecture. Back a t home, you leaf through the book while you prepare your own lecture nates. The baok faithfully brings back the feel of t h e seminar. The citations a r e scant, but no matter-your shelves are replete with t h e scholarly books from which one learns the fundamentals of symmetry. With some background wark and same personal reflection you assemble a lecture of substance that should inspire young and old alike. Before retiring for the evening, you briefly contemplate where in the office to keep this new library acquisition. But instead, you walk out to the living room, slip the baok gently on t h e coffee table, snuff the light, and go peacefully to bed,
Jay S. Siegel University of California at San Diego La Jolla, CA 92093
Chemistry Imagined: Reflections on Science RoaldHoffmann and Vivian Torrence. Smithsonian institution Press: Washington, DC, and London, England, 1993. Figs.. diagrams. photographs, and 30 color plates. 168 pp. 20.0 x 25.2 cm $19.95.
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and literature. 1981 Nobel In this uniaue amaleam of art. science. ~~.~ laweate rhem~rtand preirnter of the PBS television couwr, "The World of Chemistry," Ruald Huffmann, and amst Vwxm Flang lhrrence hnw eollahoratrd to pmduer n cohcwnt srt ofimages 30 fullpage, full-color collages created during the period 1989-1991 by Torrence) and matchingessays-factual or scientific, philosophical or historical-x poems (Hoflinm's contributions range in length from two to five pages and include 57 line drawings) evoked bv these images. Alth&& such a venture is unusual tad& the histo"ca1 precedent for this activity can be found in Andrea Alciato's Emhlemata Flumen Abundans, a collection of symbolic pictures and explications. Published in Renaissance Italy (15.311, this Latin wark was followed by hundreds of so-called "emblem bwks." Evolving from Hoffmann and Torrenee's meeting i n 1986 a t the Djerassi Foundation, "Chemistry Imagined" has as its subject "the magic of chemistry-its historical roots, the richness of activities of modem chemistry, the ways of knowing of this central science." However, it is not only a trade book but also a traveling exhibition, whieh, since its opening in November 1991 a t the Des Moines A r t Center, has appeared a t the Purdue University Galleries, Indiana University's Fine Arts Gallery, Augusta College, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Douglas Drake Gallery, the Beckman Center far the History of Chemistry, the National Academy of Sciences, the National Institutes of Health, and Cornell University's Herbert F. Johnson Museum ofArt. Through its pairing of different media, the baok presents a n insightful and innovative look a t the creativity of chemistrv and rev& that chemistry, like art, is a creative p ~ &a fact ~ ~well , known to scientists but not sufficiently appreciated by the general public, for whom the volume is intended. Collaee. the medium introduced in the 1910's by Picasso and Braque and a&ted hy lbrrence, breaks up Volume 71
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Number 9
September 1994
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