Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews Conceptual Chemistry: Understanding Our World of Atoms and Molecules by John Suchocki Benjamin/Cummings, 2000. 700 pp + 32 pp appendices. ISBN 0-8053-3173-5. $94. reviewed by Norbert J. Pienta
Conceptual Chemistry is a textbook that tries to integrate context into the conceptual understanding of chemical principles. The author, John Suchocki, states that “real-life applications facilitate the understanding and appreciation of chemistry concepts”. The book is targeted toward courses for nonscience majors and perhaps those in allied health sciences or the prep-chem audience. This review will outline the many features that work toward achieving the goal. The first 12 of the 19 chapters are defined as the core of the course, and include: chemistry as a science; elements; atomic structure; the atomic nucleus; atomic models; bonding and shapes; molecules; water; chemical reactions; acids and bases; redox; and an introduction to organic chemistry. These 383 pages are packed with most of the fundamental principles and some of the examples that one would find in a traditional general chemistry text; this makes the core chapters a rather complete survey but one that might be challenging for the nonscience major course in one semester. The emphasis is on the understanding of the ideas, and calculational rigor is de-emphasized. The number crunching is relegated to a pedagogical feature called the Calculational Corner. This is a clever idea since those who teach the course can implement a variable amount of mathematics, from virtually none to a moderate amount. There are plenty of pedagogical features in the text. Virtually all of the figures represent chemistry on the symbolic, macroscopic, and microscopic levels. Thus, a figure about mixtures shows a cartoon of sugar being poured into coffee and two separate callouts show a model of solid sugar and one of a sugar solution in water. Another common feature is a boxed, in-text question (and answer) called the Concept Check. It is intended for students to do a self-assessment on text that they have just read. Another interesting feature, Hands-On Chemistry, describes simple demonstrations with sufficient procedural detail that students can carry them out themselves. An example from the chapter on molecular mixing is the paper chromatography of black ink from a felttipped pen. Additional visual components include photographs that are always annotated and are always examples of material covered in the nearby text. There is widespread use of cartoons, stylized line drawings in place of a photograph, or a “talking head” that emphasizes a point in a frame or two.
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The pedagogical features are color-coded boxes, and the mixture of text and images is not overwhelming. Each chapter ends with a list of key terms and definitions that need to be matched, review questions (and the sections to which they refer), hands-on chemistry insights (that provide theory and explanation for the activities of the same name), exercises (that are best described as end-of-chapter problems), discussion topics (for longer written assignments), and suggested reading and Web sites. The 30–40 review questions per chapter are generally of the type and at the level where they test recall of descriptive items or facts. The 30–40 exercises per chapter require some thought. Some instructors are likely to want more exercises, particularly anyone interested in more calculational activities and in more levels of difficulty or complexity. The enrichment chapters (13–19) cover the chemicals of life, drugs, food production, water resources, air resources, material resources, and energy resources, respectively. The last four are interesting because they approach the topics from a global or societal perspective. Thus, these chapters integrate several kinds of concepts and examples and are very different from the first twelve chapters. They are also a lot less like the traditional chemistry topic survey. A significant ancillary is “Conceptual Chemistry Alive!,” a 12-CD-ROM collection of tutorials that match the content in the core chapters of the book (1–12). On each CD the author presents lectures or performs demonstrations of concepts or ideas from the sections of the book. Thus, the author talks in front of an illuminated presentation board on part of the screen; the remainder of the screen will have relevant written material or space where the user can take notes. These contents of the “notebook” can be saved. Students who are visual learners, need clarification or repetition of a concept, or don’t go to their regular course lecture are likely to find these videos useful. In summary, this book defines its philosophy and sticks to it. It is well-written and will be understandable to the nonscience major; it has a rational organization and layout. The core follows the principles covered in most general chemistry courses. For the nonscience-major audience, it would be challenging to cover the core and very many of the enrichment chapters, but there is certainly plenty to choose from in both categories. For the prep-chem audience, the relatively small amount of mathematics, few calculations, and implementation may turn off instructors. (But perhaps that is why students in those courses are turned off by the traditional textbooks that are offered for their use.) If you are in the market in this or a related category, give this book a serious look. Norbert J. Pienta is in the Department of Chemistry, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242-1294;
[email protected] Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 80 No. 7 July 2003 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
