the text was $12.50, but recently it was $15.75 a t our local university bookstore. The original text sold ataprice far beyond practicality for course assignment. Thus, the price objective has been reached. \ l u r ~of tht small number itrrrurs noted by t h rt\.iover ~ in his last rrviru are in the d e l r r ~ dchapters. One puint lrtt 1s that the reviewer's basic mechanism for n - s * reactions hasonly more recentreferencing; however, this is a minor and personal complaint. More serious is the emphasis on principles of nhotoohvsies and ohotochemistrv with the , actual phcmrhemrcal renctiuns largely abs e n t This .dves the prublrm of pricing but I w w i 3 ~ 3 in p mater~alordinitrily dr5ired in a photochemistry course. However, one cannot have all things. In summary, the reviewer likes the text and recommends it. H. E. Zimmerman Universih,of Wisconsin Madison, WI 53706
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Chemicals From Petroleum-An Introductory Survey, 4th Edltlon A. Lawrence Waddams, John Murray, Publishers. 50 Albermarle St., London WIX 4 8 0 England. 1978. x 376 pp. Figs. andtables. 13.5 X 21.5 cm. E 6.50.
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Waddam's fourth edition remains a negIwtrd vl;r;sir in the arenut indumdorganrc texts 'I h ~ ;moderatel\ prittd p~perback cunt.rins more up-to-date.uirful iniormation on the whole of petrochemicals than any other single volume known by this reviewer. This text remains largely unknown in this country, perhaps since one has to purchase it from the English oublishers which means a ,. wn~tof at lrast a monthor more for the book to nrrwc I,? rllrface mail lairrr $meconverts poutld t o d d l a r s ~The . want I..wrll worth it, for this modest-sized text is really an encyclopedia of current petrochemical reactions. Although the author is an Englishman, Mr. Waddams in no wav neelects the U S . oetrochcm~ral processes. One marvels a t the brerdtl, and accuracy of the industrial process inftrrmation containrd in thic text. I'rrhaps we should say n umd shout the srr;tnatmrtu of the book.'l'hr t m t !,0 p e w are devoted to background material, placing the oetrochemical com~anieswithin the framework of the whole of industrial ehemistry 'I'hcn in thesecond, mnpr iertiun, titled "Petroleum Chemical Product* and Their Applications," Mr. Waddams does a masterly treatment of such topics as the derivativesof acetylene, methane, higher paraffins, ethylene, propylene, the C hydrocarbons, higher alefins. svnthesis eas. aromatics.. cvclic com" . p~jonds., ~ r b o nhlack, and wlturii 3nd. 'The 1 s t i w ~ t o nof the book deak a ~ t d hatist~cs ot prtrt*.hrmicals, including polymrrs. As mentioned above, this is a n encyclopedic book which is really not meant to be read from cover to cover but is to he used as a reference. And here, Mr. Waddams has not failed us, for he has provided an excellent index. Far example, if one wants t o know about industrial production of benzene, there are 10 references, while far benzene applications there are six references covering 16 ~~
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Journal of Chemical Education
some of the latest deveiooment erfmts of such companies as Union Carbide, Monsanto, DuPont, and Haleon. This book fills a real need for any organic chemist, especially the organic teacher, in that it presents a great deal of factual, modern. industrial organic chemistry that is largely ignored (or what is even worse, incorrectly stated) in most organic textbooks. KENNETH E. KOLB Bradley University Peoria. IL 61625 Coulson's Valence Roy McWeeny, Oxford Univ. Press. New York, 1980. vii 434 pp. Figs. and tables. 24.2 X 16 cm. $45.00
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The appearance of a modern version of C. A. Coulson's book "Valence" is long overdue, and the revision, appearing with the title "Coulson's Valence" under the authorship of Roy McWeeny is certainly welcome. I n providing a current exposition McWeeny has maintained the style and clarity so prized by Coulson. The frequent use of diagrams is continued and although certainly not a mathematical treatment, elementary mathematical statements are used when aooroorinte. Rouehlv half the book is eswnt~nllyas Caulson left i t , lmt McWeeny has nlw undertaken strhrtantiol reorganizatiun and expansion ot many \ertions. Two new chapters, several long sections, a selection of problems, and three appendices have been added. The first three chapters, which carry the reader quickly from a glimpse of the foundations of quantum mechanics through ta the notion of an electron wavefunction, are, as might be expected, largely unchanged from Coulson's second edition. The fourth chapter, an introduction to the elements of molecular orbital theory, is modernized and retains the streneth of the earlier versions. McWeenv of ic,ll.,u,i this introductim 11) ;I d~sruss~on thi tw,, &ctron uaveiunct~onsrhere the use C A vjlrwe hond parlance, .t> prominent in the earlier versions, is reduced by simply showing how bath spin and correlation can be accommodated by an extension of molecular orbital concepts. The middle third of "Coulson's Valence'' utilvr, the concepts and I ,~Iculdt~ms of moI P C ~ Wo h t a l method, t d r r rlhe bandmr: and structure. Separate chapters are allocated to each of diatomic molecules, polyatomic molecules, carbon compounds and transition-metal compounds. Coulson's treatment of these tooics is substantiallv rxpmdrd and reorgantth hy McWeeny. he number of calculationv which have been tjrrtrd uur since Coulwis .n>r rdition are, of course, staggering and their use gives McWeeny's version a more substantial air than Coulsan was able to achieve. In the last third of the book McWeeny, as did Coulson, attempts to cover a number of rather major but less connected topics. The first of these is Chemical Reactivity to which MeWeeny devotes an entire chapter. The application of molecular orbital concepts to reactivity has grown enormously since the last edition and indeed McWeeny's exposition is still rather soarse when one considers the impart on contempnmry work of Woodward Hoffman rules. MrWrmy next turns to
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separate treatment of metals and nonmetals. An expanded treatment of band theory is a sienificant and welcome feature of this c v h a p ~ ~ r .In the penultlmnte chapter. McWeeny treats weak intrmctions and un. usual bonds (hydroten bon~lr,rnre gas cum pounds and the like) a contemporary version of topics of current interest which continue to intrrgue. The final chapter reviews, rather cursorily, the enormous scope of modern self-consistent field theory applications. McWeeny has also included appendices on probability, angular momentum, and group theory which complement the material in the body of the teat. Over 5090 of the literature cited hy McWeeny has appeared since Coulson's last edition. However, most of these citations are from the sixties and early seventies-there are none more recent than 1977 and indeed only a dozen are from the 1975-77 period. As a result some recent developments have not received the discussion one might have exnected. This is true not onlv of the mare esanteria: topics-the phcr*phmitriles, for example, I,ut also of mow fundamental areas such ns transition metal rhcmirtry. Netertheless, as an elegant contemporary statement of our understanding of chemistry, "Coulson's Valence" has very much to recommend it. Chemists will continue toanswer questions by saying-'% is in Coulson." W. G. LAIDLAW Univwsily of Calgary Calgary. Alberta
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Canada
Application of Zeolites in Catalysls G. K. Boreskovand Kh. M. Minachev, (Editors), Akademiai Kiado, Budapest. 1979. 179 pp. Figs. and tables. 24.5 X 17.2 cm. $15.00. "Application of Zeolites in Catalysis" edited by G. K. Boreskov and Kh. M. Minachev contains plenary reports given by Soviet scientists a t the First All-Union Conference on Application of Zeolites in Catalysis held in Novosibirsk in 1976. Therefore, this book is unsuitable as a text a n zeolites but makes a useful reference especially on the subject of Soviet advances in the area of the utilization of zeolites in the oil-refining industry before 1976. There are eight chapters in this book. The first chapter, Zeolites and Catalytic Syntheses by Kh. M. Minachev is a general review of the types of reactions involvingzeolites in catalysis. Reactions of paraffinic, olefinic. and aromatic hvdrocarbons in the presence of zeolites arc discussed. Other resrtions included in thi* rhnpvr are olefin hydnhrmylatmn, synthesis of acrylates, preparation of esters, isoprene syntheses and many other types of reactions. None of the reactions are discussed in detail. Examples of the selectivity of zeolites are given in this chapter but no details are given in explaining the causes for such selectivity in any reaetion. The second to fourth chapters deal primarily with the role of zeolites in the oil refining industry. These chapters include: "Soviet Zeolite-Containing Catalyst for the Cracking of Petroleum Fractions," "Catalytic and Acid-Base Properties of Zeolite Systems," and "Factors Determining the Activity and Selectivity of Zeolite-Containing Cracking Catalysts." These chapters illus~~
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