Atoms and molecules: An introduction for students of physical

Atoms and molecules: An introduction for students of physical chemistry (Karplus, Martin; Porter, Richard N.) Frank C. Andrews. J. Chem. Educ. , 1972,...
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book reviews referencing, footnoting of sources, hihliogritphy, etc. The second section on treatment of experimental data h m more than the usual treatment of the statistics of measurements along with propagation of errors and curve fitting. At the end of the book is s. nice 30 page introduction t o electrical measurement and simple electronic circuits. This section, written by D. T. Opalecky, covers dc and ac measurements and then dedls with simple operational amplifier circuits and various other instruments. The bulk of the text contains 49 student experiments. Twenty-one of these make use of a. single ohsmical system-binary mixtures of dimethyl sulfoxide and water. The attempt to provide aunifying theme is laudable but the author carries the idea too far. The idea works well for many of the traditional physical measurements such as viscosity, vapor pressure, etc.; i t is of more questionsble value when meesuring electrolytic conductance and transference and has led t o poorly formulated experiments using X-ray diffraction and nmr. In the nmr experiment the "40-60 Mops" (MHz) are referred to as in the "microwave range." The explanation for proton resonance shifts in hydrogen bonded systems implies a static model. No ment,inn is made of kinetic effects which result in ohernidshift meraeine. -, a necessawconsideration for a n understanding of the resonance position in most hydrogen bonded systems. The X-ray experiment suggests t,hat the instructor can readily obtain powder diagrams a t low temperatures although thevast maiority of available powder cameras (inrhtding the one described in the experiment) require significant modification for use a t other than room temperature. The illustrrtted "cooling device" gives no indication of how you get the cooled nitrogen onto the s&mplewithout exposing the film. Many far more suitable experiments are given in other texts and in T H E .JOURNAL. These exarnnles illustrate some of the r n ~ r c c i ~ n i f i ~prr,hlcm. nnt Imi ihr book 1.1; oihcrs .-ovh the tIi?grxm I. 1). %,fI.II W) motor driven spiralstirrer that surrounds s. thermometer. I assume the motor most he hooked up to an oscillating crankshaft arrangement but no mention is made of this. Unless there are rules of topology I don't know, rotation of his stirre, will lead to destruction of the apparatus. ~~~

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J A M H. ~ LOEALIN Welleslay College Wcllesley, Mass.

Methoden der Organischen Chemie. Band S/lCTeil 3. Kohlenwasserstoff. Conjugated Diener, Dielr-Alder Reaction Edited by Eugen Miiller. Fourth Completely RevisedEditian. Georg Thieme 1296 Verlag, 1970. Stuttgart, xxviii pp. 5 figs., 120 tables. 17 X 25.5 cm. D M 458; subscription price, DM 412.2.

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There was the old professor who, on reading "Die Methaden Der Organischen Chemie," gained a new insight on a prob-

A42 / Journal of Chemical Education

lem of synthesis. He hurried into t'he laboratory to inform his graduate students, a young man and woman. The students likewise were so impressed they joined handi and bowed their heads in reverence while their tescher read several par* graphs of enlightenment. With a deep sense of satisfaction, the professor returned to his office while the students, not understanding a word of German, hurried on their honeymoon under the impression that he had married them. Synthetic organic chemists likewise will find much enjoyment, srttisfrtetion, and inspiration in this classical work. This series will eventually appear in about 45 individual volumes and undoubtedly will be recognized as s. monumental work of organic literature. The arrangement and presentation of the material makes i t a. convenient and indispensable sonrce of information to anyone seriously interested in the synthesis and reactions of the various classes of organic compounds. This particular volume on hydrocarbons is an excellent summary of the chemistry of dienes. The first part (854 pp.) describes about 100 different reactions with their variations leading to the synthesis of this class of compounds. The second part (121 pp.) outlines the reactions of conjugated dienes with reagents which do not produce new carbon to carbon bonds. This is followed by s. section dealing with reactions which involve new crarboncarbon bond formation then extended to cyelo~dditionsproducing three, four, five, six, and higher ring systems. The concluding parts survey the information on photochemical reactions, dehydrogenation. aromatiaation, substitution reactions. isomerisation, metal complexes, etc. The subject index lists about 5500 individual compounds. There is also a. special index of the Diels-Alder types of reactions giving the dime plus the dienophile combinations of nearly 2000 such reactions. This volume is an exhaustive survey of the literature through 1967 and in part of 1968. I n view of the considerc~ble academic and industrial interest in conjugated dienes it should be a valuable addition to the library of research chemists.

G . H. RICHTER Rice Uniuersity Houston, Teras

Development of the Chemical Balance

John T . Stock, University of Connecticut, Storm, Conn. Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1969. v 48 pp. Photog~sphs and diagrams. 18.5 X 23 em. Flexible covers. 10 shillings ( = spprox. $1.25).

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Weighing has been sn important step in chemical operations almost since t,he beginning and i t certainly has been the central operation in practically all quantitative operations. The two-pan equal arm scale or balance (from the Latin bi-lanz = "two dishes") was known to the ancient Egyptians, and balances were used by the early jewelers, money changers, and

metallurgists. The various details of balances (both one and two pan) have undergone modificstions over the years; the operation of weighing is being automieed more and more. Much of the preliminary work with the balance ibself' and the ancillary citlibration of weights is now omitted from courses in quanlitative analysis, which in some curricula are now omitted entirely. Despite its importance, the literature dealing with the construction and use of balances is relatively small and consequently additions t o this body of puhlished comment are always welcome. This short history of the chemical balance is based on a study of the Chemical Balance Collection a t the Science Museum in London, and in view of the low price of the work and its outstanding excellence its purchase is recommended. The material is resented in a clear straight-forward fashion, and is directed to the average reader rather than to the specialist. All aspects are inchtded as demonstrated by the chapter headine: The importance of weighing in chemistry; Factors governing the sensitivity of 8. balance; Early balances; The rider system; Weights and hooymce effect; Modern balances; Micro balances; Recording halances. Each of these topics is discussed in adequate detail for the average reader. The wealth of photographs of balances and their various parts a r e an integral part of the text and add greatly to the value of the book. The list of references will be of much use to those readem who may wish to go farther into the subject. R.\LPHE. O I ~ P I : R University of Cincinnali Cincinnati. Ohio

Atoms a n d Molecules: An Introduction for Students of PhysicaJ Chemistry

Martin Karplus, Hervard University, and Richard N. Porter, University of Arkansas. W. A. Benjamin, Inc., New York, 1970. xiv 620 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $17.50, hardbound; $7.95, softbound.

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There is an increasing tendency in undergraduate physical ;hemistry courses to get away from general textbooks and to substitute s~ecifictexts on coherentblocks of important subject matter. Examples are thermodynamics, atomic and molecular structure, and statistical mechanics. This reviewer applauds, and has tried to aid, this trend. The approach avoids the hodge-podge of special; seemingly nnrelated special topics treated in generalphysical chemistry texts; instead it covers a s e t of fundamentals in enough detail so that useful tools in understanding further chemistry are acquired and so that many interrelationships become visible. A disadvantage of the approach is that many people's pet special topics are omitted from undergraduate coverage. Also, the level of coverage is often precariously high, frequently rtt the level of graduate courses taken just a few years previously by the faculty members involved, and the under-

(Continued a page A441

book reviews graduates are trtxed sometimes beyond the point of diminishing returns. This hook on the structure and spectra of a t o m and molecules covers quantitatively whst most freshman chemistry courses these days treat quditatively. The level is indeed precariously high; there is a. lot of material and it is hard going for an under~raduarc physical rhcn8isrry W U ~ + P . Hw~cvcr,rhc hook is thorough and well orar~ircd.coverare of indivirlud topics is terse hut detai1ed;the wording is clear, and there are a lot of problems from which instructor and students may choose. The authors have obviously taught the material a number of times and have paid attention to the confusions of their students. Thus the hook can present complicated concepts in a relaxed, confident manner in such a. WILY that real insight is gradually obtained by the student. No time, for example, is wasted in giving complicated pseudo-derivations of things (like the Schrodinger equation) which cannot be derived, hut instead intuitive formulations of these things are offered as menmry. aids 11) undcr~rmdin~.nntl .\ I w r of vlmprer title< ruEKests rhr vovcmrc: Thr ('ons~i~nntts of hlnrrcr. ' l ' h ~ ~ u i n t u mTheory, The Structure of'oneelectron Atoms and Ions, Many-electron Atom, Molecules and Chemical Bonds, Diatomic and Polystomic Molecules, Molecular Spectra. This reviewer is happy to have the hook; he would have been happier had it been available when he was in graduate school; the fact that it is now appropriate far undergraduate use is exciting, challenging, and just a hit frightening.

critical survey at the beginning of each section tskes goad care of this kind of problem. Although comhustion and similar teehniaues mav he of limited interest to the nokspeciafist, the ease is quite different with the other steps which are involved in conduct of an analysis. The author's accounts of such general operations as sample preparation, weighing, t.ransference, and titration are very well done. Some of these techniques are involved in many forms of trace analysis. In fact, such techniques can he invsloahle in any preparation, isolation, or investigation which has to he performed on the ultramicro scale. There are some excellent examples of the value of hiamperometric and hipotentiametric techniques in ultramicro titrimetry. Since the publication of the second edition in 1961, Steyermark's 'Quantitative Orzanio Microenalvsis" has become the "hindhook" of m"icrochemists both at home and overseas. Tblg's monograph does not compete with Steyermark's authoritative work, but rather complements it. The new work is a. translation, hut this is betrayed only by the statement on the title page. Editing, proofreading, and general prodnetion are excellent, despite the quite low price. Tolg's hook is one that can hestrongly recommended.

JOHN T. STOCK University of Connecticut Slows, Conn. 06868

FRANKC. ANDREWS Studies in the History of Chemistry Crown College Sir Harold Ha~tley,F.R.S., Honorary University of California Fellow of Bslliol College, Oxford. Santa C r w Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1971. xii 244 pp. 15 plates. 13.5 X 21.5 cm. $7.

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Ultramicro Elemental Analysis

Gilnther T6lg. Wiley-Interscience, New 200 pp. Figs. and York, 1870. xiii tables. 22 X l.5cm. SI0.95.

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This monograph is Volume 30 in the series "Chemical Analysis" under the editorship of Professam Kolthoff and Elving. Although shorter than some of the earlier volumes, it maintains t,he high standards already set by the series. Essentially, the work is concerned with the determination of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, the halogens, phosphorus, and arsenic in submilligram samples of organic compounds. The aubhor pays a well-deserved tribute to Professor R. Belcher and his coworkers at the University of Birmingham, England, as pioneers in this field. To the specialist in ultimate analysis, the value of the hook is obvious. The authnr, who hes made his own notable contrihotions to this field, clearly and fully describes the apparatus, reagents, and procedures for t,he various determinations. methods that are satisfactory at the 100-fig level

A44

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Journal of Chemical Education

As stated in the Preface, this hook comprises a series of lectures originally put together seventy years ago. These have been amplified, updated and polished during the course of the author's long and distinguished life of chemical research. Sir Harold Hertley admits that there are chemists whom he would have liked to have covered (e.g., Cavendish, Wolleaton, Pasteur), "hut a t ninety I mustn't delay any longer." Despite these omissions, this is an excellent and soholilrly hook, sessoned by the author's vast experience and mature judgment. The time-span covered is approximately 1760-1860; i.e., the period including the h t e r phlogiston theory, "Chemical Revolution," birth of the chemical atomic theory, early electrochemistry, and the beginning of organic chemistry as s. distinct discipline. In Chapter I X the period coveredis -1865-1917. There are ten chapters. The first discusses Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), his life, first studies on gases, discovery of artificial soda water by impregnating water with "fixed air" (CO*), his studies on comhustion. and the isolation of oxygen, ammonia, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, and other gases.

Chapter I1 (pp. 19-57) covers the life and work of Antoine L a r e n t Lavoisier (1745-94), "one of the immortals." His contributions to geology, the calcination of metals and combustion, the role of oxygen in calcination, saltpeter production, thermochemistry, composition of water, reform of chemical nomenclature, etc., are d l treated; as is his great Traitd Eldmentaire de Chimie (Paris, 1789), which effectively overthrew the phlogiston theory. Chapters 111, IV, and V (pp. 58-152) discuss the very exciting early years of the nineteenth century: the work of John Dalton (1766-1844) on the Atomic Theory; Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) on the isolation of the alkali and alkaline earth metals. and the miners' "Safetv position of salts and organic compounds. Chaptem VI and VII (pp. 153-184) discuss Michael F a r ~ d e y (1791-1867), primarily a s a physics1 chemist; and "Farsday'y's Successors and the Theory of Electrolytic Dissociation." Chapters VIII and I X (pp. 185-222) cover the important work of Stanislao Cannizzaro (1826-1910) on atomic and molecular theory; and the contributions of Henry Edward Armstrong (18481937) and other great organic chemists of the nineteenth century. The tenth and find chapter (pp. 223232) eives a,concise hut informative review

contains many personal recollections by the author, and other information that it would he difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. The hook ends with a comprehensive index (pp. 233-243). The fifteen plates depict portraits (Priestley, Lavoisier, Dalton, Drtvy, Beraelius, Faraday, Hartley, Moseley), spparatus (of Lavoisier), manuscripts (by Dalton, Davy, Famday), the title-page of Cannizzmo's clrwsic pamphlet, and C. N. Hinshelwood's laboratory. This hook is enthusiastically recommended to university students for its scholarly coverage of the formative period of modern chemistry, its impeccable clarity of style, and its selection of material. Considering that it was written by a ninety year old gentleman, this work is a remarkably lucid and praiseworthy produb tion. ROYG. N E V ~ ~ E Beehtel Laboratory Belmont, Calif. 94008

Modern Theory of Acids and Bases

Ralph G . Peerson, Northwestern University, Evanston, Ill. American Chemical Society, Washington, D. C. Two tape casettes or two 7%. tape reels, 64page manual. $30. 41-frame filmstrip also available. $7.50. "Modern Theory of Acids and Bases" is not a book and not A-V material, but a. combination of the two. (CmUinwd on page A48)