book reviews and terms and a section on answers t o selected problems completes the book. The authors have done much to make chemistry an appealing subject, and they have written this text in deliehtful s t v l e - m e s,hlch rradi w r y wrll and dur, not talk duun to the rcndpr. Son-sricnre students, rhrmistry majors, and teachers would profit by reading it.
certainly is a good one if one wishes t o adopt a h w k which stresses principles a t the expense of descriptive chemistry. Dewey K. Carpenter Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Lwisiana 70803
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William L. Masterton, University of Connecticut, and Emil J. Slowinski, MacAlester College. Illustrated by George Kelvin. W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1977. xv 636 52-appendix xx-index pp. Figs. and tables. 20 X 27 cm. $15.95.
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This latest edition of a oroven text exhibits the strengths and weaknrsser of the previws e d ~ r i malong , with some improvrmenl*. The strength; rnc lude clarity ofrxpmlram, l u r d figures, an abundant number of aptly chosen worked out examples, an excellent collection of problems (with many answers) and a very helpful glossary. The chapter on thermochemistrv has been imoroved. the treatment previously, a good chapter on polymers (synthetic and natural) has been added, and there is a hit more organic chemistry. A number of colored plates illustrate effectively some chemical phenomena which depend on color. The publisher, by increasing the page size, has produced a somewhat more awkward hook to hold. A more serious limitation of the hook is its overbalanced stress on principles a t the expenseof descriptive chemistry. The authors acknowledee in their oreface that mu31 studenw are preparing tor rnrwr3 tRhel than in chemistry dnd that tnrrrforr appl~. enrion principles i, sought. Although the present edition does include more practical applications than its predecessors, the book still comes through primarily as an introductory book in physical chemistry. In fact, 20 - of the 25 chaoters in the book are devoted to standard t u p m found in typical phy,ical chemistry texts. If is significant that the pul,li.;her has found it nwessarv tu supplement this book with a companion volume "Modern Descriptive Chemistry," by Rochow. averv fine book. One can onlvwish that ~ a s k r t o n - a n dSlowinski had inioroorated more ofthir tvpr ofrnatrr~almtu thew text, at the expense, if necessary, of some ot the physical chemistry. Additional companion volumes are also available of the usual sort nowdays: Student's guide, instructor's manual, self-paced study suoolements. audio-taoe materials. and even the text using SI unlts a spwinl w r s i m thn,udh
