BOOK REVIEWS petroleum chemistry and synthetic polymers. and to biochemlstrv on the other.
such as the assertion that the cyclobutane molecule is planar, are rather prevalent. Amino acids! proteins, and enzymes are the first topics in the section on biochemistry, and the functions of the coenzymes FAD and NAD (the obsolete term DPN + is used) are discussed. Vitamins and hormones are treated a s separate tesections, mainly from a descriptive standpoint. The steps of glycolysis, the tricmboxylic acid cycle, and the poxidation of fatty acids, are outlined. Surprisingly, there is little or no discussion of bioenergetics, or of nucleic acid and protein biosynthesis. This book achieves its objective of breadth and historical perspective. It bas a wealth of material on chemical technology and the implicatiom of chemistry in everyday lie, and it provides good r e sources for further reading. I t is well produced and illustr~ted,and is relatively free from typographical errors. However, organized as it is along static, descriptive lines, it failils to convey the dynamics of chemistry and the interpretive approach that characterize the better modern texts. The study questions and problems are not +
book will he best suited for use in a terninal course with students who have limited mathemtttiod ability and little or no high school preparation in chemistry.
DEREKHORTON The Ohio State University C o l u m h &$I0 Chemistry:
A Conceptual Approach
Charles E. Mwtimer, Muhlenherg Callege, Allentown, Pennsylvania. Reinhold Publishing Cop., New York, 1967. xii 692 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $8.95.
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Here is s new book, gotten up in an a t tractive open format. The print is readably large, with copious diagrams done in two shades of blue and black and white. I t is written in a direct and loaical - orose. . . and whereas it concerns itself with underlvine orincioles. there is extensive use of c.hernical examples and nupportiug WpQrimental evidence. It assumes the r ~ ~ d e r ha.+ IN, more hackpound than the awrage high school graduate. I t opens with sections on stomic struoture, chemical bonding, and chemical equations and quantitative relstionshilhs. After sectionson the states of matter; it takes up oxygen and hydrogen, along with the concept of oxidation and reduction. There is a well integrated section on the descriptive chemistry of the non-metals (100 pages). Chapter8 on solutions and electrochemistry precede the chapter on non-metals and chapters on chemical thermodynamiea
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(Catinued on page A998)
A996 / Journal of Chemical Education
BOOK REVIEWS (30 pages) and chemical kinetics and ohemical equilibrium (40 pages) follow. With the theoretical background established there follows logicdly a long section a n acids and bases and ionic equilibria (100 pages). This material is introduced to coincide with and support the qualitative analysis work that is indicated for the laboratory. Metals and complex compounds of the metals are treated next. Bonding in the complexes is described, with ample use of diagrams of orbitals involved ss well as energy level diagrams of molecular orbitals formed. The book is concluded with short sections on organic chemistry (40 pages) and nuclear chemistry (40 pages). Theory and example support one another. There are representative problems at the end of each chapter. It is a. good, wholesome mix, modem, but retaining its roots in the beginnings of chemistry.
FRANCIS NASHCOLLIER, JR. University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Russian-English Translators Dictionary: Guide to Scientiflc and Technical Usage
Mikhail G. Zimmwman, Mir Publishers, Moscow. Plenum Press, New York, 1967. 294 pp. 16 X 23.5 cm. 512. Following a special technique, lexicographer Zimmerman defines words and terms by illustrating their use in phrases. Conventional dictionaries have some advantages over phrase examples, e.g., direct comparison of Russian terms with their English equivalents. But Russian and English are flexible, expressive languages; shades of meaning whmh are lost in conventional definitions stand out in these illustrative examples. I n both languages, one word may have several meanings. Thus, the verb namsit' has about a dozen English equivelents in Callaham's "Russian-English Dictionary." Zimmerman brings them out more clearly in 14 specimen phrases, and adds a. cross reference to pokryat' for which he offers 9 phrases. Perhaps the greatest advantsgeof Zimmerman's technique is copious use of idiomatic phrases, not so essily explained in conventional word dictionaries. Both in Russim and in English, idioms are freely used. Trmdatom, seeking to avoid stiff or stilted renditions of Russian phraseology, will find this fluency in idiomatic English especially helpful. Though entitled a "Translators' Dictionary" this book is just as effective in helping scientists and engineers to understand Russian technical literature, even when they have no need to translate it. English-speaking students of scientific Russian will find it a potent aid in reading specimen Russian text. JULIANF. SMITE Lenoir Rhyne College Hickory, North Carolina (Continued a page A1WO)
