book reviews (Chapter 12) involves short discussions of acid base theory, as well as oxidation potentisls, their uses and periodic brends. Chapters 12 through 20 include a group by group, element by element, rationalizat,ion of the simple chemistry of the elementa in their compounds as oxides, sulfides, selenides, tellurides, hydridea, halides, nitrides, azides, and pseudohalides. These chapt,ers-show a strong resemblance to me companion chapters of the preceeding edition. The new cluster compounds of the transitional halides are barely mentinned, although s new Chapter (15) treats the complex hydrides in considerable detail. Chapter 21, Introduction to Organometallic Chemistry includes information on sigma bonded methyl, ethyl, and phenyl compounds, but only a glancing blow to pi bonded complexes (to which a, passing reference was made in Chapter 7). The final chapt.ers include Periodicity of Caordinat,ion Chemistry, supplemented with two brief summaries Major Group Chemistry and Transitional and Innertransitional Chemistry. The user will find the book a valuable somee of data and periodic trends. The book is well produced with ltmaningly few erron considering thevery large number of tables and figures, each of which contains a large quantity of numerical information.
EDWIN M. LARSEN The Universily of Wisconsin Madison
A698
/
Journol of Chemical Education
Chemistry Problems
M. J . Sienko, Cornell University. W . A. Benjamin, Inc., New York,
+
427 pp. Figs. 14 X 1967. viii 21 cm. W.95. Paperbound. This useful book is a. revision in one volume of the earlier two volume "Frwhmsn Chemist,ry Problems and How to Salve Them, Parts 1 and 2", reviewed in THIS JOURNAL, 41, 690 (1964). The 801 prnblems, about half with detailed solution and all with answers, appear precisely a? they were printed in the fint edition except that blue ink has replaced brown for the answers. Deleted are the first three chapt,ers, section numbers within chapt,ers, several cross-references, atomic weight tables on inside covers, the index, and 33% of the price. In the sttract,ive printing, almost wholly from the origind plates, only three errors were found, references on pages 4 and 10 to t,he non-existent atomic weight t,ablble in the back of the book, +nd on page 397 use of NH4+where 0.4- belongs. Removal of the index and of the atomic weight tables on the inside covers (a. table is included on page five) introduces a.minor but unfortunate inconvenience. Loss of original chapters one through three, however, changes the audience of the book somewhat. Remedial work, no longer included, covered an introduction t o pmblem-solving techniques, treatment of significant figures, exponents, trigonometric functions, logarithms, simple algebra, mensuration formulas, space geometry,
and the slide rule. Students with serious background deficiences can therefore receive from the new edition no aid to help remedy their deficiencies. I n the eyes of the reviewer, however, the change is d l t,o the good. Most students in need of the deleted remedial material are quite unlikely to be able to proceed solely on a self-help basis, whereas the reduction in size to one convenient volume and the reduction in price make the book considerably more attractive to those who can best profit from self-hel~study. Since revision consisted entirely of deletions, complex-ion equilibria are still not considered; equilibria of slightly soluble salts have been omitted from the new edition. The st,ill extensive treatment of equilibrium calculations remains strong, however, as do the excellent unchanged sections on stoiehiometry and related concepts. As stated in the fint review, a section on nan-stoichiometry and defect structures and treatment of approximat,ion methods of solving equilibrium problems are distinctive features. The stated aim is unchanged; i t is intended primarily for self-study to develop skills in chemical calculation. The author deplores a "tendency to neglect the oldfashioned aspects of chemical calculat.ion" and msintains t,hat "chemical problemsolving, especially that devoted t,o stoichiometry and chemical equilibrium, remains the heart, of a successful introduc(Continued on page A 700)
book reviews
in this way might better be used to learn the chemistry of one functional group." He proposes t,he OH group with it,s central tion to chemistry." The book fulfills its role in the chemist.ry of most elements, purpose admirably. including carbon, other non-metals, and metals. S. L. BURSON The book consists of six chapters. University of ~VorlhCarolina Chapter 1 discusses the hydroxyl group, at Charlotle with particular emphasis on the a,lcleohols. The properties and reactions of water and alcohols are discussed and compared in Chapter 2. I n Chapter 3, there is preThe Chemistry of the OH Group sented the inflnence of the neighborhood on the properties of the OH group, folLeallyn B. Clapp, Brown University, lowed by a consideration of condensations Providence, Rhode Island. Prenticebetween molecules containing OH groups Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jerin Chapter 4. The author then moves to 108 pp. Figs. and, sey, 1967. vi a discussion and comparison of the nitrotables. 15 X 23 cm. Clothbound, gen system of compounds in Chapter .5, $5.95; paperbound, $2.95. and he closes the book with a third-dimenThis book, which is a part of "The sional view of t,he OH group. Foundations of Modern Chemistry" SeThe author uses the chemistry of the OH ries, is planned as a supplementary volume group to illustrate many broad and imto freshman introductory courses and portant theoretical concepts, including sophomore courses in organic chemistry. electronegativity, orbital structure, and I t is an outgrowth of the observation of reaction mechanisms. the author that organic chemistry is comThe book is well-writt,en and free from monly given a perfunctory and limited errors. I t includes good cross-references, treatment in general chemistry and high both in footnotes, and a t t,he end of t,he school textbooks. To the author, who chapters. with his pioneering curriculum studies has While there is not agreement wit,h t,he made a tremendous and important impact author's viewpoint that t,his material on the proper presentation of organic should replace an overall presentation of chemistry in the freshmen year, this organic chemistry in freshman studies, the limited presentation is unfair, and even completeness of the hook and its lucid dangerous. He, therefore, feels that inpresentation makes i t a pot,entially valostead of a limited spread, "the time spent able supplement to freshman and sopho-
+
more courses and in the libraries of high srhnol chemistry teachers.
SAMUEL P. MASSTE TJniled Slales Araual Aeadern~, Annapolis, Maryland $1406 Elements of Organic Chemistry John H . Richards, California Institute of Technology; Donald J. Cram, University of California a t Los Angeles; and Geo~ge 8. Hamwond, California. Institute of Technology. McGrawHill Book Co., New York, 1967. xi" 444 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 24 em. 87.95.
+
I n 1959, wit,h the appearance of Cram and Ilammond's "Organic Chemistry" ( J . Chem. Ed~ce.37, 325 (1960))a bold and sharp departnre from the t,axonomic approach to textbook present,ation of element,ary organic chemistry to science m e jom took place. Now, nine years later, most texts exploit to some degree Cram and Hammond's organization built around classes of reactions rather than classes of compounds. Their original work nnderwent a revision in 1964 which, illthough broadening t,he approach to the subject, considerably, st,ill left it s. most imaginative challenge to t,he committed science major. With the new text Cram and Hammond are joined by John A. Richards in t,he (Continued on page A70Z)
