book reviews Metabolic disorders sueh as diabetes and gout are treated in detail. Other chapters are devoted to sueh topics as immunochemistry. water and electrolyte balance, biochemical transformation of drugs, and liver function. But even here, one is struck more with facts than with underlying principles The text is organized in outline form, a feature which allows tor rapid reading and ready scanning Sheldon S . York
University o f Denver Denve6 Colorado 80210
these sample calculations and suggested problems are counter-productive to the stated purpose of the book since the beginning student often does not have the necessary background to adequately understand the chemistry involved. The book also tends to go beyond the mathematical requirements of most general chemistry courses, e.g., discussions on natural logarithms, standard deviation, "ttest" and the "Q test." Without careful guidance from the instructor the beginning student can be burdened with learning material that he will not use for some time. The study guide is, therefore, most useful to a student who has already comd e t e d a strone hieh .. school or colleee level chemistry course but in my opinion it is of questionable worth to most beginning chemistry students.
.,
M. Lynn James
Elementary Mathematical Preparation for General Chemistry
William L. Maaterton. University of Connecticut and Emil J Sloiiinski. Maealaster College. W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1974. vii + 233 pp. Figures and Tables. 16 X 24.5 em. $4.95. This study guide is a modification of an earlier version by the same authors, "Mathematical Preparation for General Chemistry." It differs from the earlier one through an increased emphasis on assisting the student who has difficulty "setting up" chemistry problems. This is particularly evident by the addition of the first chapter which deals with "Problem Analysis" and significant modifications in the chapters on "Unit Conversion" (Chap. 2 ) and "Functional Relationships" (Chap. 9). The second chapter continues the "haw to approach problems" emphasis of the first chapter, whereas Chapter 9 has new material relative to translating chemical principles into algebraic equations. Two new chapters have also been added; Chapter 3 deals with percentage relationships and Chapter 10 covers graphing techniques. The chapters a n Exponential Xumbers, Logarithms, The Slide Rule. Significant Figures, Algebraic Equations (4-8) and Error Analysis (11) have been retained with essentially the same emphasis although modifications have been made in how the material is presented. Portions dealing with geometry, trigonometry, and calculus which appeared in the earlier book have been deleted. In addition to the topics mentioned above, appendices listing reference sources, mathematieal tahles including common logarithms, squares, cubes, and roots are included as are answers to all the suggested problems. In its present farm the hook is quite clear and gives a reasonably complete treatment of the topics listed above. As such, however, it is not a hook that the student can readily use to learn how to solve specific types of chemistry problems. Extensive examples of these are given hut only in the context of illustrating the mathematieal concepts. Their inclusion does help to make the mathematical material more relevant to chemistry. however, in the reviewer's opinion many of A264 I Journal of Chemical Education
Uoiversily of Northern Colorado Greelev. Colorado 80639
A Search for Order in the Physical Universe
Clifford E. Swortz and Theodore D. Goldforb. State University of New York at Stony Brook, New York. W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, Cal315 pp. 18 X 24.5 ifornia, 1974. viii cm. $10.50.
+
This text is intended far a one-semester or two-quarter course an the principles of chemistry and physics. It is intended for "on-science majors who have a grasp of simple algebra and who have been exposed to one or more high school science courses. T h e authors attempt to reduce the complexities of the physical universe to a few types of interaction (gravitational, electromagnetic, nuclear and weak nuclear) between fundamental particles. After a n introductory chapter, the concept of interactions is used to explain many phenomena in chemistry and physics. In spite of having an excellent concept around which the hook is organized, and in spite of flawless scientific logic, the hook does not quite make it as a text which this reviewer would recommend. In the first paragraph of Chapter I, we are told that we don't know why the universe was formed, we don't know why there are living creatures, we don't know whether there is a special role for thinking creatures, etc., and then we are told that we don't even know whether it is important that we find out! After this last sentence (Chapter I, paragraph 1) one has to wonder whether there is any point in reading further. Following this unfortunate introduction the rest of the chapter is quite interesting and well-written. The authors refer to science as an art when it takes on the task of explanation and simplification of ohserved phenomena. Furthermore, science is said to be a human art, requiring skilled command of standard techniaues and the daring to d e ~ a r t from them. No doubt. Swartz and Goldfarb have taught an interesting course based an this (Continued on page A2661
