book reviews
aspects, especially, in matching a textbook to the nature of the course intended t o he taught. Donald 8. Phillips Eastern Michigan Unkrs@ Ypsihnti. Mich. 48197
textual material. a brief summarv of the chapter, a selected reading list, and prohlems and exercises. Answers to a few exercises are prcwjded for the rhaptem on inorganic and organic chemistry. Considerable emphasis is given to environmental and health considerations. The text appears particularly well-suited for a full-year course intended for students of nursing and allied health fields. The fourth edition hears a close resemblance t o its previous edition. Some of the more obvious changes (and improvements) are as follows. Section numhers are provided. Red and grey shadings on tables, figures, and chemical formulas greatly improve the readability. Exercises requiring a numerical answer or esmpletion of an equation are new. Chapter 4 contains a new section on the gas laws included especially for those planning to become inhalation therapists. Gas law equations are given, hut no example problems are worked out. Chapter 8 is the new placement of Nonmetallic Elements of the Biosphere. Although its present placement is more appropriate than in the third edition, i t still is not an attractive chapter. I t might be one chapter t o skip if time runs short. Chapters 9-12 are organic chemistry boiled down t o a very compact form. Chapters 11 and 12, for instance, include alcohols, ethers, mercaptans, amines, aldehydes, ketones, carhoxylic acids, esters, and amides. Chapter 12 requires a fourpage Brief Review of its contents. Optical isomers, not discussed in the third edition, are introduced with carhohydrates and go only as far as left- and righthandedness. This is more than adequate and is consistent with the objectives of the hook. Chapters 1620 deal with specialized substances (enzymes, vitamins, poisons, ete.), body fluids, and metabolism. The level of difficulty is a magnitude greater than that of previous chapters, and one might wonder about the student's ability to master the content. It would seem that students who found the first 15 chaoters aopropriate in difficulty would find the metabolism and energetics sections more than challenging. Holum is relatively free of typographical errors. The most serious error noted was omission of the boldface numbers 4 and 5 (P. 375). Boldface numbers 1-3 were difficult to find in the text. "El&nents of General and Biological Chemistry" is available with a student study guide, teacher's manual, and laboratory manual. A set of 41 excellent transparancy masters of some of the more complex biochemical figures in the text is available free of charge t o teachers adopting the text. Holum definitely should he considered for a survey course of inorganic, organic, and biochemistry. The aspects of the hook questioned earlier in this review are somewhat philosophical in nature and are not necessarily intended to he negative criticism. However, one should consider these ~
A522 / Journal of ChemicalEducatnn
Enierlalnlyl and Educational Demonstrations Philip S. Chen. Chemical Elements Puhlishing Company, Camarillo, California, 1974.89 pp. Figs. and tables. 13 X 21 cm. $4.95. This text on chemical demonstrations is organized in the following manner: Color reactions; combustion reactions; photochemical reactions; sound effects; miscellaneous demonstrations; exhibits. The author comments in the preface that some demonstrations are magic-like and are often used by magicians. He further warns users of this material that few of the demonstrations are fool-proof due t o variations in materials and conditions. These concerns should he duly noted hy teachers of chemistry, hut of even more concern t o this reviewer is the need for a substantial warning in the use of many of the demonstrations due t o poisonous or relatively dangerous material in the hands of someone not thoroughly aware of these properties. On the expectation that most users of this text who have access to this review will take any necessary precautions further concern with safety will not be stressed. The section on color reactions constitutes the largest portion of this hook and offers a wide range of demonstrations from sophisticated and relatively complicated systems sueh as the clock reactions, t o very simple reactions which use the color changes obtained from acid-base indicators. Both can he used effectively to gain interest and attention in class or ta amuse and entertain other gatherings. A modest discussion of the chemistry involved follows many demonstrations but such discussion would require substantial amplification by teachers in the classroom for most groups. These demonstrations thus remain an excellent source for class use in the areas cited, especially the oscillating reactions and clack reactions which constitute about 'h of the demonstration material presented on color reactions. The somewhat shorter section on combustion reaction includes many spectacular although relatively hazardous reactions which might be carried out in the classroom under carefully supervised conditions. The instructional value of these is viewed as marginal. The section on photochemical reaction consolidates systems which use light t o cause the chemical reactions t o occur with systems involving ehemiluminescence where light evolution accompanies the chemical reaction. The discussion of the use of sueh demonstrations as lecture enhancers is valid although the chemistry is very complex. The discussion of sound effects again ineludes some relatively hazardous systems hut offers a wide range of relatively enter-
taining reartion.; whose educational value ra r o this reviewer romewhat uncertain. The discussion of miscellaneous reactions includes the preparation of sterno, the use of refractive index of a solution t o cause glass t o "disappear," preparation of Nylon, and the ammonia or HCI fountain. These reactions provide several chemical systems which can he used effectively in the classroom t o introduce, in a perhaps startling way, a topic of interest. Finally, the exhibits section presents a series of demonstrations which can he set up more or less permanently for viewing. Some of these would allow the development of corridor-type demonstrations which have had too little presence in ehemistry. In all I find this a very useful and valuable addition t o the various publications in the area of chemical demonstrations for both high school and college chemistry teachers. For those teachers called upon to presents less formal discussion outside the classroom this offers an excellent basic source of reliable and dramatic demonstrations. George L. Gilbert
asni+on U"i"ePS@ Oranvills. Ohio 43023
Bash Mathematics lor Beglnnlng Chembtry Dorothy M. Goldish, California State University, Long Beach. Macmillan Puhlishing Company, Ine., New York, 1975. r 196 pp. Figs. and tables. 15 X 23.5 cm. $3.95.
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This reasonably hrief paperback is intended to serve students who wish t o refresh their memory of mathematics and gain experience in applying mathematics to chemistry. Overall this objective is realized providing "Basic" and "Beginning" of the title are kept in mind. The ten chapters, each with problem sets to which answers are given a t the end of the hook, deal in orderly sequence with mathematical topics which commonly cause difficulty for less capable students in introductory chemistry courses. However, the first four chapters which occupy ahout 40% of the text are very elementary, quite labored, and should he mostly superfluous far many introductory chemistry students. Subsequent chapters upon Solving Equations, Reading and Writing Equations, Setting up Problems: Dimensional Analysis, Graphs, and Logarithms are relatively more valuable and include copious examples of worked problems end sets of problems pertinent t o Chemistry. A final chapter, "Special Topics" contains a section on use of a slide rule, which copes quite well with the fact that readers will possess a variety of types of slide rules, and sections on significant figures, and notations of trigonometry and calculus (the last in spite of the statement on page 97,"There is no need for you to he concerned ahout calculus,. .") The latter two seetions are inadequately covered so that their inclusion is scarcely worthwhile. An expanded discussion of significant figures might well have been usefully introduced earlier in the text. Normally, explanations of mathematical
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