book reviews treat the so-called relevant chemistry in purely descriptive fashion. "Chemistry and the Environment" is well supplied with study questions and suggestions for additional reading. There are very few numerical prohlems, and no answers to the questions and problems are given in the text; however, they are available in an Instructor's Guide. The book is attractively illustrated and, in general, the illustrations are well selected to aid the readers in understanding the written material. Carl W. Moeller The University of Connecticut Slorrs, Conn. 06268
Chemistry: Principles and Applications
Curtis B. Anderson, Peter C. Ford, and John K Kennedy, University of California University of California a t Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, California. D. C. Heath and Company, Lexington, Massachusetts, 1973. X + 550 pp., Figs. and tables, 26 X 18 cm. $10.95. My overall reaction to this text is very positive. The authors state that the text "was written for students with little or no background in chemistry" and who are "planning a career in biology, nursing, engineering, and other related fields." The text is very readable. I t seems best suited far a year course for average to above-average college students. It is definitely not for weak students. The text very successfully integrates descriptive chemistry, both organic and inorganic with a lucid development of chemical principles in the context of interestingly presented environmental issues, current technological applications, and contemporary industrial processes. This approach should maximize student interest but the organizing factor of the periodic table for the study of the elements is sacrificed. A special index of all references to the chemical elements enables the reader to quickly locate all the information in the text on any given element. Other special features include: 1)very extensive references in the body of the text which will enable a student to review related material presented earlier: 2) all new terms are printed in hold type in the text and exhaustive summaries of all new terms presented in each ehapter are listed section by section at the end of the chapter; 3) the text footnotes numerous short biographical resumes of virtually every scientist mentioned in the text; 4) the end-of-chapter supplementary readings are all very up-to-date articles in Science, Scientific American, Chemical and Engineering News, other periodicals, and selected paperbacks; and 5) the exercises and problems are captioned as to the main topical emphasis of the problem. Answers to most of the problems appear a t the end of each problem set. The exercises are one of the strongest features of this book. Most of the problems require clear thinking, concern themselves with conA1 10
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temporary topics, and the answers themselves are of great interest. In order to gain an overview of the flavor of this freshman text some comments on specific chapters will be made. Chapter 2 discusses metallurgy, cement, concrete, ceramics, and agricultural compounds in the context of environmental issues. A realistic and comprehensive discussion of energy resources is developed in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 makes extensive use of enthalpy diagrams. Both the ehapter materials and problems zero in on thermal pollution, new type engines, and platfarming of hydrocarbons. In Chapter 7 the reader will learn about pollution sinks and many aspects of automohile pollution. In addition to usual material on electraehemistry Chapter 8 mentions redox analysis of CO and SO*, new batteries for automobiles and space vehicles, biological fuel cells, heart pacemakers, electric vehicles, the plight of Lake Erie, the mercury problem, and corrosion and cathodic protection of metals. Chapter 9, gases and the atmosphere, is extremely well done. Virtually all of the seventeen problems in this chapter relate to atmospheric and/or pollution chemistry. Chapter 10 discusses liquids, solutions and phase diagrams, and then relates many aspects of water chemistry including the many faces of water pollution. The chapter on solids mentions the synthesis of gem stones, and "whiskers," and contains a beautiful diagram on the steps in the production of transistors. Chapter 12 discusses the chemical industry in terms of five hasic new materials and then details the preparation of selected chemical intermediates (trisodium phosphate, sodium hydroxide, sodium carbonate, and petrochemicals, including alkyl benzene sulfonates and linear alkyl benzene sulfonates). In Chapter 13 the preparation of such consumer products as esters, fats, ails, soaps, polymers, detergents, insecticides, dyes, explosives, herbicides, and defoliants from chemical intermediates is presented with the use of basic aliphatic and aromatic synthesis chemistry. Throughout this text there is a continuous reference to chemical economics. The final chapter on biochemistry discusses amino acids, proteins, enzymes, carbohydrates, hormones, vitamins, antibiotics, and drugs. This book should be considered seriously by all teachers of general chemistry as either a text or a source of good pedagogical ideas.
ticularly for students preparing for one of the health science careers. Its language and style of writing is emminently suitable for students who have had minimal exposure to and aptitude for ehemistry. The book is divided into three sections encompassing 33 chapters: Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, and Biochemistry. The chapters are generally brief but cover the essential material with a minimum of derivations and mathematical esoterica. The principal changes incorporated in the second edition of this well-received text are mostly in the form of additional and current examples of applications of chemical principles to health-related situations. An increased number of supplemental readings has been added to the end of most chapters. The majority of the changes in the text from the first edition have been made in the first and third seetions. A few outmoded examples and practices have been deleted while the new material includes expanded examples of the use of radioisotopes in treatment and diagnosis, medical applications of Dalton's law of partial pressures, discussion of hemodialysis in the chapter on liquid mixtures, discussion of prostaglandins in the chapter on lipids, an expanded [and needed] discussion on fluid-electrolyte balances in the chapter on Body Fluids: The Blood, and inclusion of chemical defects behind genetic diseases. These changes are particularly welcome for this hook far they provide a much greater insight for the students of applications of chemistry to situations with which they might be familiar or which they probably will encounter in their chosen careers. A few errors were noted in this edition, mostly in the new material added to the ehapter on Radiochemistry. On page 48, the technetium isotope used in organ scans is usually designated gsmTe or Tc-93m which decays by gamma emission to T c (which is also radioactive.) Figures 4-9 show a scintillation counter, not a Geiger counter as labeled, and an page 56, a rem is defined as roentgenequivalent to man. In summary, the second edition of "Chemistry for the Health Sciences" has provided an increased coverage of applications of chemistry to the health sciences without becoming burdensome nor sacrificing its student-oriented style af writing. Leonard F. Druding
Rutgers University Newark. N.J. 07102
Arthur C. Breyer Beaver College Glenside, Pa. 19038
Essentials of General, Organic and Biochemistry Chemistry for the Health Sciences. Ediion Two
George I Saekheim, University of nlinois, and Romld M. Sehultz, Chicago City College. The Macmillan Co., New York, 1973. vii + 515 pp. Figs. and tables. 24 x 18 em. $9.00. This textbook is designed for a one year introductory course in the basic principles of general, organic, and biochemistry par-
Joseph I Routh, Donell P Eyman, and Donald J. Burton, all of the University of Iowa. W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1973. xiv + 652 pp. Figs. and tables. 26.5 X 19 cm. $12.95. The authors indicate the purpose of this text remains unchanged from the first edition [see this Journal, 48, A501 (1971)l. which was directed to students "desiring a (Continued onpageAll4)
book reviews one-year exposure to the field of chemistry to prepare them for other professions or to increase their knowledge and understanding of current developments in ehemical research." Presumably such objectives could make the text suitable for courses for science majors other than chemistry as well as for courses designed primarily for non-science liberal arts majors. In fact, the authors refer to the renewed interest in "introductory chemistry courses which give a survey of a wide array of topics" as a motivation to preparing this new edition relatively soon after the appearance of the first edition. A number of desirable improvements have been achieved in this revision. Each chapter is now preceded by a statement of objectives and is concluded by a list of important terms and concepts covered. While some may feel this approach to be overly pedantic, it should be helpful to many students. The suggested readings at the end of every chapter have been thoroughly updated and contain many useful and interesting references, largely from Scientific American and the Journal of Chemical Education. While the total length is about the same as the first edition, the portion devoted to general and inorganic has been reduced about one-fifth and the section on organic has been increased proportionately. Two new chapters,
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one on polymers and one on drug biochemistry, have been added. The latter surveys a wide range of modern drugs and should be of special interest to students. Substantial and worthwhile revisions have been made in the chapters on nuclear processes and on chemical bonding. A few changes have been made and some new questions have been added to the prohlems at the end of each chapter. However, while the authors refer in the Preface to new topics which have been added to help relate chemical principles to relevant modem issues, and specifically mention atmospheric chemistry and water sources and pollution, the amount of space accorded these topics is quite short and hardly indicative of the importance of the subjects to present day concerns. Much material would need to be added in these areas in any introductory survey course, particularlv one aimed at liberal arts majors.
The general layout of the book in terms of readability of type and clarity of the illustrations, equations and structures is excellent. Many teachers will question whether this much material can he profitably covered in a one-year survey course, but for those who believe in this approach, this im~rovedtext should he eiven careful consideration. W. H. Puterbaugh University ofNorth Carolina at Greensboro Greensboro. North Carolina 27412
Molecular Geometry
R. J. Gillespie, MeMaster Univemity, Hamilton, Ontario. Van Nastrand Reinhold Co., New York, 1972. ix + 228 pp. Figs. and tables. 23 x 15.5 em. 632.M). The Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion Theory (VSEPR) is the simplest and most generally reliable approach to molecular geometry which may be taught to undergraduates. The major proponent of this approach has now prepared a book in which the details are laid bare in logical order with numerous examples. The VSEPR theory may be summed up as stating that electron pairs (free, or in bonds) stay as far away from each other as possible. What then requires a whole book for development? In addition to finding suitable geometric arrangements for up to nine electron pairs about a central atom, refinements are introduced to determine the numher of pairs that may be accamodated about a given atom, the relative size taken up by an electron pair compared to a bonding pair, the effect of multiple bands, the effect of electranegativity, and special considerations of transition metal compounds. The book abounds with figures and tables. Literally hundreds of examples are given with bond angles and bond lengths. The book is a tour de force of bonding without the use of orbitals. Accordingly, some concepts covered more directly with (Continued onpogeAJ18)
