BOOK R E V I E W S argument presented which could lend a student from the first equation to the second. Also, i t is probable that many students will not see that the third equation is n direct consequence of t,he first two equations, and the text does not even encourrrKe the thoughtful student t o search for interrelationships such as this. The author is satisfied to dismiss t,hese equntions by carrying out a numerir:xl aalcul>~tion using one of them. (6) In n later section, the author introduces the nniversd gravitational equation. However, he fails to discuss, or even to mention, the problem associated wit,h the det,ermination of t,he value of the universsl gravitational cunsbant. Here i t would rer-
tainly he feasible and desirable to discuss the very interesting experiments related to this problem as first carried out by Cavendish. (c) I n the chapter dealing with heat and the kinetic theory of gmes, the Avogadro number concept is employed without discussion of experimental evidence which led to the concept in the first place. I t would also be feasible and desirable to discuss present-day experiment,^ employed for accurate determination uf tho Avogadro number. Throughout t,he book the author emphasizes numerical eunversions. Often, he employs rather laborious numerical caleulations, inserted directly into the main body of the t,ext, where a single algebraic treatment would he more general and less tedious.
T h e author eommunimtes very little about the methods by which scientific theories are formulated and verified. This reviewer believes that a text about science which is intended for the nowscientist ehould attempt to achieve this g o d in some measum I n conclusion, i t can be said that the author achieves his stated purpose. This reviewer feels, however, that his purpose is too restrictive. The needs of today's college students who do not intend to become orofessiond scientists can best be fulfilled by providing an opportunity to d i p cover what science is really about.
JOHN T. YATES,JR Anlioch College Yellow Springs, Ohio
Fundamentals of Chemistry
I,. Jean Bogert. 9th ed. W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1963. xx 626 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 24 cm.
+
W.75.
This text first appeared in 1924, and now in the ninth edition the author states t h a t the material and design have been so thoroughly up-dated that i t is practically a new book, with new material on atomic structure, chemical equations, solutions, organic structure, tissue eonstituents, and intermediary metabolism. The title is misleading, since the subject material actually consists of a n elementary descriptive approach t o those asperts of chemistry and human metabolism which are of direct concern to the nume or dietician. The book has a n easy style, but the approach t o chemist,ry is t h a t of a quarter century ago, and the content is in fact particularly deficient in chemical fundementals. There is, fur instance, no mention of the gas laws or reaction kinetics, and only very superficial treatment is given t o chemical equilibrium, kinetic theory, and stoiehiometry. The discussion of atomic structure, as i t relates t o chemical properties and chemical honding, is likewise quite inadequate for it colleg~leveltext. The book abounds with errors of fact. The structural formulas are very badly printed, and well over half of the cyclic structures are ambiguous ur definitely incorrert. Frequent generalizations are made which simply do not represent sound modern chemistry. On page 202 i t is stated t h a t hydrogen fluorideis anodorless non-toxic substance useful as a. refrigerant. Other incorrect or inexact statements include: "silver, gold, and platinum are not acted upon by acids" (p. 106), "transitiond elements. .exhibit some properties of metals and others of non-metals in a rather confusing manner" (p. 2R), "100 ml. [is] one-thousandth of a liter" (p. 155), "most ethers are very volatile liquids. . . almost all ethers possess anesthetic properties" (p. 282), "ethers do not exist in nature" (p. 284). There are many more instances. The "modernimtion" of the book in-
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(Continued on page A296)
A294
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Journal o f Chemical Education
BOOK REV1 EWS the last decade. The section on biochemi* try ia descriptively based on tissue and function in the human organism, and fails to bring out an effective unified picture of the chemistry of metabolism. There is no mention of DNA and RNA in relation to the chemistry of heredity and to protein synthesis. The seetiondoes, however contain much eeneral information which is of practical utiiity for the nurse. The level of the subject would be adequate for high school use, but the factual inaccuracies and outmoded approsch of this book render it of doubtful .rs~lla
DEREKHORMN The Ohio State University Columbuz, Ohio Foundations of Thermodynamier
peter F ~ syraCuse ~ ~ university, , Syracuse, N~~ York, University press,N~~ york, 1963, + 94 pp. Figures. 14.5 X 21.5 cm. 52.50. "This book is concerned primarily with the physical principles of thermodynamics. Mathematical deductions (thermodynamical relations and different forma of the equilibrium conditions) and detailed calculations will not be included here. Aoolications are discussed only for the purpose of illustrating physical principles; the chapter on applications is by no means in-
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tended to be a complete and balanced treatment. It is hooed that the discussions of nhvsical nrihcinles mav heln to improve 'tde und&tadding of the&dynamics. This book may be used as a. supplementary text in thermodynamics courses for an exposition of the physical principles, leaving the mathematical elaborations and applications to he covered by other standard textbooks." The author's hope as expressed in the preceding quotation from the preface of his book is not likely to be realized. Confusion in terminology makes the author's presentation far more complex than it should b e p a r t l y hecauae he has to spend so much time explaining away difficultiesthat would not auoesr if be had been careful in his choice dl'words at the outset. F~~example, on page 13 he uses the notation A& and AW, thus implying that heat work are DroDertiesf, n, svn+,em. " ~~~~~-~ Most of the time'the context seems to indicate that he knows better; but on page 20 the following words are puzzling: "increase at heat of the first system!' NO system has heat in it, any more than it has work in it. The wont source of confueion in the hook is the author's iailure to distinguish between a given spontaneous change and the infinite number of methods by which it may be carried out: one the reversible process and all the others irreversible orocesses. Sometimes he uses the term i'spontaneous process" to mean "spantaneous change"; a t other times it means "irreversible process." This failure, which
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hampers the discussion of entropy throughout the hook. is most clearlv aooarent in the discussion of the ~ a n i e l ceiinear i the end an page 65. The confusion may be cleared away by recognieing that the word "process" means the mehod by which a given spontaneous change is carried out. One of these methods is the reversible process; all other methods are irreversible processes. The reaction of Zu with CuSO, a t 25' and ai = 1, discussed on page 65, is a spontaneous change (or spatuneom w a e t i a ) eharsrterized by a definite negative vdue of AF. This chmacteristio negative value of AF is the same no matter by what method the reaction is actually carried out. But for any given spontaneous reaction a t constant pressure and temperature the total entropy change may vary from eero to a maximum of - AF/T depending upon the method by which that spontaneous reaction is carried Out. W. P. LUDER Northeastern University Boston, Mmsaehusetls The Encyclopedia of Engineering Materials and Processes
~ d by X, ~ R,~clause, ~ d al. ~ ~ N~~ york, 1963, hold Publishing cow,, + 787 pp. pigs, and 18,5 26 cm, s25, Thia book was not written for the materiala or processing expert but rather for the person who is aware or needs to be (Continwd on page A298)
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