GENERAL CHEMISTRY: A LABORATORY MANUAL OF SEMI-MICRO METHODS
John F. Boxter, Professor The University of Florida. lishina Co.. Minneaoolis. 129 pp. 21 X 27.5 cm: 53.50.
of Chemistry, Burgess Pub1956. ix t Paper bound.
THISm m u d waii mitten exprensly for the aut,hor's onm course. Instead of drawings oi apparat,us, one finds, "Spt up an apparat,ns like the snmplc appamt,us on the stock shelf." I t is written, however, in such a manner and the experments arc so chosen t,hat anyone xvodd find it readily ndapt,able. The existencr of so few mnnnals for ~cmimierogeneral d~rmiatry raperimentntion makes it. worthy of note by nll who attempt this type of instruct,ion. Howrv~r,t,he semimicro character does not stand out. It, could just a8 easily be used by those not, having changed to semimicro methods. Therr are 19 assignments for a t,wo-semestcr course with one t,hree-hour laborat,nry ~ m i o d cneh weck. Initial instnxtions are given t,o the student in some detail, with a n emphasis an technique and safety. The anthor believes firmly that it ia better to do s few things well and in depth, rather than to attempt such a wide coverage as is nsnslly stt,empted. I n nceortlanec with this, many of the erperiments are quantitative or else illne trativo of theory. Much of the first mnester's assignment is in the a r m of acid-base relationship and equilibrium theory. The second semester continltcs in this vein with applications to qualitative analysis. This work, however, is not intended to he a regular course in qualitative analysis. Only a limited number of cations and anions are studied. The student is expected to use a good deal of initiative in developing his awn analytical scheme in the light of previous observations and theory. Oxidation-re-
duction and complex ion behavior are included. The manual closes with an assignment on the chemistry of the halogens. But even here i t is not the l~sualpreparative and descriptive type of experiment. Rather, the artt,har once more puts to work principles of oxidat,ion and of complex ions. G L E N R. MILLER
C.osnru C ~ ~ , , B O E Goannx. INDI*N*
LABORATORY STUDIES IN GENERAL CHEMISTRY
Williom F. Ehret, New York University, New York. Second edition, the Century Sex.ies. Appleton-Century-Crofts. Inc., New York, 1955. viii 295 pp. 3 6 figs. 21.5 X 26 cm. Paper bound. $2.75.
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T r r ~second edition of this popular Inborntory manual maintains the basic approach of the first edition but repre8ent.s u. drastic lrvision in content stimulated hy went developments in chemistry and by t,he experience of the i n t w vening yems. This mamtal eonbnins fifty-one experiments and ten appendixes. About eight experiments might be rlassified as inorganic preparations, about nine deal with analytical chemistry, approximately n i n e tern with what might be termed "chemical principles." The remaining are descript,ive inorganic msterial. Crratev emphasis has b ~ e nplaced on the critical evaluation of experimental result,s, and the use of "unknowns" has been eontinued. The appendixes include "much information of general value to t,he student as he proceeds with the course," such a8 exponential notation, significant figures, and the use of logarithms. Of interest t.o instructors is the sobdivision of experiments into units of
operation which make assigning pnrts of experiments casier. Moreover, the rise of apparatus, quantity, and number of chemicals consumed has been materially reduced. Most of the question^ and problems appmded to the experiments are new. A double-column format, many more illustrations, and single report shwts for each enperimrnt we fewtnres of the second edition. This mnnual represents a solid, ranventional approach to general chemistry lzboretary inst,rurtion and reflects t h r experience derived from training many t,hooasnds of st,udenta. W I L L I 4 M T. LIPPINCOTT MIC~CA STATE N UU~YERPITT EAST T.nssr~o,Mrcrnohn
GENERAL CHEMISTRY
J. A. Timm, Professor of Chemistry, Simmons College. Third edition. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc., New York, 1956. viii 636 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 23.5 cm. $6.
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T ~ r i~ s the third edition of a popolar textbook by Professor Timm. RIoat readers will applaud his success in trimming the number of chapters and pages. This is, indeed, a rare nccomplishmmt. I t is probably the one exreption that was needed to prove the rule that revisions are always bigger and "better." The author has attempted a conve1.sstional ~ t y l eand is fairly sucressful in the theoretical disrursions. Descriptive seetions, however, tend to be reminiscent of the reference book. There are chapters where same users would wish for less descriptive detail and more structural enlightenment. Instructors seeking a, stimulating frcslr approach are going to be disappointed. This author is yielding ground slowly, fighting a. delaying action all the way. (Continzted on page AlZ4)
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
For this reason, the tcxt should delight the teacher of a classics1 descriptive inorganic beginning course who feels eompelled, for one reason or another, to steer his way cilot,ioosly toward a more theoretical and less descriptive presentation. Because this author steadfastly refuses to be seduced by the utterly simple and direct approach of the atomic mass unit (amu), the student must struggle with relative atomic weights. I n general we are confronted with a, classical treatment of beginning college chemistry which has been revised conscientiously in favor of a more modern approach by a very capable author who, seeminglv, does not quite have his heart in the work. A8 wed in this book, the term "mole" is synonymous with "gram-molecularweight." The fact that there are Avagadro's number of molecules in a. male of any suhstance is emphasized. When it comes to solutions of electrolytes, however, t,he problem of expressing ion concentrations in consistent units is neatly solved by ignoring it completely. Some teachers who struggled valiantly to get their students to write down units along with numbers are going to be a littlc unhappy t,o read on page 260 that, " . . . the concentration of the hydronium and acetabe ions is 0.1 X 0.0132, and that of the undi~sociated molecules of acetic acid, 0.1 X 0.9868." The treatment of ionic equilibrium would hardly be sufficient for a co~lrse which inclndes qualitative analysis i n the second-semestcr laboratory work. The students' introduction to acids and bases is complicated unnoecssarily by the exclusive uae of the B1.6nsted definitions while the potentially mare useful Lewis theory is not even mentioned. Both the valencorhange and ionrlrct,ron methods for balancing oxidat,ion equations are discussed. The instructions for the latter will be considered insufficient by some inrt,ructors because the student is never told how to complete a hali-reaction by the appropriate addition of water molecules and hydronium or hydroxyl ions. Students will like the consistent use of e - for electrons in the halfreactions. Most of the equations in the hook are written in the molecular form even for reactions hetween ions in solution. Ionic equations are usually reserved for oxidation-reduction procenses. Modern inorganic nomenelat,nre is completely ignored and the reader is protected from such terms as "iron(I1) sulfate hexahydrate." There is no discussion of atomic orbitah or subshells of electrons so the development of electron configurations and the periodic table is quite srhitrary with the student being left to wonder just why shells of 2, 8, 18, and 32 elect,rans should be stable. On the other hand, chemical bonding is presented quite adequately and there are some very good electros-dot diagrams in fieveral of the chapters. There is a modest assort,ment of exrellent photographs and fair drawings. Thp format and general s p p c a r m c ~ahow (Continued on page A126)
JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
;Pecent ~4 neither tho bleak a u ~ t e n t \of . some of the
of exercises and reading assignments seems adequate though shoprvorn. While chapters have been rearranged and cambined and sections deleted or rewritten. friends of the previous editions will he disappointed to see mostly the same old exercises. The hook appears to this reviewer to be highly readable, an indiapensable quality in any textbook for the beginning course. The appendix includes a table of &place logarithms, solubility products, solubilities ai salts, vapor pressures of water, metric units, and a review of arithmetic. JACK W.EICHINGER, JR. F~orno*STATEUNIVER~IY TALLABABSEE, FLOR~A
INTRODUCTORY CHEMISTRY Otto W. Nitz, Associate Professor of Chemistry, Stout State College, Wisconsin. D. Van Nostrand Company, Inc., 520 pp. 15 Princeton, 1956. viii tables. 15 X 2 3 om. $5.75.
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A C C ~ ~ D I to N GJules Verne, Captain Nemo in the year 1866 sailed his Nautilus twenty thousand leagues under the sea. He used sodium to make it go. On page 324 of the volume being reviewed, we learn that todav's Nautilus also uses so-
great many practical applications to arouse interest, especially in the last quarter of his text which follows the chapter on organic chemistry. Unfortunately, few of the students taking chemistry for "cultural" purposes have developed an absorbing interest in technology 80 that other devices should be employed if a direct interest in the study of chemistry is to be developed. Stripped of vagueness and ambiguity, the ides, that liberal arts students can study chemistry with profit means that chemistry has an intelleotual content. That is to say, it typifies one of the extremely successful ways that civilized man has used to cope with his environment. Basically, this power has come from understanding which makes possible prediction and control. Long-lasting lacquers and soapless soaps have come along with this understanding, hut from the point of view of the teacher the understanding of chemistry is the important thing. This means that in a textbook for the general student an interest in the subject must first be aroused, znd then the outlines of the subject must be presented as vividly and as clearly as possible. The clearest presentation is one that sets before the reader the relationship of one part of the subject to another so that he is able to see how the members of the framework are linked. I n the present book the relationships are all there of course, but only b,v implication. For example, on pages 181-2 (Continued on page Ales) JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL EDUCATION
