Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews
Holleman-Wiberg’s Inorganic Chemistry edited by Nils Wiberg Academic Press: New York, NY, 2001. xxxix + 1884 pp. ISBN 0-12-352651-5. $175 reviewed by William B. Jensen
The first edition of this textbook was published in 1898 by the Dutch chemist, Arnold Frederick Holleman (1859– 1953). In 1900 it was translated into German and in this form rapidly became one of the most popular texts in the field. As of 1995, it has passed through 34 German editions and more than 100 printings. In 1943 editorship of the text was taken over by the German chemist, Egon Wiberg, and since then it has become known simply as Holleman-Wiberg among German-speaking chemists. Though the book’s cover claims that the current edition, under the editorship of Nils Wiberg, is the first to be translated into English, this is, in fact, not true. The original Dutch edition was actually translated into English in 1902 by Hermon Cooper of Syracuse University and went through at least six editions by 1921. By then it had become too advanced for use in most American universities, few of which taught inorganic courses beyond the freshman level prior to the Second World War. The current translation weighs in at 1884 pages and is printed on a light-weight grade of paper that has some problems with print bleed through. The size is a consequence of the book’s attempt to be thorough in its coverage.
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Chemical Education Today
Whereas most American inorganic texts deal primarily with either concepts and models or with systematic descriptive chemistry (and, in the latter case, are often biased toward coverage of the transition metals), this text attempts to include both approaches. This is done by dividing the book into four sections: Part A, (8 chapters, 276 pages) deals with fundamental concepts; Part B (10 chapters, 848 pages) deals with the chemistry of the main-group elements; Part C (14 chapters, 514 pages) deals with the chemistry of the outertransition elements, and Part D (4 chapters, 104 pages) deals with the chemistry of the lanthanoids and actinoids. These are followed by 27 pages of appendices and by both a name and subject index. The coverage of concepts in Part A is basically at the level of an advanced freshman text. Given the average student’s claims of total amnesia when it comes to the contents of earlier courses, this is probably not a bad idea and is also in keeping with the editor’s stated claim that the book is intended for use by both beginning and advanced students. Compared with the dog-and-pony show that now passes for the average freshman textbook—with its multicolored pages, photos, sidebars, and supplementary CD’s—it is refreshing to see this material presented using straight-forward, unpretentious, black and white, line drawings and print.
The coverage of descriptive chemistry in Parts B, C, and D includes not only the latest research results but also basic information on naturally occurring mineral sources of the elements and on important industrial processes, such as iron smelting, the chemistry of glass, ceramics and cement—topics that have all but disappeared from most American textbooks. One unique feature of the book is its four-part coverage of the periodic law—an introductory chapter for Part A, and general overview chapters on each of the three major electronic blocks distributed among Parts B, C, and D. Regrettably, the book’s treatment of this topic is one of the few with which I would take issue. Part C incorrectly classifies La and Ac as d-block or outer-transition metals even though extensive evidence was presented over 20 years ago (J. Chem. Educ. 1982, 59, 634–636) showing that they are in fact f-block elements with irregular configurations and that Lu and Lr actually occupy the positions below Sc and Y in the d-block. Even more serious is the insistence that Zn, Cd, and Hg are outer-transition metals, though in fact there is nothing in either their electronic configurations or their known chemistry that could possibly justify such a classification. A related, albeit minor, criticism is the book’s decision to use the terms lanthanide and actinide rather than
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 79 No. 8 August 2002 • Journal of Chemical Education
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Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews the more linguistically correct terms lanthanoid and actinoid. Despite these reservations, I strongly recommend this book. I found interesting and useful information on every topic I looked up. It is a model of thoroughness and organization and a must reference book for every serious teacher, whether of freshman chemistry or advanced inorganic chemistry. It would also make a wonderful textbook, though its size would naturally limit its use to those schools which offer at least a full year’s sequence in inorganic chemistry. William B. Jensen is Oesper Professor of Chemical Education and History of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221-0172,
[email protected].
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