A few errors are present such as the spa rather than sp4 hybrid orbital described in Fig. 20-6 (p. 361) and "sconitric" k t e s d of aconitic acid in the Krebs cycle (p. 532), but the book is exceptionally free of them. Only a nominal m o u n t of mathematics is necessary to handle the equilibria. problems. The most fascinating aspect of this text (for the teacher) and most stimulating (for the student) are the problems a t the end of each chapter. Many are unusual attacks on familiar subjects and others have practical application such as the navigation of water spiders (p. 295). The emphasis on the philosophy of soience permeates the entire book and should enhance it,s appeal to the liberal srts student.
Organic Chemistry of Macromolecules, An Introductory Textbook
A . Rauue, Research Manager, Continental Can Company. Marcel Dekker, Inc., New York, June 1967. 498 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 xiii x 24 cm. Rw. Ed. $18.75, Student Ed. $13.75.
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This introductory textbook on organic ohemistrv of macromolecules suits the
chemistry where associated with a partie ular system, and provides the welcome service of referencing the current literature extensively. The chemistry of naturally occurring polymers is included, and although not treated with the same insight as the synthetic polymers, the treatment is certainly appreciated as s. part of a. broad introductory text. I found the brief excursions into p h y s ical chemistry, to quote the hook cover, the least sstkfactory portions of the hook. I n some places the material is indifferently treated and, particularly in the section on crystallinity, the current picture is poorly presented and leads to confusion. However, these sections are intended to assume secondary importance in a book on organic chemistry of macromoleoules and so do not detract substrtntially from the general quality of the effort. The author is to be commended for his use of the recommended nomenclature for polymers rather than fallowing the easy route of propagating the "common" name terminology. Teaching the correct nomenclature to students in the early stages of their association with polymeric materials should tend to maximize future communication. Several textbooks have been published lately in this expanding and chdlenging field in which an enormous amount of chemical information must be sought from the patent literature. Textbooks of this kind serve to oansolidate progress in the field. This book is comparable to others wailahle and may suit the personal prejudices of a number of teachers.
JACK KOENIG Case Western Reserue University Cleveland, Ohio
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Journal o f Chemical Education
Introduction to Colloidland Surface Chemistry
Duncan J . Shaw, Liverpoul College of Technology, England. Butterworths, 186 pp. Eiss. London, 1966. ix and tables. 14 X 21.5 em. $6.50 Paper-bound.
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Anyone who musl teach a general course in surface and colloid chemistry is faced with the problem of finding a suitable text. Very few textbooks are available and these treat either the colloid or the surface chemistry part. Therefore, university teachers look eagerly for the rare appearance of new books hoping to find a text that can be recommended to students. In the preface, Shaw mentions that in writing his book, he had in mind a. number of audiences among which he mentions "university and college of technology students" and "scientists in industry who desire a broad background" on the subject. This reviewer doubts that either of the cited groups will find this text really u s e ful. The main reason is that the author has tried to discuss too much material in 180 pages of a small format. This has necessarily led tc rather superficial treatment of many topics. Frequently, there are only a few lines below a title, appearing to the reader like a glossary. Thus, a student is presented with far too little background material and may often be puzzled by the conclusions because these are neither substantiated nor derived. An industrial chemist is usually faced with a specific problem. After reading a few pages of this book, he would have to go to specialized literature. The material presented is subdivided into 10 chapters, the order of which is not very logical. For example, the first three chapters discuss essentially the properties of particulatesystems (kinetic and optical) while the electrical properties and the ~ r a b l e mof colloid stabilitv are discussed In chapters 7 and 8. 1nter"polated are the chapters dealing with surface phenomena. Probably the best example of inadequacy of the subject treatment is the first chapter. The reader is left with the impression that colloids consist only of corpuscular systems. Fihrillar and laminar systems are not mentioned. The c h a p ter leaves the reader with smatterings of all kinds of phenomena. Nucleation and growth of crystals takes up one and one half pages. This is followed by a descrip tion of one sol only, the gold sol. (Needless to say, many other sols have been investigated more extensively than this one.) A two page description of macromolecular colloids is next, followed by aparagraph on dialysis. One can cite many other examples of such skimpy treatments. For example, the entire theory of diffusion is given on less than one page which also includes the two Fiek laws without any exr la nation. Similarly, light scattering is treated in such a. manner that one who is not familiar with the subject could neither understand the phenomenon nor realize its applications. Anyone assigning this text to students would do them a disservice, because such inadequate treatments must leave the stu-
dent rather confused. The absence of numerical examoles and oroblems makes the text even l&s auitabie for use in the American educational system. EGoN h 1 . 4 ~ 1 ~ ~ ~ 1 6 lnstztute of Colloid and Surface Science Clarksa College of Technology Potsdam, .Vew York 1567fi An Introduction to Equilibrium Thermodynamics
Robert P. Bauman, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn. Foundation of .Modern Chemistry Series. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, Novem120 pp. Figs. and her, 1966. viii tables. 15 X 23 cm. 61.96 paper, $5.50 cloth.
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This book joins the groaing list of recent paperbacks devoted to thermodynamios (Nash, Mahan, Waser, .411en, Luder) which presumably are directed toward the freshman chemistry student r h o is having his f i a t exposure to the subject and for whom the textbook does not go "deep" enough. The subjects covered here are standard: the First and Second Laws, physical and chemical equilibria, a. short chapter an heat engines and the Third Law, and an appendix on the basio operations of oalculuu. The notations of calculux, including partial derivatives, are used throughout, but the treatment of the mathematics avoids any partioular complexity. The text begins auspiciously enough; the concept of heat is approached by the selection of a working hypothesis concerning its nature and the discussion of expenmental tests leading to the modification of the hypothesis. After this point, it is not clear to what audience the author has directed his attention and whether or not the studente are expected to have a hackground of some of this material; in his preface he implies that t.he book could be used by high school Advanced Placement students and college juniors. An attempt to have something for everyone has led to a certain amount of expositionary confusion. For example, "specific heat" is mentioned on p. 22 hut is not defined until p. 26 in an end-of-thechapter problem. On p. 30 "exo- and endo-thermicity" are used without definition and on p. 31 the term "spontaneous change" heads a sub-chapter without being further mentioned uniil p. 40. Entropy is neither directly defined nor developed from the Carnot cycle but rather is "derived" in a manner that leaves this reviewer unsatisfied. M y main complaint with this book is its failure to explain clearly in terms of physical experimental situat.ians, the menning of the thermodynamic functions that can he so easily computed from the formulas given. We are told over and over again that free energy andequilibriaarevery important to chemical reactions, and the computrttional methods are described quite clearly. But I fear that the student's question, "So what?," will remain unanswered. Electrochemistry, with its potential for clarifying the issue, is allowed only seven pages which deal exclusively with the oalculation of cell potentiah.
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