reviews Lab Checker William Laurita, Edumatic Software, R. D. 4, Box 4075, Fleetwood. PA 19522 Hardware Components:
Level and Subject: Cost:
Summary Ratings Category Ease of Use: Subject Matter Content: Pedagogic Value: Student Reaction:
Apple Ile, Ilc, IIGS, 64K memory, two disk drives Two 5.25-in. disks & manual Undergraduate Chemistry $40
Excellent Good
Documentation The documentation is clear and easy to understand. It is a well-written tutorial. There is a Demo side to the four sides that are included that illustrates the features and the ontions of the propam. Thrrr arc three uspful nppendicec, lnrludlng n glos.iary, ~ LO provide further nsmwnce In author~ngthe nnd u r addendum t u check lnhorntur). actlvmcs u t ~ l ~ proy'xms ty Operation The teacher may author BASIC programs using the utility for any laboratory manual or self-designed quantitative experiment. The utility disk cannot be copied; however, one copy may produce and number afpragrams that might be used in laboratory sections. There is a limit of 6-10 programs1 disk with a limit of 25 students for each disk. The files may he deleted after the instructor is completed with them and $he disk can then he used again. The programs created by the Utility disk must be created on an Apple IIe, IIc, or IIGS. Once the programs are ereated, they may be run an Apple II's or clones. The programs may utilize, at the author's discretion, linear regression. The author inputs the equations to he used in the process of authoring the program. The flexibility is also provided to use standard congratulatory messages or to include others. Error statements also may be personalized far inputting erroneous data.
Input a n d Error Handling The program requires that the Caps Lock key be down during operation. The software author bas developed an Add-on which will provide the student who is inputting data with information on the correctness or whether the errar is due to a sign, decimal paint, or degree of magnitude of error. This is easily accessed by hitting the ? key. While doing the Change option in the Utility program, this reviewer was "hung up" unless some equation was entered. It did not seem possible toget out using the Esc key. This is only aminor inconvenience and not a major problem. When errors are entered by the student user, they may be corrected and correct values recorded in the file for each student. The instructor is then able to access this file to examine the results and to determine the student's progress. Flexibility The software may he used in any quantitative lahoratory situation and with any laboratory manual. The instructor may personalize the program to the degree that is desired. The author does not need to know BASIC to use the software. It is an authoring program. Subject Matter Content Smer the sonware is an nuthmng proflam the initructor is affurded the opportunitv to develop the progrnm wlth the sophisc~cntiunthat i s dcsiwd. Pedagogic Value The software is an authoringprogram that allows the instructor to author a program with the amount of assistance that is considered necessary for the student and the experiment that is involved. The instructor authors the error messages and the margin of error that is permissible. The programs should save time for both the student and the instructor. There are no major delimiting factors that hamper the author. Student Reaction The software was used by the renewer to develop two programs that were used during the last week of the academic year in a high school chemistry class with 11th maders who were studvine oxidation-reduction. The students appreciated the error messages that gave them same idea of the source of their problems. One computer was available for the 17 remaining students in each of
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Reviewed in This Issue Reviewer Computer Learning Packages William Laurita, Lab Checker
Marvin Selnes
Books John R. Holum, Elements of General and Biological Chemistry, Eighth Edition Noojin Walker and Martha Fulton Walker, The Twain Meet: The Physical Sciences Stanislao Cannizzaro, Sunto di un corso di filosofia chimica Titles of Interest Monographs
A264
Journal of Chemical Education
John Ganchoff George 6. Kauffman George 6. Kauffman
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two sections who were not attendine Bovs' or Girls' State. music trios. Memorial Dav vacations.. or were beine maduaGd. The ~~, s t i d i n t s nerded some sssmnnce to understand the format with whiehtuinput thedata. t h r scmndactivity prnraedrd much better than thc first. In summary, itudcnts did not exprnmce diffkulty in utilizing the programs. ~~~
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Recommendations for Improvement An 8 V2- x 11-in. format for the documentation might be desirable. An Index section also would be desirable.
Summarv
lipld m~tahalism,and amino acid synthesis are taken up. Sucleic acids and pnlypeptidc synthesis are treated in the next-tn-last chapter of the text. Arcordlng to thr author this chapter cowra material which students could have encountered i n previous courses and teachers might want to omit it. This material has been updated, howver Genetr fingerpnnt~ng1 3 prrsrnred as a speclal toplr, tor example Chapters entltlrd "Extracellular Flub of the Budv" nnd "Radlonctwrtv and Health" are also found in the latter nortion of the text. This text along with appropriate guidance hy the instructor will provide a sound hase for coumes requmng an overview of chemistry for health-related careers.
The ~nRwareia an inexpensive, effrctive authoring utility that provider the user with considerable flexibility in developingrepon. me formats fnrtluanritariw laboratom activittes. The documentati& is well-written, complete, and accurate
JohnGanchofl Elmhurst College Elmhurst, IL60126
Marvin Selnes Sioux Falls School Distnct 4 9 5 201 East 38th Street Sioux Falls. SD 571 1 7
The l h i n Meet: The Physical Sciences and Poetry Noojin Walker and Manha Fulton Walker. Peter Lang: New York, NY, 1989. vii
Elements of General and Biological Chemistry, Eighth Edition John R. Holum. Wiley: New York, NY, 1991. xviii + 537 pp. Figs. and tables. 21.4 x 26.2 cm. $48.95.
The eighth edition of this text is a shorter version of the author's Fmohrnentals ofCeneral. Chemistrv. ~, .Oreanic. "~~. endBioloeicn1 " ,. 4th ed~tion.According to the author it incorporates the recommendatmns of the Task Force on Chemical Education for Health Prnfessions spunsored by the Division nfChemtcal Education ofthe ACS. I t is intended to serve the needs of students who must take a one-term ehrmrstty course for careers in professmnal health care fields The usual array of ~upplementalmaterials are available The tm 1. about two-thwds the length of Fundamcnlolc and does cover more concepts than can be presented comfortably in a 14- or 15-week term. The author succeeds, however, in choosing essential coneeots and oresentine " them succinctlv and meaninefully.Thr theme, themolccular bas~soflife,irfullowedcuns~atently throughout thr text. l.csr color 1s used in this text as comparea to F u n d a n w ~ l n l shut all ofthe other features are present. Each chapter provides worked examples and similar practice exercises, highlighted key terms, special topics, and wide margins with additional information. Each chapter ends with a summary and review exercises, averaging about 60 per chapter. Answers to selected exercises are provided in the appendix. Typical general chemistry topics are covered in the first eight chapters. Models of electronic structure of atoms and bonding in molecules based on orbital theory are described in shorter special topic sections. The factor-label method is used for making calculations. Following are some changes in the text. Normality is no longer presented as a concentration measure but the concept of "equivalent" is introduced in the context of solutions of salts. Colloids are treatedin a single chapter alongwith the presentation on water and solutions. The final two chapters of the general chemistry portion focus on acids, bases, salts and pH, buffers, and titrations. The terms "Arrhenius acid" and ' k h e n i u s base" are no laneer used. ~ h e l d e a from s oreanie chemistrv necessarv for understandine ~, biochemistry are prcrrnted in the next fivechapters ?'he prcdom. mating chemicnl charactcristlc ofesch functlunal gmup mportant in bruuhcmistry li, presented dearly and tersely. k'ifires and sprrtnl tnpwspronde d l i r w n t information sothat cachfunrtional group is related to relevant and timely examples to stimulate student interest. The next four chapters cover carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and enymes, hormones, and neurotransmitters. Whereas optical isomerism receives a n entire chapter in Fundamentals in this text it is covered in three pages ofthe carbohydrate chapter. Although this reviewer prefers integrating biochemistry with the basic organic chemical principles, no difficulty should be eroerienced in rearransins to meet this desire. .. ehaoters , Two chapters rover moit of the pnnciplrs and dern~ldof metabolism. In the leading chaptrr an owwirw uf bmchenlwal enrrgrtiw, the resplratorycham, the crtricneidcyclc, glyculysis, fatty nod cycle, amino acid catabolism, and finally acidosis and energy problems are presented. In the following chapter metabolic interrelationships, glycogen metabolism, glucose tolerance, aspects of ~~
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+ 303 pp. 14.5x21.5cm. $51.00
Numerous editorials and articles in this Journal as well as in other periodicals, magazines, and newspapers have decried the current sorry state of science education and have suggested ways to counter prevalent antiscientific attitudes and chemophobia among students and the general public. Various attempts to attract liberal arts students to science courses, which today are suffenngdan~erourlg~hrinkingenrollments, have beendescnbed, such as 'Phys~enfor Poets" Lederman, I.. 11. CHEMTECH 1991, 21.263 . Dudlev Hershbach Hershbnch. D. R. Chemtsrn Educotioh 1990. 7(1).-14) . ., . has emoloved stories to introduce ea"ch maim taoic in his eeneral chem&th lectures to attract etudentr"to sctencc, to present snencr in a more humanistic runtext, to dtvpcl student fears, and to placetechnicalconcepta in amore meanmgful context. Ifthis novel apprcach 1s modified by replacingstories w t h poems, the Walkers' book (Lang's American University Studies, Series 19,General Literature,Volume23)will be foundinvaluable. The book's title reflects the Walkers' thesis that. unlike Rudvard Kipling's east and west, the physical sciences and poetryindeed do have much in common, despite prevalent belief and C. P. Snow's "two cultures." They conclude their most unusual and much to be admired attempt to prove this idea by quoting John Burroughs: "The true poet and the true scientist are not estranged. They go forth into nature like two friends.The interests of the two in the universe are widely different, yet in no true sense are they hostile or mutually destructiveYp 286). They describe the dvnamie relationahlp existing between two sermrngly dlrs~milnrendeavorsthe physical sciences and poetry-by dlscuas~ngthew sim~lanties and aifferrnces in the llshr uf thp h v o o t h c s ~that "a svmbiotic relationship between s&nce and poetry has existed a i d shall continue to exist amidst the concerns and disameements."Thev .. ~, examlnc how thesetwo (bmr ofhuman expresswn a r r interwovm and s h y attempts horr been made to sepnr-re them They also trnee the histor~ualdcvelopmcnt and evolution of rutenre, poet*' attitudes toward science, and philosophical-religious thought affecting both science and poetry over a span of more than two millenia. By concrete examples of more than 200 different poems, they demonstrate how through theyears poets haveeammunieated and interpreted science to the public and have used scientific principles metaphorically to enrich and bring special meaning to their works beyond the exact wards used. The poems-familiar and obscure; ancient and modem; Eastern and Western; some complete, some excerpts-range inlength from a line or two to almost nine pages of Lueretius' De rerum neturn (1st century BC), used in different places to illustrate different scirntfw concepts. The hmgrst smglr srlectwn is a six-pagp r x crrpr from D m J o n o n b con.=wtmtlv m~s*pellrdJuhnson, play The Alrhentist 161Uf. ' l ' h ~~ u c t smnce In stature from Shakrspeare and Milton to Paul ~ i & mand G d ~ c ~ u eScientist-poets n. such as Alan Lightman, William Pallister, and George John Romanes also are represented. Selections are preceded by seientific and literary analyses by the Walkers or by professional critics. Although some poets such as John Keats, Jonathan Swift, and William Wordsworth were vehemently antiscience, many of the poets included show a proscientific attitude. Same, like the public a t large, are ambivalent toward science, sometimes in the very same poem, e.g., Phyllis McGinley in her "Reactionary Essay on ~
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Volume 68 Number 1 0 October I 9 9 1
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