and tables. 23.5 X 15.5 cm. $39.50. ries of tables. Having selected the desired resolution, for example, the relative change in time or pressure (with column length constant), the relative change in column length and time (pressure constant), or the relative change in column length and pressure (time constant) can be found. All of these tables are prepared for anumber of selected reduced velocities. Interpolation between tables and entries within tables is relatively easy. All of the material in the book is presented in a particularly lucid manner that enhances the readability and accessibility of the material. The clear in-depth treatment, concentrating as it does on the basics and main priority topics, makes this book an ideal teat for a basic course in HPLC and would he suitable also for self-stud". Uooerclass bac-
exhaustive and cover the period through 1978. In this time of rapidly escalating costs, the nominal price of $29.50 far 863 wo;thwhile pages comes as a bargain that no practitioner of liquid chromatography should reject. John A. Dean University of Tennessee at Knoxville Knoxville, TN 379 12
Macromolecules. An Introduction to Polymer Science
F A. Huuey and F. H. Winslow, Academic Press, New York, 1979. v 549 pp. Figs.
Written originally as the text for an inhouse introductory course in polymer science a t Bell Laboratories, this book "provides a fairly complete treatment of all phases of macn~molecularchemistry and physics at the undergraduate or first year graduate level. It is primarily fundamental rather than technological in oriontation" (from the Preface). The authors, two of whom also edited the work, are all Bell Lab staff members who write from the point of view of "users and adapters and those who must live with the results of' polymer synthesis and fahrication." The book is comprehensive. Following a 21-page intruduction, one finds subsequent chapters entitled: "Formation of Macmmolecules" (179 pp.); "Mierrstructure and Chain Conformation of Macromolecules" (62 pp.1; "Mseromoieeules in Solution" (43 pp.); "Maemmolecules in the Solid State: Muriphology" (20 pp.); "Physical Behavior of Macromolecules" (67 pp.); "Reactions of Macromolecules" (33 pp.); "Biological Molecules" (79 pp.). Each chapter concludes with numenrus references (more than 200 fur chapter 2!), most of them to the primary literature and dated prior to 1975. In this respect, as well as the absence of any problems nndlw worked-out, illustrative exercises, the ixmk is more monograph than text. However, xeneral references are provided fur chapters 8, 4, and 5. A good subject index is also included. The very wide range of topics that "polymer science" now encompasses virtually demands multiple author specialization to en-
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sure that each chapter is authoritatively written. Thoughtful editing has resulted in a reasonably uniform style throughout the text, with very little duplication. By deliberale treatment uf some areas of the subject more completely or in greater depth than in other texts, and by inclusion of some topics-viz., chemical reactions of polymers1 degradation, rotameric-state treatment of chain confurmation, and biopolymers-not generally included a t all, the editors ensure that the diligent reader who comprehends moat of the material will have an excellent overview of the field. But what a job for any individual instructor who plans his lectures around this text and needs to fill in between the lines! To consider mast of this book for, say, a one-term special topics course will require a major commitment of time and effort and a prerequisite of at least a year of organic and physical chemistry. As a vehicle for self-study, the book will he a challenge. Compared to Cowie's "Polymers: Chemistry and Physics of Modern Materials," this book is more comprehensive, more detailed, and more difficult. Vollmert's "Polymer Chemistry" is wbstantially less comprehensive in scope, more strictly "chemical" in its orientalion (as the title suggests) and much mure leisurely in its presentation. The editors hope "that this volume may contribute toward finding a remedy for any educational shortcomings'' which result in the well-documented inadequate training most chemists receive in macromolecular science. Their hope seems well founded. Walter Damhauser State University of New York Buffalo. NY 14214
Fundamentals of Mathematics and Statistics
C.J. Brookes, I G Betteley, and S.M. Loxston, University of Astan, Birmingham, England. John Wiley & Sons Ltd., New York, 1979. vii 496 pp. Figs. and tables. 15 X 23.5 em. $20.25. This book is particularly intended for the student with a knowledge of elementary trigonometry and algebra who wants in a short time to develop a basie competence in each of the many areas of mathematics he will need touse in courses in physics, chemistry, and engineering. The emphasis throughout the book is on understanding by means of examples. The book covers most standard subjects, such as, exponential, logarithmic and hyperbolic functions, complex numbers, differentiation and applications, methods of integration, applications of integration, determinants and matrices, vectors, ordinary differential equations, partial differentiation, multiole inteerals. fourier series. cram
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variance, regression analysis, etc. The discussion of mathematical theorems is apt to be sketchy since that is not the primary coneem. The emphasis is on presenting mathematical techniques which have moved to be useful in analyzing problems in chemistry and allied subjects. In short, this book is about mathematics far students of chemistry and allied subjects. Both motivation and standards are drawn from chemistry and allied subjects. That is, the choice of topics is dictated by usefulness in chemistry and allied fields. However, a A350 / Journal of Chemical Education
