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Mathematics for Physical Chemistry, 2nd Edition by Robert G. Mortimer Harcourt Academic Press: San Diego, CA, 1999. 444 pp. ISBN 0-12-508340-8. $35.00. reviewed by Tim Whitley
“Good gosh,” exclaimed my eight-year-old, pointing at the symbolic soup stretching across the page of Mortimer’s Mathematics for Physical Chemistry. “How do you know what all those are for?” “You start with something you know and add to it little by little.” That is the method of this text by Robert Mortimer and the method he used on our physical chemistry class nearly 25 years ago while developing the material for it. When they hit P. Chem., a significant fraction of undergraduates have not been exposed either to the underlying mathematical concepts or to their practical application in scientific problems. I know I hadn’t been. Mortimer’s method aims to address both needs. This second edition, like the first in 1981, patiently begins with the concepts of number and measurement, proceeding through algebra and trigonometry (of course, not pausing long) on to differential and integral calculus, and ultimately to matrix methods and group theory. Having achieved this peak with its beautiful vistas of abstraction, the text descends to the more earthly realm of solution of equations by algebraic, graphical, and numerical methods, and touches down on the bedrock of experimental data and error analysis. The final chapter introduces the use of computers— including word processors, spreadsheets, graphics software— and presents one of the most concise overviews I’ve seen of the Basic programming language and symbolic mathematics packages (typified by Mathematica). None of these treatments pretends to be exhaustive, yet each contains the key
Jeffrey Kovac University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-1600
mathematical concepts and methods—with worked examples and end-of-chapter problems—necessary for the consideration of topics that come up in undergraduate courses of physical chemistry. “What all those symbols are for” is what this text is about. Abundant examples and problems are drawn from thermodynamics, kinetics, quantum mechanics, …the entire proper range of subjects covered by physical chemistry; they appear on nearly every page as well as in a flock at the end of each chapter. Several complete programs in Basic are included as instantiation of the concepts under discussion and stand as perfectly serviceable tools themselves. I’d be remiss and fail in my oaths to the ancient brotherhood of book reviewers were I not to express at least one niggle. I found some fraction of the requisite number of typographical errors for an object of tens of thousands of parts; those I found are excusable and apparently easily detected. I also do not fancy the style of some of the figures. Each makes its point, and most adhere to the principles of graphical excellence. Yet the figures illustrating the effects of symmetry operators could stand to be rotated a bit for better clarity, and the figure showing the symmetry elements of benzene has a mix of perspectives worthy of Escher. Ammonia’s is also slightly flawed. Still, the text is sound and unambiguous, and I must disclose my reputation as a stickler on graphics— others will likely have no qualm. This text deserves a place on the bookshelf of anyone teaching physical chemistry, unless they’ve discovered a method of teaching it without mathematics. It can serve as a guide—even a self-study guide—for undergraduates engaged in a P. Chem. course and as a reference for graduates and practicing chemists. Its first edition found a place on my bookshelf—even aside from any nostalgic value (all available nostalgic shelf space is currently occupied by my dissertation)—and will be replaced only by this second edition. Tim Whitley is at Lawson Software, St. Paul, MN 55102;
[email protected].
JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu • Vol. 78 No. 6 June 2001 • Journal of Chemical Education
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