book reviews graduates are trtxed sometimes beyond the point of diminishing returns. This hook on the structure and spectra of a t o m and molecules covers quantitatively whst most freshman chemistry courses these days treat qua.litatively. The level is indeed precariously high; there is a. lot of material and it is h a ~ dgoing for an undergraduate physical chemistry course. However, the hook is thorough and well organized, coverage of individual topics is terse hut detailed, the wording is clear, and there are a lot of problems from which instructor and students may choose. The authors have obviously taught the material a number of times and have paid attention to the confusions of their students. Thus the hook can present complicated concepts in a relaxed, confident manner in such a. WILY that real insight is gradually obtained by the student. No time, for example, is wasted in giving complicated pseudo-derivations af things (like the Schrodinger equation) which cannot be derived, hut instead intuitive formulations of these things are offered as aids to understanding and memory. A list of chapter titles suggests the coverage: The Constituents of Matter, The Quantum Theory, The Structure of Oneelectron Atoms and Ions, Many-electron Atom, Molecules and Chemical Bonds, Diatomic and Polystomic Molecules, Molecular Spectra. This reviewer is happy to have the hook; he would have been happier had it been available when he was in graduate school; the fact that it is now appropriate far undergraduate use is exciting, challenging, and just a hit frightening.
critical survey at the beginning of each section tskes good care of this kind of problem. Although comhustion and similar teehniaues mav he of limited interest to the nokspeciafist, the ease is quite different with the other steps which are involved in conduct of an itnctlysis. The author's accounts of such general operations as sample preparation, weighing, t.ransference, and titration are very well done. Some of these techniques are involved in many farms of trace analysis. In fact, such techniques can he invsloable in any preparation, isolation, or investigation which has to he performed on the ultramicro scale. There are some excellent examples of the valne of hiamperometric and bipotentiametric techniques in ultramiera titrimetry. Since the pnhlicntion of the second edition in 1961, Steyermark's "Quantitative Organio Microanalysis" has become the "hsndhook" of microchemists both at home and overseas. Tblg's monograph does not compete with Steyermark's authoritative work, hut rather complements it. The new work is a. trmslation, hut this is betrayed only by the statement on the title page. Editing, proofreading, and general production are excellent, despite the quite low price. Tolg's hook is one that can hestrongly recommended.
Chapter I1 (pp. 19-57) covers the life and work of Antoine L a r e n t Lavoisier (1745-94), "one of the immortals." His contributions to geology, the calcination of metals and combustion, the role of oxygen in calcination, saltpeter production, therrnochemistry, composition of water, reform of chemical nomenclature, etc., are d l treated; as is his great Traitd Eldmentaire de Chimie (Paris, 1789), which effectively overthrew the phlogiston theory. Chapters 111, IV, and V (pp. 58-152) discuss the very exciting early years of the nineteenth century: the work of John Dalton (1766-1844) on the Atomic Theory; Sir Humphry Davy (1778-1829) on the isolation of the alkali and alkaline earth metals. and the miners' "Safetv
position of salts and organic compounds. Chapters VI and VII (pp. 153-184) discuss Michael F a r ~ d e y (1791-1867), primarily a s a physical chemist; and "Farsday'y's Successors and the Theory of Electrolytic Dissociation." Chapters VIII and I X (pp. 18.5-222) cover the important work of Stanislao Cannizzaro (1826-1910) on atomic and moleculrsr theory; and the contributions of Henry Edward Armstrong (18481937) and other great organic chemists of the nineteenth century. The tenth and final chapter (pp. 223232) gives a,concise hut informative review JOHN T. STOCK of the very important contributions to University of Connecticut chemistry of the several College LahoraSlows, Conn. 08%8 tories s t Oxford University. This chapter contains many personal recollections by the author, and other information that it would he difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. The hook ends with a comprehensive index (pp. 233-243). FRANKC. ANDREWS Studies in ihe Hidory of Chemistry The fifteen plates depict portraits Crown College Sir Harold Ha~tley,F.R.S., Honorary (Priestley, Lavoisier, Dalton, Drtvy, BerUniversity of California Fellow of Bslliol College, Oxford. aelius, Faraday, Hartley, Moseley), spSanta C r w Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1971. xii paratus (of Lavoisier), manuscripts (by 244 pp. 15 plates. 13.5 X 21.5 cm. Dalton, Davy, Famday), the title-prtge of $7. Cannizzaro's clrwsic pamphlet, and C. N. Hinshelwood's laboratory. As stated in the Preface, this book comThis hook is enthusiastically recomprises a series of lectures originally put mended to university students for its together seventy years ago. These have scholarly coverage of the formative period Ultramicro Elemental Analysis been amplified, updated and polished of modern chemistry, its impeccable clarity during the course of the author's long and Gicnther T6lg. Wiley-Interscience, New of style, and its selection of material. distinguished life of chemical research. 200 pp. Figs. and York, 1870. xiii Considering that it was written by a ninety are Hertley admits that there Sir Harold tables. 22 X 15cm. S10.95. year old gentleman, this work is a rechemists whom he would have liked to markably lucid and praiseworthy produb have covered (e.g., Cavendish, WolleaThis monograph is Volume 30 in the tion. ton, Pasteur), "hut a t ninety I mustn't series "Chemical Analysis" under the delay any longer." Despite these omiseditorship of Professors Kolthoff and ROYG. N E V ~ ~ E sions, this is an excellent and soholilrly Elving. Although shorter than some of Beehtel Laboratory hook, sessoned by the author's vast exthe earlier volumes, it maintains t,he high Belmont, Calif. 94008 perience and mature judgment. standards already set by the series. The time-span covered is approximately Essentially, the work is concerned with 1760-1860; i.e., the period including the the determination of carbon, hydrogen, h t e r phlogiston theory, "Chemical Revooxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, the halogens, Modern Theory of Acids and Bases lution," birth of the chemical atomic phosphorus, and arsenic in submilligram theory, early electrochemistry, and the Ralph G . Peerson, Northwestern Unisamples of organic compounds. The beginning of organic chemistry as s. disversity, Evanston, Ill. American Chemaut,hor pays a well-deserved tribute to tinct discipline. In Chapter I X the period ical Society, Washington, D. C. Two Professor R. Belcher and his coworkers coveredis -1865-1917. at the TJniversity of Birmingham, Entape casettes or two 7%. tape reels, 64There are ten chapten. The first disgland, as pioneers in this field. To the page manual. $30. 41-frame filmstrip cusses Joseph Priestley (1733-1804), his specialist in ultimate analysis, the value also available. $7.50. life, first studies on gases, discovery of of the book is obvious. The anthnr, who "Modern Theory of Acids and Bases" is artificial soda water by impregnating water hes made his own notable contrihotions not a book and not A-V material, but a. with "fixed air" (CO*), his studies on to this field, clearly and fully describes combination of the two. comhustion. and the isolstion of oxygen, the apparatus, reagents, and procedures ammonia, nitrous oxide, sulfur dioxide, for t,he various determinations. methods (CmUinwd on page A48) and other gases. that are satisfactory at the 100-fig level
+
+
A44
/
Journal of Chemical Education
book reviews This material is distributed by the American Chemical Society through the office of the educational secretary. The format of the material is as follows: 2 cassettes with a total playing time of 149 min., s paperback 8'/1 X 1 0 L / ~with 23 pages of structures which follow the tapes and s. film strip which is a duplicate of the structures found in the first 23 pages of the text. The text also includes four reprints totalling 36 pages on the subject of hard and soft acid8 and bases. 1-y acquaintance with this audio course crtme when I was casting about for a. way to introduce the hard and soft concept of acids and bases into a freshman course. The material has not yet filteled down t o the freshman texts hut is not too sophisticated t o he a unifying framework for the average beginning student. The format of presentation to the students was to play the tapes and show the film strip during regular class meeting8 and also make the cassettes available in an area for individual student review. The material was presented in its entirety in a week's time and the articles in the text were required reading. At the conclusion of this "mini" course the students were given a demanding and representative (at least in the reviewer's judgment) examination over the material. The average grades ran well above the average of tests on other topical material.
A46
/
Journal o f Chemical Edvcofion
A constant and continual feedback fram thestudents was the advantage of listening t o the tapes a second time an an individual basis. In our experience the availability of the tapes for individual use is mandatory for a n audio course to be successful. The recordings themselves have.a flat quality which seems to be technical in origin. This deficiency could be improved for future audio courses of this type. The film strip was taken d i r e d y fram the text structures and diagrams and could have been vastly improved with 8. little imaginstion. The content of the course is excellent. I t begins with a short historical account of acid base theory, proceeds through to the Lewis concept and then to the hardsoft concept of acids and bases and its utility in explaining a. wide variety of chemical phenomena. The material was used in our course directly before the presentation of coordination chemistry. The material was extremely effective in preparing students t o understand the overall scope of coordination chemistry. From a, teaching standpoint the only minor criticism I would have is the order in which reprints are presented. They are presented chronologically and in decreasing order of difficulty. I n s. freshman course the two reprints from J . CHI:M. EDUC.should he read first and then the student should proceed t o the more difficult articles. I would strongly recommend the material for inclusion in freshmen level courses and as excellent review material for the
person wishing to up-date his knowledge in the area of modern theory of acids and bases.
JOHN M. DALY Rellarmine Collage Louisville, Kg. 40206
Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemical Analysis. Vol. 10
Edited by Foster Dee Snell and Leslie S . Eltre. Interscience Publishers, New York, 1970. xiv 680 pp. 26 X 19 cm. $45. single copy; $35. Subscription.
+
Volume 10 of this authoritative compendium continues the discussion of methods appropriate for specific analysis. The subjects in this volume are a portion of the C's: Cigarettes; Cinnamaldehyde; Cinnamic Acid and its Derivatives; Cinnsmyl Alcohol; Citric Acid; Clays and Clay Minerals; Coagulants and Anticoagulants; Coal and Coke; Coated Abrasives; Cobalt; Coffee; Colors far Foods, Drugs, and Cosmetics; Confectionery Products; Contraceptives; Copper. Some of the extensive bibliographies include citations to literature as recent as 1969. WFK
(Continued on page A@)
