Using the second part of the program, various properties were graphed onscreen against the atomic numbers of elements of several periods of a group, reinforcing the trends noted in part one. Using the third portion of the program, covalent radius was related to first ionic radius, with the elements being studied shown in their position on an otherwise blank periodic table. This provided a timely change in the visual presentation. Finally, the students were directed on their report sheet to graph properties versus atomic number using the data they had gathered and to draw conclusions about the trends they had observed. They were asked to relate all of the property trends to effective nuclear charge and metallic and nonmetallic nature, eonceptsdiscussed before class hut not presented or mentioned in the program itself. All this turned out to he a very successful wedding of "high tech" and experimental learning, and in the process I was able to present far more actual data in some sort of reasonable order while utilizing the same classtime as in past lectures. Student Reaction The students were asked to complete their report sheet with an evaluation of the program in comparison to a "conventional" ledare on the topic. In the two sections of about 20 students each, only three students were unenthusiatic, disliking all the data gathering. The vast majority felt that hy the time they had seen the data, graphed it, and rediscovered the trends for themselves they had learned a lot more than they would have learned from a usual lecture, and they appreciated the novelty of the non-routine approach, even with the extra work involved. Summary Tnis program provides for the instructor a u,ealth 01' data from which to huild an excellent classroom presentation, complete with three modes of display. The Kodak Datashow or other eomputer-overhead interfacing devices bring computer programs to the classroom even if a computer per student is not available, and I am discovering that this is a quantum leap forward in the teaching of chemistry. The use of the program by individual students would work well in a computer lab situation if available. Sharon L. Gardlund Mscomb Community College 14500 Twelve Mile Road Warren. MI 48090
Chemlstry: A Flrst Course G. Rayner-Canham and A. Last. AddisonWelsey: Don Mills, Ontario, 1988. xiii 594 pp. Figs. and tables. 20.8 X 24.2 cm. $24.95 Can.
+
As stated in the Preface. this textbook is aimedat the introductory high school ehemistry student. Assuch, it providesa rlpar but rigorous description of chemistry. Indeed, its rigor is apparent, with very little watering down of the subject. Indicative of this is the attitude taken with example prohlems throughout the text: dimensional analysis is
pushed almost exclusively as a problem solving method, and the answers are demonstrated in detail and a t length. At the end of each chapter is a long list of questions and nrohlems to test the readers' comnrehension. Some instructors may think the authurs'attitude roo rigorous ior beginning rtudents; others (myself included) will welcome this perspective. I t was easily noticed thatthe authors tried to point out meaningful connections hetween textbook chemistry and the world around us. Acid rain and nuclear accidents are orominentlv discussed. and illustrations point out how various chemrcals are used in everyday living. Scattered through the chapters are "Fearure.," short essays expounding on particular people or subjects related to the textual material. These features are sure to invoke interest. The text and prohlems make exclusive use of metric units, eschewing common units as atmosoheres and Molaritv (using kilopascals and'mo1es.l- in stead)..^" lac;; the hook does not even mentivn molalitr. or normality as concentration units; dimensional analysis, again, is used to solve prohlems that usually use these units. The book bas refreshing sides to it. I n the discussion of the scientific method, the authors point out that not all great discoveries and advances arise from strict adherence to the scwnufic method, they rite thediscover. be- of Teflon and nohle gas compwnda as examples. Such admissions are rare in firstyear textbooks and promote the idea of seientists as human beings. Color plates show many elements in their elemental forms, as well as productions of aluminum from hauxite and oetroleum oroducts from oil sands: the illustrations in general are aptly chosen. The fact that the text isobviously Canadtan may be considered a drawback by potential non-canadian instructors. Surely the principles are the same regardless of nationality, but some of the references may not evoke the same level of comprehension in non-Canadian students. There is even a welcome chapter on industrial chemistry near the end of the book-titled "Canadian Industrial Chemistry"! Why "Canadian"? Why not just "Industrial Chemistry"? I wish the authors had included certain topics that are surely worth studying even by high school students: solution properties (like freezing noint de~ressionsand boiling noint eleva&s). hvdioeen hondine. some ;hermodynamicsithete~hasnone&h the exception of the definitions of enthalps. exothermic, and endothermicl, and should even have some mention of plastics and polymers and their almost universal uses. Still, this hook would he an excellent aid for learning the basic fundamentals of chemistry. Davld W. Ball Rice Univsrsily Houston. TX 77001
Physlcal Organlc Chemlstry NeilS. isaacs. Wiley: New York. NY. 1987. xviii 828 pp. Figs. and tables. 24.4 X 15.4 cm. 549.95.
+
At the beginning of his foreword to this hook, Neil Isaacs defines physical organic Volume 65
chemistry as "the study of the underlying principles and rationale of organic reactions.. ." It is thus in the line of earlier works of the same title by Hammett, Hine, Kosower and others, and in a certain contrast to the Advanced Organic Chemistry texts of Wheland. Fuson. Fieser and Fieser and March. The latter emphasize advanced material: the former, an advanced way of lookmg at the marerial runsidered. Thm edwnced way is thnrugh molecular orhrral theory, and lvaacs does a fine job of introducing it and applying it to specific cases. As a compendium, his work is admirable; it covers the literature up to 1986. The first nine chaoters deal with the"underlvine prmciplea,"and the~jtherseven with specif~c reaction types. One surprising feature is the grouping together of all substitution reactions at carbon in chapter 10: nucleophilic and electrophilic at saturated, aromatic, and carhonyl centers. The work falters, it seems to me, as a textbook. This is a British book marketed in the United States, apparently without change, by Wiley. British textbooks have always been much too terse for most American tastes. They tend to lay out the essentials without exposition or explanation, placing a heavy burden on the hackground of the student or the presentation of the professor. This work is certainly in that tradition. As a textbook, though it may cover more material, it cannot compare with Lowry and Richardson's Mechanism ond Theory in Organic Chemistry. The British source of this book affords other problems. I t t w k m e a while to realize that "rlpm" did not mean radius per picometer, but rather radius in picameters. The book should have been edited for American readers. Besides, the editing that was done seems to have heen for the convenience of the typesetters, not for the readers; thus, the reference an p 416 to the tahle on p 392, and the displacement of the tahle on p 697. This is not to deny that this is a most valuable source hook that should be in every college library and on the shelves of most teachers of organic chemistry. Issacs has done a most thorough job of summarizing the literature of this important field. Charles J. Thoman Stephen F. Austin State Unlverslty NaCOgdOCheS, n: 75962 ~
~
- ..
Physlcal Chemletry, Thlrd Edition Ira N. Levine. McGraw-Hill: New York, NY, 1988. xvii 920 pp. Figs. 21 X 24.2 cm.
+
According to the author, "the textbook is written for the standard undergraduate course in physical chemistry." Since there are several such so-called "standard undergraduate courses," this reviewer will comment on the individual chapters as they would he used in the average standard undergraduate physical chemistry course. On comparison with the ever popular textbook hy P. W. Atkins, this textbook fares very well. Both Atkins and Levine have tried to (Continued on pnge A336) Number 12
December 1968
A335
mean that classical mechanistic treatments are ignored. On the contrary, mechanisms a r e presented in considerable detail thrauehout the text with different colors .. used to highlight renters of impurtnnce. The inclusion of a reparatr rhapter on Organometallics a h a diiierentiares this text from most others. The chapters are well written and easily read. The material is presented in such a way that it can be comprehended by the nonchemistry major yet it has sufficient depth of coverage to make it an appropriate text for the chemistry majors as well. The inclusion in the body of the text of bits of interesting information and discussions of how some of the reactions are run experimentally helps to hold the readers interest. Each chapter is concluded by a thorough summary and the later chapters have an introductorv review section in which relevant previously discussed material is raretully reiterated. The cowmge iscompoied ot agood hlend ut'detailed mechanisms and extensive synthetic examples. The organization of the topics is generally quite good. A brief discussion ofthe chemistry of alcohols and alkyl halides is introduced in Chapter 4. The full alkyl halide chapter is preceded by the chapter on Stereochemistry. One possible fault in the organization is having the alkyne chapter separated from the alkenes by the Stereochemistry and Alkyl Halide chapters. While this can make for amore logical treatment of acetylide alkylation reactions, other reactions tend to suffer hv the break in continuity. The text contains a large number of problems, averaging about 33 per chapter, many with multiple sections. Sample solutions are given for some questions contained in the body ofthe chapter and answers to all others except those s t the end of the chapters are given in an Appendix. The problems range from simple reaction completions and reaction reviews to more complex ones requiring considerable insight for their solution. One difficulty discerned here is that some areas, such as alkane bromination and the DielsAlder reaction are discussed in the chapters to a reasonable level of understanding, but some of the related problems require considerable extensions beyond the actual text coverage. This can provide the instructor with the opportunity of presenting such topics in greater depth, or it can promote frustration in the student trying to solve these problems without assistance. All in all, though, this teat is well eonceived and has a thorough and generally well organized coverage. I t appears to be an easy text from which to teach and should he given thoughtful consideration during text selection time. Robert L. Augustine Seton Hall University Soulh Orange, NJ 07079 ~
introduce difficult concepts in written English with the minims1 use of mathematical relations. In this area they have an advantage over the erudite text by W. J. Moore and have the potential therefore to be more popular with the students that have a mathematics phobia. Chapter one presents a good review of the course prerequisites that every student should master in order to succeed in such a course. The chapters on the first two laws of thermodynamics are adequate. Nonideal behavior is introduced a little later than in the other textbooks mentioned above, ex., Chapter 8 deals with the van der Wads equation and the relations needed to understand liquefaction using the Joule-Thompson experiment are left for the student to solve as problem 8.30. The chapters on phase equilibria are very clear. The D e h y e Hiickel Theory is introduced qualitatively in Chapter 10. Surface chemistry (Chapter 13) precedes t h a t on electrochemistry (Chapter 14). The subjects covered up to this point would he covered in one semester for a two-semester course. In this division the second part starts with kinetic theory (Chapter 15) followed by transport processes and reaction kinetics (Chapters 16 and 17). The chapters on quantum mechanics, atomic and molecular structure and spectroscopy (Chapters 18-22) are qualitative but very up-to-date. The new methods of computation (e.g., MNDO, etc.) are mentioned qualitatively. There is very little on the principles of symmetry and Group Theo~ w ., later . editions would benefit bv elahorating on this ruhject. The rhapters on statistical merhnnm and reartiun rates are fairlycomplete. The final chaptercwers the liquid and solid states. Juana V. Acrivos San Jose State University San Jose, CA 95192 ~~
~~
Organlc Chemistry Francis A. Carey. McGraw-Hill Book COmpany: New York. NY. 1987. xviii 1219 pp. Figs. and tables. 21 X 26.1 cm. $43.95.
+
This text incorporates the classic functional group approach to the study of organic chemistry, hut rather than being a mere clone of the other such texts it has some different aspects that are worth mentioning. A pseudo molecular orbital approach is used throughout the text to illustrate the nature of the orbital interactions and changes occurring during the reactions under discussion. This approach leads naturally into a discussion of the Diels-Alder reaction so the Frontier Orbital concept is not treated as a separate special entity hut simply as a means of product determination. This inclusion of orbital descriptions does not
A338
Journal
of Chemical Education
~
lntroductlon of Instrumental Analysls Robert D. Braun. McGraw-Hill Book Company: New York. NY. 1987. viii 1004pp. Figs. and tables. 19 X 24 cm.
+
This is the largest instruments text puhlished in the United States. I t includes 76 salved sample problems, over 430 end-ofchapter problems grouped by topics end an abundance of references. mostlv orior to 1982. s with a'lone list okimoor~~~-~ h m t e rend tant terms, most of which appear in the index. Co\,erage ineluder traditional ropirs and some promising newer methods such as photoacoustic spectrometry, laaer-enhanced ionization, and laboratory robotics. Comparison with other texts revealed greater coverage of electronics, spectroscopy (especially atomic absorption, infrared, chemilnminescence and refmetometry) and potentiometry. Fewer pages were assigned to electrochemical methods, flame and atomic emission, HPLC, and appendices. Thus, some topics were suggested for closer examination, resulting in the following conclusions. The chapters on AC, DC, and electronic circuits, logic devices and computers were readable end useful, but redundant for those with a good physics background. Infrared was given excessive space; the 30 pages devoted to qualitative analysis could have been omitted since correlation charts lacked specificity and the spectra lacked usable wavenumber scales. The general thrust was to compare spectra of unknowns to knowns, without utilizing physical properties or other spectroscopic methods to pinpoint the identity of the unknown. FT-IR earned a disappointing two pages. On the other hand, inclusion of Hadamard Transform was a pleasant surprise, in light of recent developments (C. & E. N., Feb 29,1988, pp. 22-26). The X-ray chapter was among the longest. I t included critical absorption edges for most elements hut omitted K. and KOwavelengths or common target elements! Analyzer crystal d values were listed, but the reflecting plane and useful range of the crystal were not. Differentiation between X-ray diffraction and fluorescence is unclear and the traditional derivation of the Bragg Equation is missing. Crystallography, including ASTM tables of d spacings used for identification, was given only a few sentences. Mass spectrometry received extensive coverage. Isotopic abundances were cited for 54 elements, with little indication of utility. Spectral interpretation was slighted. The chapter on gas chromatography devoted six lines to carried gases but later noted that the TCD functions best if there is a significant difference in thermal conductivity of the sample components and the carrier gas but gave no numericvalues for either. Many of the real advantages of LTP and dual column designs were not discussed. The author usuallv describes instrument componenw in derad te g., I f , pages on tonseiect~vcriectrodes,seven pages on G1.C detectors and eight pages on atomic absorption sources). However, tables often focus on a single parameter (e.g., Table 9-8 lists inorganic assays for 33 elements, citing only the reagent or complexing agent end wavelength used). Too often, tabular data or extended equations are part of the text material (e.g., transparency regions for infrared solvents, and the expanded form of the Van Deemter Equation) which reduce the usefulness of such information. Illustrations are often troublesome (e.g., ~~~
.~ ~
~
~
