book reviews
techniques is included at the beginning of the text: safety, use of the balance, treatment of data, cleaning equipment, heating, and instrumentation. Theintroductory materialis presented in a clear, concise, and informative manner, providing an invaluable reference for the student. While the instructor may wish to supplemeit the material, this is not neceSEBrV. ~~
Principles of Chemistry: A Models Appmach
Terence Swift, Case Western Resewe University. D. C. Heath and Co., Lexington, Massachusetts, 1975. xx 632 pp. Figs. and tables. 24 X 19.5 cm.
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By careful selection of content and meticulous attention to arrangement, Professor Swift (Case Western Reserve) has produced a really "new" text for college level chemistry, appropriately subtitled, "A Models Approach." The novelty resides not in the material covered but in the approach and depth of coverage, penetrating to the questions of significance in an unhurried but definitely circumspect pace. The text is not large-in f a d i t s size is deceptively small for its content and level of exposition. The open format with wide margins, appropriate use of two colors, and uncluttered pages is very readable. The illustrations, graphs, and tables are particularly clean cut and are free of the extraneous details that often intimidate the beginning ~tudent By choice, the arrangement follows the development of models of physical substance and its transformations, beginning with some of the earliest ideas. As a consequence the first chapters move slowly and have limited relation to oresent or orevious exoeriences.
material across in later chapters and this advice might well apply to the earlier material as well. Descriptive material is presented in earnest, beginning with Chapter 7-a little late, maybe-and it is a wellchosen collection of significant chemical properties (almost surprisingly so for an author with a flair for theoretical principles). The discussions of entropy and enthalpy as spreadness of matter and energyare powerful, accurate approaches appealing to common sense. A certain mental toughness and aooreeiation for lozical develooment is required of the reader in this chapter, and i t will probably be a difficult chapter for the
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average student. The instructor using the text is well advised to work the oroblems in detail in advance of assignment to yet the right tlalance 01 IPVIPU and challenge. The ditticult\ of n prohlem might he vvrrlmked in rheshunnss% or the simple wording. The section an biochemistry is admitted by the author to be too extensive but was given a t popular request by his students. One detraction of the styl-in fact aresult of its coneiseneas-is the often referral to nrevinm tables., exwriments. ,.. , . or illustrations. Hunting hark to the requisite page ic a nuimncc and it interrupts roncsntrstion, a real annoyance but a small price to pay for compactness. No previous science or math training is assumed of the student and the necessary concepts are developed. The student is expected to handle same mathematical detail (not fussy detail, though) and have an appreciation for mathematical statements. Consequently, some care will he needed to provide for the spread of ahilities in large classes. This is an impressive, potentially classic text. In quality, it isof the order of Pauling's original-and it should gain wide acceptance and success. It's a solid book which really challenges; the reward of mastery is a solid grounding in chemical principles. ~
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Norman E. Miller University of South Dakota Vermillion. South Dakota 57069 Between Alchemy and Technology: The Chemical Laboratory
Judith A. Walrnsley and Frank Walrnsley, University of Toledo. Prentice-Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1975. xiv 268 pp. 28 X 21.5 em.
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Themanual has been written for students whose professional goals are the sciences, medicine, pharmacy, or engineering. Except for a few brief applications a non-calculus approach is used throughout the manual. An excellent introduction to laboratory
The reviewer is impressed with the c h o m of experimrnm and ihr elnrit) oi pra*mtatton. The rx~~erirnents mr dividrd int
