Chemical Education Today
book & media reviews The Chemistry Maths Book Erich Steiner. Oxford University Press: New York, 1996. ISBN 0-19-855914-3 (Cloth), 0-19-855913-5 (Paper). $80.00 (Cloth); $29.95 (Paper). Every chemist uses math, that is clear. The level of course may vary, but in general, students and teachers of chemistry must know their way through most available math methods. The Chemistry Maths Book contains all the mathematical methods that 99% of chemists would need. Designed as a text for an actual Maths for Chemists course, it is laid out in a logical progression from simple (decimals, algebra, and functions) to the more complicated but no less important (matrix algebra, differential equations, and matrix eigenvalue problems). It seems well suited both for its stated purpose and as a “brush-up” book for undergraduates, graduate students, and others. The mathematics are carried out briskly and with very little dressing. I prefer this—there is much material to cover here and it works well through Steiner’s particularly lucid presentation. The notation is standard and clear (I didn't spend any time trying to figure out notation). Another aspect that I liked was that every first reference to a mathematical constant, method, or other entity brings with it a footnote about the person first responsible. For
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example, the Euler number e is accompanied by a short blurb on Hermite, who was the first to show that it is transcendental. It is refreshing to have this grounding in the history of mathematics. One outstanding feature of the text is the voluminous use of problems. Steiner states that there are more than 900 (including solutions), and while I didn’t get around to counting them, I believe him. The problems and exercises are chemistry applications where possible: rate laws illustrate differential equations, Einstein’s theory of solids and black body radiation illustrate limits, and of course there is the use of differentials in thermodynamics, my personal favorite. In addition, several problems are treated in more than one way, or built up in succeeding chapters. Illustrations are neither flashy nor weak, but exactly what is needed to get a point across. The book was typeset in TeX by the author, and while I personally use and enjoy LaTeX, I find the computer modern font spindly and less than forceful. However, if this is the only thing I can find to complain about, it just shows how much I am impressed with this book. I am sure that it will remain open on my desk and will become well worn in short order. C. Michael McCallum University of the Pacific Stockton, CA 95211
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 74 No. 12 December 1997
