The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual: A Student's Guide t o Techniques J a m s W. Zubrick, John Wiley & Sons. Inc.. Somerset, NJ, 1984. ui 244 pp. Figs. 16 X 23.5 cm. $11.95 PB.
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This book is designed for the one-year, suphomore-level organic laboratory course in schools that me their own experiments. Like the lab manuals of Fessenden' and Marmor,' i t concentrates on the techniques of organic chemistry without emphasizing specific exoeriments. The coveraee of the "Survival Manual" is slightly less than that of Fessen. den, and much less than the exhaustive coverage of Marmor. In contrast to the dry, authoritative prose of most laboratory manuals, Juhn Zubrick's style is deliahtfullv irreverent. He has antic. in&d t b e c o m m h misadventures in the &eanie ~"~ laboratorv and has exolsined how to avoid them. &her than simply giving dercriptions of techniques, he explains wh) eacb sequence of operations is necessary. His viewpoint is like that of a senior fraternity brother giving advice to the sophomores. Some instructors may feel that the friendly tone is excessive, but I found the style to be both eniovableand interesthe. Of the current crop o~laboratorymanuals,"rhis one is the most entertaining and the easiest to read. Every laboratory instructor should read this book for ideas to use in his own lab lectures. The organization of topics is standah, beginning with safety, notebook, and glassware, and proceeding through recrystallization, extraction, and distillation to the more advanced topics. It also covers some of the often-neglected topics such as sublimation, dry mlumn chromatography, HPLC, and the proper use of jointware, clamps, and drying agents. The illustrations and diagrams are of excellent aualitv throuehout. An index aopears a t the bafk of t h i book, allowing fbr convenient retrieval of information. As with most technique manuals, the students must read a large portion of the book in the first weeks of the course. To do a reuystallization and a melting point requires ~~~
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reading the fust 60pages. Extraction requires M) more and distiition an additional 40. The
large initial reading requirement is justiiied, however, by the amount of background information provided and the additional comoetence it eives the students. Altbougk I found the "Survival Manual" delightful to read, I have a major philosophical reservation about its approach. The book is written as if working in the organic laboratory is like walking across a river an the backs of crocodiles. As the title suggests, organic lab is something to besuruiued, hoped with one's eves. skin. and GPA intact. The porsihility that'the s;udent might onjoy the work and choose chemistry a s a career is nor considered. One gets the impression that the author's interesting style and humor serve to spice up an otherwise dull and uninteresting subject. The "Survival Manual" would he an excellent supplement to a procedures manual or a set of experiments generated by the instructor. In addition, the book would be valuable in a c o m e taught by many different graduate students of varying abilities. It would amplify the graduate instructors*lab lectures and ensure that every student bas access to the needed information. The book's tone and anoroach are suited to a service .. course for premedical students, and the coverage is appropriate fur this group. For a class of chemistry majors and chemical engineers, however, I prefer a book with more coverage of the principles and a more enthusiastic attitude toward laboratory organic chemistry as an interesting discipline. Fessenden gives a more oositive outlook in a book of sliehtlv greateriength and depth, while ~armc;;h i wrirlen for the chemistry majom and his book can serve as a reference throughout the student's undergraduate and graduate study. Fessenden, R. J., and Fessenden. J. S., "Organic Laboratory Techniques," Willard Grant. Boston. 1984. hiarmor. s., "Laboratory Methods in Organic Chemistry," Burgess. Minneapolis,
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Chemistry of t h e Elements N. N. Oeenwwd and A. Eamshaw, Pergamon Ress, New York, NY, 1984 xxi 1542 pp. Flg. and tables. 17 X 25 cm. $34.95 PB.
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1981.
In perhapa the most significant one-volume inorganic chemistry work since Cotton and Wilkinson's "Advanced Inorganic Chemistry" which f m t appeared in 1962, Greenwood and Farnshawhave produced a landmark contribution with their "Chemistry of the Elements." Even in the Enzliuh tradition of thoroughness in coverage of descriptive inorganic chemistry, one would have to go back to Partington's teats to find material which is included in this book. It is hoped that we are in the beginning of a new wave in descriptive inorganic chemistry. The authors have organized their material following the families and the periodic table. Nearly 213 of the 1542 pages are devoted to the chemistry of the representative elements. There is agood blend of descriptive and structural chemistry. The major reactions and major compounds are frequently summarized in product d i r a m a , using arrows radiatinr! out from the center of the l i i . Much i%omtion on industrial processes and commercial uses of chemicals is included. The authors obtained much of this information directly from major chemical manufacturers throughout the world. The first member (and occasionally the second member) of each family is generally treated in a separate chapter. Each chapter is organized around the occurrence of the elements, production, atomic and physical properties, chemical properties of the elements, followed by the chemistry of the major classes of compounds. Frequent insertsgiving a chronology of the landmark developments and interesting presentations of industrial processes add to the completeness of coverage. The many excellent fxures showing structures of key compounds reflect the structural background of the authors. ~
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Leorv G. Wade. Jr. (Continued on page ~ 1 3 4 )
d in This issue
James W. Zubrick, The Organic Chem Lab Survival Manual: A Student's Guide to Techniques N. N. Greenwoodand A. Earnshaw, Chemistry and the Elements P. A. H. Wyatt, A Thermodynamic Bypass GOT0 Log K R. Daudel, G. Leroy, D. Peeters, and M. Sana, Quantum Chemistry J. W. Akin, NMR and Chemistry: An Introduction to the Fourier TransformMultinuclear Era F. W. J. McCosh, Boussingault, Chemists and Chemistry William L. Jolly, Modern inorganic Chemistry C. J. Adkins, Equilibrium Thermodynamics, Third Edition Irwin Talesnick, Idea Bank Collation: A Handbwk for Science Teachers David A. Pipitone, Safe Storage of Laboratory Chemicals X F. Careke, Making Science Laboratory Equipment Volume 62
Reviewer Leory G. Wade, Jr.
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Wayne C. Wolsey S. 0. Colgate William C. Herndon Juana V. Acrivos
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George 0. Kauffman E. J. Billo Robert G. K w s e r Frank Mikan Malcolm M. Renfrew Dennis Sievers
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Number 4
April 1985
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