book reviews Editor: W. F. KIEFFER Cdlege of Woonar Wwrter, Ohio
Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry William H. Brown, Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin. Willard Grant Press, Inc., Boston, 1972. xvii 366 pp. 24 x 16.8 em. $9.95.
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In selecting textbooks I follow Prof. Carroll King's admonition: students deserve t o receive their "education a t a reasonable and sane rate." This idea is particularly applicable in community colleges where the problem is further compounded by the diversity of interests, occupational goals, previous preparation, and motivation of the students. Relevance of the material is critically related to motivation. Since relevance varies as any given teacher embellishes the text material, I favor briefness in a text to give the teacher a chance to add his own ideas and adapt them t o the needs of the class. Dr. Brown's book is brief, relevant, and lively. Although the preface states that it was "designed for a one-semester introduction to organic and biochemistry," i t could be used for a community college two-semester course by supplementing i t with material as needed. The h w k has other desirable features. Problems are interspersed throughout the teat with additional problems a t the end of each chapter. The book follows the functional group approach, but it introduces the concept of reaction mechanisms early (page 50); optical activity is treated in chapter 4. The most unique feature of the book is a series of mini-essays dealing with chemical ecology, molecular basis of inherited diseases, design af drugs, chemistry and the mind, chemistry of vision, use of antihiotics, and natural and synthetic polymers. These mini-essays can serve as focal paints for class discussions on the relevance, importance, and applications of organic chemistry. They can also serve as starting points to have the students collect clippings on the uses of organic chemistry and its application t o solve a variety of problems, or else to show how the use of organic chemicals has either created new
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problems or compounded existing ones. One value of the mini-essays is that they keep the busy teacher from having to search far this material and duplicating it for class use. I quarrel with the notion that only nonchemistry majors will benefit by this aporoach. I believe the chemistry maior needs more than ever to realize thk inipact of chemistry t o "his life and environment." Dr. Brown's hook makes an important contribution towards that goal. A student study guide (169 pages), written by the author in cwperation with Max I. Bowman, copyright 1973, is also available. It contains answers to the textbwk problems, additional questions in a "Things t o study" format, and self-tests with answers. The guide is available from the publishers priced a t $2.95. JoeVikin
Cornhg Community College Corning, New York 14830
Spot Tests in Inorganic Analysis
amalgamated and new ones added. The number of tests has increased from 649 to 899 and in the chapter on "Applications" the number of sections from 95 to 129. The changes appear to make the book easier to use. All tests have been arranged according to the elements to which they relate and are no longer dispersed throughout various chapters. The tests cited are sufficient t o establish the presence or absence of a given element or ion without the use of chemical separations of the type used in qualitative analysis schemes. Another innovation is the inclusion of tests for nan-ionic compounds of some elements as well as tests for organometallie ions and tests to detect elements in organic compounds. A reference list has been provided for each sub-section, followed in some cases by a bihliography of the appropriate quantitative methods. Introductory chapters on the development, present state, and prospects of inorganic spot analysis and an the methadology of spot test analysis should be helpful to those who have not had previous experience with this technique. These are followed by two chapters on preliminary orientational tests and the actual test procedures. The procedures are carefully and clearly written. The fifth chapter is devoted to the application of spot tests to the solution of problems presented to the practical and technical analyst. The hook is concluded with a tabular summary giving the limitations of identification attained by spot tests, a list of materials tested, and the reagents used. This volume contains a wealth of useful information and belongs on the reference shelf of every chemist who has occasion to carry out simple, rapid selective detection tests without resorting to the use of a $40,000 instrument.
F Feigl, Laboratorio da Producao Min-
Aibertine Krohn
eral, Ministerio da Agricultura, Rio de Janeiro, and V. Anger, Vienna. Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 1972. xxix 669 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 x 23 cm. $42.50.
University 01 Toledo Toledo. Ohio 43606
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Fourteen years have passed since the publication of the fifth edition of this reference work [J. CHEM. EDUC., 36, All0 (195911. Vinzenz Anger collaborated with Professor Feigl on the revision and campleted the work following the latter's death in January of 1971. Many new reagents have been discovered during this interval and the vast accumulation of data on their application made this completely revised edition necessary. It is difficult t o compare the fifth and sixth editions, as chapters have been
in this Issue
William H. Brown, Introduction to Organic and Biochemistry
. . A511
F. Feigl. Spot Tests in Inorganic Analysis
. . A511 . . .A511
Peter S.vke.9, The Search for Organic Reaction Pathways Richard E. Dickerson, Molecular Thermodynamics Stan1e.y E. Monahan, Environmental Chemistrv J R. Pedlqv, Computer Analysis of Thermodynamical Data. CatchTables K.H.Maney and W J. Weber, Jr., Analysis of Industrial Wastewaters New Volumes in Continuing Series
. . A512 . . . A512 . . A514 . . . A514 . . A514
The Search for Organic Reaction Pathways
Peter Sykes, Fellow of Christ's College. Cambridge. Halsted Press Division, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.. New York, 1972. xii + 247 pp. Figs. and tables. 13.5 X 21.5 cm. $6.25. This latest book by Sykes can be considered as a sequel t o his popular "Guidebook" which has met with much success. While the "Guidebook" discusses types and classes of mechanisms, his new book concentrates on the techniques used to help establish mechanisms of organic reactions: kinetic data and interpretation, kinetic and non-kinetic uses of isotopes, study of reactive intermediates, stereachemical criteria, and structure/reactivity correlations. While other popular texts have reserved chapters for these topics, their in-depth study does not approach that of Sykes'. He uses each of these tools to show how (Continued onpageA512) Volume 50, Number 10, October 1973
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A511
book reviews the mechanisms of the more well-known reactions have been elucidated. It is this latter point, his use of examples which are always included in textbooks, which will make this book complementary, rather than supplementary, reading to all other commonly used texts today. The reviewer is confident that this book will become mandatory reading in all undergraduate and graduate organic courses which place emphasis on reaction mechanisms. The text is well represented with diagrams, figures, and drawings which make for easy grasping of ideas and points. While written in his naturally excellent style, his syntax in some places may pose some problems to students and takes getting used to. A final chapter is included which extends and combines the previously discussed methods of mechanism elucidation to provide more sophisticated information about reaction pathways. The reviewer is aware of one other monograph (Jackson's "Mechanism," Oxford, 1972) which attempts to accomplish a goal similar to that of Sykes'. Sykes is by far the more ~uccessful.His hook will find its way into most personal and all reference libraries. Dwight W. Chasar Univeisiry 01 Pittsburgh Johnstown. Pennsylvania
Molecular Thermodynamics
Richard E. Dickerson. California Institute of Technology. W. A. Benjamin, Inc., New York. 1969. xvi + 452 pp. Figs. and tables. 23 X 15 cm. 54.95. The book forms part of a three-volume series designed for use in an undergraduate course in physical chemistry. In the year course a t the California Institute of Technology, the material on thermodynamics presented here is preceded by quantum mechanics ("Quantum Mechanics in Chemistry," Melvin W. Hanna) and followed by kinetics ("Rates and Mechanisms of Chemical Reactions," W. C. Gardner, Jr.). After a very brief review of quantum mechanics, the text proceeds to a diseussion of statistical mechanics (68 pages), the three laws of thermodynamics (148 pages), the thermodynamics of phase changes and chemical reactions (78 pages), solutions (87 pages) and the thermodynamics of living systems (36 pages). The amount of material is too great to be covered in lh of a year or indeed in one semester; instructors who decide to use this text will have t o select those topics which they believe to he most pertinent for their classes. Hopefully, they will not omit the last chapter dealing with the application of thermodynamics t o biological processes, by all odds the most interestinp: and thought-provoking section of the text. Most undergraduate students will have difficulty with the rather sophisticated mathematics used in certain parts of the A512
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Journal of Chemical Education
text. For example, they are unlikely to understand the principle behind the use of Lagrangian multipliers, introduced without warning in Chapter 2. Again, there appears to be no discussion of the distinction between partial and total derivatives, a point which confuses many beginning students in thermodynamics. Perhaps the strongest point of the book is the skillful interweaving of statistical and classical thermodynamics in such a manner that they reinforce one another. Indeed, the author does an admirable jnb of presenting statistical concepts in such a way that they will take on physical meaning to the student. Here, as in the final chapter, the rather informal style in which the hook is written helps to make the material come alive. In contrast, this reviewer found the material on the laws of thermodynamics and their application t o solutions to be pedestrian and, on occasion, disturbingly vague. An inordinate amount of space is devoted to fugacity, the derivation of the DehyeHiiekel equation, and the presentation of phase diagrams ad infinitum. Too often, equations are quoted without any clear indication of the restrictions that must he applied. For example, on p. 94, we find the equation
stated without qualification. The same .weakness shows up in statements in the body of the text; it is a t best misleading to argue (p. 157) that dq,,,/T must be a n exact differential because any reversible cycle can be fitted on a P V plot by a series of Carnots. Each chapter is followed by a set of problems which adequately illustrate the principles introduced. A few of the problems are of the "relevant" type. There are no worked examples in the body of the text, which would have seemed appropriate for a book a t this level. William L. Masterton University 01 Connecticut Storrs, Con" 06268
Environmental Chemistry
Stanley E. Manahon, University of Missouri, Columbia. Willard Grant Press, Ine., Boston, 1972. v + 393 pp. Figs. and tables. 15 x 23 cm. $6.95 paperback; $10 casehound. Stanley Manahan's text is one of the more complete discussions of environmental chemistry published t o date. It is unfortunate that his choppy writing style makes it so difficult to read. The reviewer used it in a course, with mixed reactions from the students. Their comments ranged from gratitude for a quantitative approach to the subject to apology for not being able to stay awake while reading it. The reviewer's reaction was likewise mixed. Dr. Manahan has chosen his topics wisely: In the section on water chemistry (Continued onpageA.514)
