book reviews field. Each table is well documented with references and is very carefully done. A tremendous amount of work has been done t o produce these tables and they represent the meat of the book. The authors have done an excellent job in resenting this material. The book will be a valudde part of any library where thermodynamics is taught or used in research.
Elementary Organic Chemistry: A Brief Course
Harris 0. Van Orden and Garth L. Lee, Ut,ah State University, Logan. W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1969. ix 329 pp. Figs. and tables. 17.5 X 25.5 cm. $8.95.
We found no significant errors in this book. At least a t one point the authors might have been rs little more up-to-date.' The introduction to chapter five leaves the impression that benzene is derived today only from coal. Of course, since World War I1 the entire aromatics picture has changed radically, and now the large volume aromatics are derived primrtrtly from petroleum. I n spite of these defects, if such they are, the authors have written a good book. The language is direct and clear; the chapters are well-outlined and illust~ated. Especially attractive me the many fine exercises a t the end of each chapter, arranged in approximate order of difficulty. This text compares favorably with the other recent one-semester books in organic chemistry. ENNOWOLTHUIS Calvin College Gmnd Rapids, Michigan 49506
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This is a one-semester text on the fundamentals of organic chemist,ry, intended for the general college student,, especially the major in biology or related areas. This is a new hook, not a revision of a n earlier text. The first two chapters are devoted l o the physical principles which are used t,hroughaut to explain selected reactions. These chapters deal with "bonding and structure" and "stability and reactivity," especially as they apply to the chemistry of carbon. The latter chapter treats such subjects as theory of reaction rates, Brgnsted and Lewis acids and bases as applied to displacement reactions, for example, and free radical reactions. After these introductory chapters, organic compounds are discussed in more or less traditional order. Aliphatic and aromat,ic compounds are followed by oxygenated compounds, and then the comof nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. After this a fifteen-page chapter treats stereoisomerism, and about fifty pages are devoted to biochemicals and biochemistry. An Appendix reviews atomic structure and bonding. Any review of a short organic chemistry text is hazardous. The reviewer never seems to find in i t the topics he considers important, or the emphasis where it ought to be. I n the present case, since this book is intended primarily for the general student, one could wish i t contained more on the practical significance and applications of the compounds mentioned. The subject comes "alive" to many when, for example, the student realizes that many names in the text are also those found on the bread wrapper, the catsup bottle, etc. I n our opinion, the authors should have included a t least a page or two on the analytical techniques which have contributed so much to the recent advances in the subject. For example, a brief description of infrared spectroscopy could have been fit,ted into the first chapter on bonding snd structure. Likewise, the contributions of chromatography to our understanding of protein composition, for example, .would have been appropriate.
A304 / Journol of ~ h e k i c o Education l
Rodd's Chemistry of Carbon Compounds. Volume II, Aliryclic Compounds; Part C, Polycyclic Compound%,Excluding Steroids
Edited by S. Cofey (2nd ed.), American Elsevier Publishing Co., Inc., New York, 521 pp. 65 Tables. 16 1969. xvii X 23 cm. $32.
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Volume 11, Part C of the second edition of Rodd's Chemistry of Carbon Compounds consists of six chapters (9 through 14) covering the chemistry of non-steroid polycyclic alicyclic compounds. The specific topics and authorship of these chapters m e as fallows: Chap. 9 (31 p.), Polycabocyclic Compounds with Separate Ring Systems, and Spiro Compounds, by N. A. J. Rogers (The University, Lancaster); Chap. 10 (45 p.), Polycarbocyelic Compounds. Fused or Condensed Cyclic Systems, by N. A. J. Rogers; Chap. 11 (59 p.), Polycyclic Bridged Ring Compounds, by J. D. Littlehales (Petrachemical and Polymer Laboratory, I . C. I., Ltd., Runcorn, Cheshire); Chap. 12 (120 p.), Bicyclic Monoterpenoids and Related Compounds, by A. Pelter (The University, Menchester) and S. H. Harper (University College of Rhodesia); Chap. 13 (113 p.), The Sesquiterpenoids, by R. ,Bryant (Mead Johnson Research Center, Evansville, Indiana); and Chap. 14 (113p.), The Diterpenoids, Sesterterpenoids and Triterpenoids, by R. MoCridle (The University, Glasgow) and K. H. Overton (TheUniversity, Glasgow). A guide and double column Index (40 p.) complete the book. The present volume is a direct and smooth continuation of the earlier revised Volumes IIA and IIB, which considered srstematically the chemistry of monocarhocyclio compounds of increasing ring size. The organization of the topics covered follows the effective and logical pattern of previous chapters in Volume 11, and the litersture coverage appears to be equally thorough and up-to-date. There is considerable emphasis on stereochemistry and mechanism in the oresent chanters. and
noids (Chao. . . 14). are effeetivelv and inter-
e.t>nplg unifird i r f term. of rlw Bio~rnttic Isoprene Ilule. Thr 451 te~runlpage5 t,f the present vulume rrprrsrrt R 1.7-fold it,-
crease over the number of pages covering similar topics in the first edition of Volume 11,a reflection perhaps of the increased research interest and importanceof the polycyclic alioyclic series of compounds. This volume (along withits predecessors of both editions) will clearly serve as a continuing definitive referenoe book on the subjects i t encompasses, and libraries as well as research chemists concerned with these fields will find it indispensable.
A Laboratory Manual of Experiments in Physical Chemistry
D. Brennan and C. F . H. Tipper, University of Liverpool, England. McGraw-Hill Publishine Co.. New York. 1967. x 254 pp.- ~ i and~ tables: i 15 X 23 cm. Softbound. $4.50.
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This manual was designed for use by students in universities and colleges of technology. I t gives instructions for carrying out 67 experiments which are well distributed over the field of physicd chemistrv. Each emeriment is described in te'tms u i tlwoc)', ippnmru. nnd miltcrialx, yrmcrdurr, a1.d rrralrnrlit oi rewlt.. .\t tlrr end oi eq
