book reviews Elements of Stereochemistry
Ernest L. Eliel, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana, with a section by F . Rasolo, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1969. 98 pp. Figures. 15 X 23 cm. vi Softbound. $2.95.
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Professor Eliel has prepared a fine, brief treatment of this subject, written "for any student capable of following a course in organic chemistry." He has sncceeded well in this. His intention was that i t "be used in conjunction with a. texbbook of basic organic chemistry and (not) supplant existillg more detailed text,booksof stereochemistry." This booklet is not a condensation of Dr. Eliel's 1962 monograph which semes quite a different purpose. The new version will he s valuable, quick reference for the tescher. I t will answer most of the qnestions which students raise, and will be an excellent auxiliary reference for t,hem bo consult. Following t,hebrief introduction, history and background, there are chapters on basic concepts and terminology, stereochemistry of carbon compounds and of other tetrahedral elements. These are followed by Dr. B m l o ' s short, hut authoritative and valuable addition on cnordinstion compounds. Finally, there are s. few pages on dynamio stereo-
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On the other hand, some readers may find i t convenient, to have both theory and experimental results in the same volume. Introductory to the descriptive section is a short chapter on the seven crystal systems. The author makes the all-toocommon error of characterizing these on the basis of shapes of unit cells instead of symmetry elements. The real meat is contained in 17 chapters (217 pages) of a. well-organized exposition of inorganic crystal structures. These include: elements, compounds of JOHN W. CHITTUM t,ypes AB, AB2, AzB>, and ABs, ternary The College of Wooster compounds, silicates, borabes, compounds Wooster, Ohio with metal-metal bonds, and alloys. These structures are described, classified, nnrl rliamsaed at leneth from various theoretioal stand points. A very valuable feaFund'mentak Of ture of this section is the lavish number Cryst'' of references to the original literabure, over H . Krebs, Technical University, Stutt500 of them. Thesealonemakepossession nart. Translated bv P . H . L. Walter, of this book worthwhile. The final chapter skidmore College, Saratoga ~ ~ r i n ~ sis; an glasses, a curious choice for a book wit,h New Ymk. McGrew-Hill Book Co.. . ~ t,his . . ~ ~title. ~ ~ . New York, 1968. xv 405 pp: This book is a translation from the German into English, and therefore inFigs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $13.50. cludes such spellings as vapour, colour, neighbour, centre, sulphor, and the like; The first ten chapters (120 pages) of Dr. E. Goldish will be surprised to learn this book are purely theoretical in nature, that he has been teutonized to Goldisch. and consist largely of elemenbary quantum The alphabetical sequence of the author mechanics, starting with the solut,ion of index is S-, followed by Sch-, followed by the Schrddinger equation for the hydrogen St-; while this may he customary in some atom, and on t,hrough molecular orbital, (hut by no means all) German language crystal field, and ligand field theories. indices, surely the translator could have While this part is clearly and concisely rearranged these into American-English. written, the same material has been covThe legend to Abb.109 in the original ered equally well many limes before, and (Continued on page A64) seems somewhat superfluous in bhis book.
chemistry and stereoregult~rpolymerieation. The hook seems to he adequately indexed. There are 50 problems, eaoh with its answer given in some detail. The publisher has allowed a few obvious typographical errors to appear, most of which are not bothersome, but page 68 of the reviewer's copy is completely blank. Apparently Fig. 46 belongs there. The rest of the 47 figures are clear and helpful. The margins next to the binding are undesirably narrow.
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