book reviews gain of nucleons. Included are some interesting "relevant" and historical items to make the hasic material more meaningful. In the appendix, exponents, significant figures and nomenclature are discussed. The chapters are short and concise hut well written. They contain about the right amount and depth of material (241 pages of text material) so that the student will obtain the basics hut not be buried. There is very good continuity and progression throughout the book which makes it very readable. The majority of the problems at the end of each chapter allow the student to apply what he has learned. The mathematics is kept to a minimum; however, no answers are listed in the book. There is an aecompanying student worktext available containing more problems. There are a few typographical and information errors. Three of the information errors concern the length of silicon chains (page 108). the unit cell of sodium chloride (page 156), and one of the half-reactions in a dry cell (page 203). As with mast bwks, there are some confusing areas. Using some simple mathematics in areas such as the gas laws prohably would reduce some of the confusion. Also, a few of the illustrations could be imoroved hv usine better color contrast and sparral relatrons. An example of pour illustrations is stating t h n t SF6 is oclnhedrnl and then giving a 1.ewis dot sfrucrure
A48 /Journal of Chemical Education
with all the atoms pictured as though they were in one plane. Overall, the hook is indeed worth considering for a terminal course keeping in mind the ahovelimitations. DouglaSS. Rustad Calitornia State Coiiege, Sanorna Rohnert Park. California 94928
Environmental Chemistry: Air and Water Pollution
H. Stephen Stoker and Spencer L. Seager, Scott, Foreman and Co., Glenview, Ill. 1972. v + 186 pp. Figs. and tables. i5.5 X 23.5 em. $2.95.
Relief has finally arrived for thwe of us who have been teaching non-scientists about the chemistry of the environment by using collections of essays, Scientific American offprints, and Environmental Science and Technology articles as reading material. Stoker and Seager have written a coherent, readable text which is ideal for students with little or no chemistry hackground. The reviewer has had the opportunity to use this text in a course, and his students were unanimous in their praise. The book's 14 chapters are divided into two sections: Under "Air Pollution" are chapters on CO, NO,, Hydrocarbons and Photochemical Oxidants, Sulfur Oxides, Particulates, and Temperature Inversions and the Greenhouse Effect. The "Water
Pollution" half includes chapters about Hg, Ph, Detergents, Insecticides, Oil, and Waste Water Treatment. The students were very grateful that the subheadings in each chapter followed the same Logical formet: the basic chemistry of one pollutant; its sources; its concentration and distribution; its fate in the environment; its effects on plants, humans, and materials; and methods of controlling its emission. Unlike most books in the area, this one starts by discussing units (i.e., "01% versus wt% versus ppm) and the general importance of each pollutant. It then introduces chemical concepts as needed. The chapter on nitrogen oxides, for example, has a section which introduces the idea of kinetic versus thermodynamic control of t h e products of a chemical reaction (as it relates to the production of NO in an internal combustion engine). In similar ways the students are made to think about other kinetic phenomena, equilibrium, free-radical chemistry, photochemistry, and some organic and biochemistry. Students' questions led naturally to active classroom discussions about the nature and relevance of these areas of chemistry. The abundance of graphs and tables enabled the student to develop a real proficiency in translating graphs into predictions about how dependent variables (such as the pollutants emitted by an internalcombustion engine) would change with an independent one (like the air/fuel ratio). The references at the end of each chapter provide an opportunity for further reading, (Continued on pageA5O)
book reviews hut are somewhat spotty in their coverage. About half the references are to government documents, which should prohahly he ordered in advance of the course, since many libraries will not he able to supply them when a student really needs them. Four criticisms and one misprint were noted: (1) There is practically no discussion of air- and water-monitoring. The data somehow just appear in the graphs and tables. (2) pH is not defined before it is used. (3) Figure 5-1 is a confusing onedimensional graph. The data would he clearer in tabular form. (4) While no such bwk can he made completely current, this one predicts a 4.25-C temperature rise with a doubling of atmospheric C 0 2 levels. This is in spite of Rasoal and Schneider's calculations (published in Science one year before this hook) which predict a maximum rise of just 2°C. Future printings might be made t o reflect such improved forecasts. The authors tried to remain factual and unemotional in their treatment of the environmental crisis. Not only did they succeed a t that difficult task, hut they wrote a text that nicely fills one void which our changing curricula have created. My students and I were impressed. Barry J . Hueberl The Cobredo College Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903
courses are often exposed. The author presents the highlights and he does it well; his chronological approach for each topic reads easily. Constant mention of the seientists involved in the studies should make the facts seem less cold, even though the names may have no meaning to the reader and may even he of little significance for the science. Although the book is well documented with specific references through 1969, the general references for each chapter will be of mare use for the readers of a book a t this level. The major fault of "The Life Process" is the obvious neglect of accuracy in many details; it is inexcusable t o present a completely erroneous mechanism for such a well-studied enzyme as chymotrypsin. Many chemical structural formulas including those of most of the vitamins, are either incorrect or misleading. The author was also injudicious with his choice of terms to he clarified in the glossary; e.g., it seems incangruous to include the definition of an acid as a hydrogen-donor, but to avoid explaining the nature of the hydrogen bond. This latter omission is of great importance, since the structures of guanine and cytosine are presented in the incorrect tautomerie forms for hydrogen-bonding. Nevertheless, "The Life Process" may be useful for beginning biology students to read on their own, or for more advanced students to use as a review. In particular, beginning graduate students with a more classical foundation in biology may find this hook an acceptable way to keep abreast of the undergraduates, who frequently have a mare molecular outlook toward biology. John N. Aronson
S U N Y at Albany Albany. New York 12222
The Life Process
J. A. V. Butler Basic Books, h e . , New Yark, 1971. xiii + 256 pp. Figs. and tables. 21.5 X 14.5cm. $6.95. The author,. a competent biochemist, makes an acceptable contention that an "important and fundamental property of the life process" is the possession by living organisms of '!mechanisms which enable them to assemble proteins with amino acids arranged in chains in a precisely determined order." However, he is a bit presumptious to entitle a hook "The Life Process," especially since his definition of the process is bidden in the chapter on protein structure. Although occasional references t o this major point are also made in later chapters, the theme is not convincingly carried through. It is a bit of a let-down far the expectant reader to find that this h w k is simply a general biochemistry h w k written a t a level that would be suitable for those beginning U S . college students who have had a strong, modern hiology course in high schwl. The book is not suitable as a text in a traditional beginning biochemistry course because of the lack of depth on most topics, and also hecause of the inaccuracies in many details throughout the hook. The biochemistry in "The Life Process" is concisely presented a t a level well above that to which students in U.S. biology A50 /Journal of Chemical Education
Introduction to Molecular Energies and Spectra
Marlin D. Harmony, The University of Kansas. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., New Yark, 1972. x i + 563 pp. Figs. and tables. 23.5 X 15.5 cm. $12.50. The author states in the preface of this book that the impetus for its writing was his ". . . feeling that no single text has adequately covered the areas of molecular spectroscopy in a uniform and systematic fashion." To the extent that the author is referring to a treatment suitable for physical chemistry and not analytical chemistry, most people would probably agree. Although this text falls short of the aim implied, it probably comes a gwd deal closer to it than any comparable hook available. The only widely used teats which are similar are Barrow's "Introduction to Molecular Spectroscopy," Bauman's "Ahsorption Spectroscopy" and King's "Speetroscopy and Molecular Structure." The last of the three is the most similar, hut this text is considerably more rigorous (Continued on pageA52)
