book reviews Editor: W . F. KIEFFER College of Woostor
W M e r , Ohio
Foundations of Chemistry
Ernest R. Toon, Los Angeles Valley College, Van Nuys, California; George L. Ellzs, Los Angeles City Schools; and Jacob Brodkin, Plainview-Old Bethpag~ High School, Plainview, New York. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, h e . , New York, 1968. xii 803 pp. Figs. and tahles. 10.5 X 24 em. 87.88.
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This text epit,omises t,he t,rend that has been evident in high school chemistry texts during the last decade; i t is a miniature college text,. The sequence of topics and the depth to which some of the more difficult topics are t,reated are typical of some of the less rigorous college-level general chemistry texts. "Foundations of Chemistry" is quite
modern genera[ chemistry courses, such as atomic structure, chemical bonding, elementary thermodynamics, equilibrium, and electrochemistry is considered in much greater detail than has generally been true of high school texts. Yet, in the opinion of the reviewer, the text is not sufficiently rigorous for students in the Advanced Placement Program but too demanding for the average college preparatory class. Thus i t should he most useful for secondary school honors courses and second-year courses which are not aimed a t the level of Advanced Placement. A first-year honors class could not hope t o cover all the material pre-
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sented in this book. However, the teacher of such a cla5s could select a number of topics for in-depth treatment and have adequate support in the text for all of them. The main principles of chemistry are carefully developed and well illustrated with line drawings and figures which clearly show the three-dimensional aspect of molecular architecture. The sufficient number of illustrative problems should be of great help t,o the students since they are clearly presented. A followup problem is given just after most of these examples. Answers are provided for the followup problems, a practice which should prove t o he a popular one. Unfortunately, one of the relatively few mistakes for a first edition occurs in followup problem 2b, p. 524, where a wrong answer is given. This is a particularly insidious mistake since the student will probably, by wrong thinking, obtain the given answer and never be aware of his misunderstanding. Among the best features of the hook, are its numerous comprehensive tables of data. The authors carefully organized the chapter on atomic structure in such a way that certain sections are elesrly designated as t,hose which contain the minimum background for understanding subsequent chapt,ers; the other sections in this chapter present the origin m d theoretical ba3is of the wave mechanical model. The excellent introduct,ion t o t,ransition metals and coordinat,ion compounds found in chapter nineteen is certainly worthy of mention, as is the chapter on organic
in this Issue
Ernest R. Toon, George L. Ellis, and Jamb Brodkin, Foundations of Chemistry Leonard K . Nash, Elements of Statistical Thermodynamics Williarn L. Jolly, editor, Inorganic Syntheses, Volume I1 Juan A. McMillan, Electron Paramagnetism G . Pass and H. Sutcliffe, Practical Inorganic Chemistry George H . Stout and Lyle H. Jensen, X-Ray Structure Determination: A Practical Guide Leonid V. Alaroff, Elements of X-Ray Crystallography Gordon H . Pritham, Anderson's Essentials of Biochemistry
. . ,431 . ..62 . ..62 .. .A44 .. .A44 . . .A44 . . .A44 . . .A46
E. H. E. Pietsch, A. Kotmski, and the Gmelin Institute, editors, Gmelins Hrtndbuch der Anorganischen Chemie. 8. Auflage, System Nummer 14, . A50 Kohlenstoff. Teil B, Lieferung 2, Das Element: Graphit
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Hans Fromhwz and Alezandm King, Terminologie Chimique Franco. . A50 Anglaise-French-English Chemical Terminology
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Federico Grabid, Theory of Energy Transfep and Conversions David M . Knight, editor, Classical Scientific Papers-Chemistry
. . .A52 . . .A52
chemistry. Another strong point is the unusually careful and systematic manner in which the electronic configurations of the elements are relat,ed t o the periodic table. The Periodic Law is introduced in chapter three by telling the story of its discovery by Mendeleev. The statement of the law is historically accurate hut the reader is given no examples of properties which certain elements have in common until after the law has been stated. Paragraph [3-201, page 71, in which i t is stated that the elements in modern periodic tables are arranged in the order of increasing atomic numbers, will not make sense to the uninitiakd student. Atomic number is not defined, nor is any reference made to exceptions in Mendeleev's Periodic Table. The reference t o Moseley's work which is made in this paragraph is almost certain to he meaningless to the student. The authors are reluctant to pose a problem and withhold an answer, even for a short time. The criticism just expressed pertains to the authors' overall failure t o achieve their stated objective of helping the student ". . .see how chemical principles and concepts are developed from observations and data." Lip service is aL3o given t o tracing the historical evolution of important ideas in order t o help the student .the way in which a gain insight into scientist works, develops theories, and discovers principles." The fact is, however, that generalizations based an experiments are seldom stated and questions arising from ahsewations are usually not asked unless the thought-model currently in use for their interpretation has already been developed. I n the brief accounts of some of the classical experiments [e.g.,Goldstein's positive-ray experiment], the ohservations are so inadequately reported and so interspersed with interpretations that the student is not likely to distinguish between fact and inference. The wrihing abilities of the authors vary widely. Some chapters, such as those presenting the ideas of atomic structure, bonding, molecular structure, chemical energy, and coordination compounds are skillfully written in a lucid, crisp style. Concern is shown, in these sections, for the precise use of words. Other chapters, particularly numbers two, three, and four are written in an amateurish fashion. "Mundane" matters, such as definitions, the laws of chemical combination, and the classical problems with which chemists were struggling in the first half of the nineteenth century [i.e., the atomic weight problem and the simplest and true formula problems] are treated in a slip-shad manner. In summary, careless treatment of the mast basic topics of chemistry detracts from the usefulness of this text for students in a first-year course, whether in a regular or honors class. "Foundations of Chemistry" could, however, meet a rather limited need for s. text for second-year high school non-Advanced Placement chemistry classes.
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F ~ N8.K QUIRING Clayton High School Clayton, Mo. Volume 46, Number I , Jonuory 1969
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