This manual is not reallv uniaue in cont m t : howevcr, it ir very weil done, nn excel. lent teaching manunl, and is worrhy of consideration.
sumer chemistry. The topical coverage is selective, hut goad, and each chapter contains an abundanceof useful information, much in tahular form. This second edition has heen updated and improved, hut the author does not specify what changes have been made. For anyone desiring a textbook for a course on consumer chemistry for nonchemists, or for anyone who wants a handy reference to everyday uses of chemistry, this book should he considered.
J. L. Kirsch Butler University IndianapoIis, Indiana 46208
Roger D.Barry Northern Michigan University Marquette. MI 49855
book reviews ~
.
~~
From Intellectual Scaffolding to the Elixlr of Life lEditorials from Chemlslry) Theodor Benfey. Guilfard College, Greensboro, NC, 1978. Figs. & tables. 21'12 X 28 cm. 60 pp. $1.75 (($1.25 far orders of ten or more). Unl~ke(Xltwrt and Stlll~vnn'spdicrmrn. the lot of [his rrvlewer isindeed a hnppyone; i t is a pleasure and a privilege to recommend this publication to every reader, whether they he professor, teacher, industrial chemist, or humanist. Those who are familiar with "Chemistry" already know that Dr. Benfey's editorials are worth pondering even though some may have been written a decadeago. The contents are 54 selected editorials, written by Benfey between 1964 and 1978 while he was the editor of "Chemistry," classified (if such is possible) into categories including Words, Current Events, Chemicals, Water, Energy, The Orient (I enjoyed these particularly), Alchemy, Space Concerns, and Books andldeas. Given this variety, it is not possible to conveya total sense of this offering in a review; you should dip into the editorials yourselves. But to give some of the flavor one quotation that I admire and enjoy is, "All a teacher can do is to indicate why the suhjeet provides fascination fur himself and why it might possibly be of interest to his students." I suggest that others find their own bon mots. This small hook is a gnld mine full of nuggets. JayA.Young h&nufachrirgChemists Association Washington DC
Chemistry In the Market Place Ben Selinger. Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1978. Figs. & tables. 21.5 X 14.5 em. xnxiii 454 pp. $8.50.
+
This book is a compilation of information and experiments for consumers. There are chapters dealing with chemicals used in the home-kitchen, boudoir, and laundry: and there are other ehapters dealing with the chemicals used in medicines, in garden products, and in automobile products. Three ehapters deal with polymers, one with heavy metals, and one with energy. There is a wealth of information in this hwk, including a glossary for nonchemists and an introductory section on basic chemical concepts. "Chemistry in the Market Place" is a book that is intended for use in a course on con....-.., A182 1 Journal of Chemical Education
I Cook as I Please Marcand H. Kreish, Exposition Press, Inc., Hicksville, N.Y., 1978,47 pp., $4. Chemists. in oarticular of the oreanie dis-
lahnratory techniques. Here is a unique and lively little volume recommended to all chemist-cooks and their families hy a wellknown Canadian alkaloid chemist who practiced the culinary art as seriously as his science. There are 29 oqanic preps (recipes) tried and repeatedly tested hy the author (admittedly without theaid of the editorial hoard of "Organic Synthesis") hut with a wide appeal to a variety of palates: Goulash, Plum Jam, Roast Seal, Blackbird Pie, Buckwheat Pancakes, Corhin de Guerre. Delightfully interweaving the recipe descriptions are tales of females who reputedly were in some way responsihle far bringing a particular dish to the attention of the author: There was Vanda ("a curvaceous Canadian cousin twice removed"), Labelia ("of pleasant speech and easy on theeyes, hut not of easy virtue"), and Laelia ("when she appeared I was thankful that my carwas stalled in thesnow"), among others. In his scientific writing, Kreish was a master of concise, correct, and crisp use of the English language. The present aceount shows what he can do outside the rigidity of scientific reporting, viz. on pork chops: "I know of no cook who can take a third-rate material and make a delicacy out of it. On the other hand, I have experienced many third-rate dishes resulting from slovenly manipulation of first-rate material." On (modern) hread: "It is made from some of the finest wheat in the world, from which a t least some of the essentials of nutrition are abraded, and it is then passed through an assembly line, emerging white, sliced, and wrapped, with neither flavor nor texture to invite ingestion." On in cuisine franeoise: "My recollection of pheasant, left me confused, until Vanda explained that Faisan "Darlan" was crow. I did not know until that time that I would ever eat crow, although I once saw a falcon do just that." Aside from the tempting recipes, always given in the accepted Experimental format ("Into three cups o f . . .water, there is added a scant cup of rolled oats. . ."),there is scientific explanation, e.g., on preparing dill pickles: "The process is one of anaerobic fermentation, in which lactic acid, carhon dioxide. and other minor oroducts are eenerated. ~ i k all e biological processes, m a k g dill pickles requires not only the right kind of
