Fundamentals of Chemistry Karl Kumll, D. Van Nostrand Company, New York. NY. 1980. xii 530 pp. Figs. and tables. 19.5 X 23 cm. $17.95.
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This text is designed for use in an introductory chemistry course which presumes no previous chemistry course in the student's background. Only modest skills in mathematics at the level of first-year algehra are required. Specific topics sueh as equation solving, use of exponential numbers, scientific notation, graphing, and other essentials are developed very early in the hook. Dimensional unit analysis or the faetor label method is used throughout. Chapter coverage is comparable to that in mast texts of this genre including matter and energy, atomic structure, periodicity, bonding, stoichiometry, states of matter, solutions, acids, bases, redox, and rates of reactions. b c h of rhr thirteen chaptcn mirally kgins with a list uf r,hjrctiveu. 'l'hr prdn~o6irnl r~gimefdluuedirtotell thertudent what 1s to h~ learned in the chapter, present the information, and finally remind rhe student what rhuuid haw bern lrnrned and whnt will he important to build upon in subsequent chapters. Also included is an explanation of why the topics covered are important in chemistry. Although self evident to the chemist, such significance is not obvious to beginning students. The author's making it explicit probably will provide needed motivation for some students. Numerous solved problems are provided within the chapters and a large number of questions and prohlems follow each chapter. Answers to selected problems are provided in the text and a complete set of answers is available in a separate "Solutions Manual." Proper use of terms is emphasized with a review at chapter
ends and the provided glossary. The author has kept well to his task of providing the fundamentals of chemistry. Depth of coverage is not profound although for the most part statements of chemical fact are accurate. More demanding or extended topics sueh as molecular orbitals and organic chemistry are left to later courses. As might he expected in a first edition, the text is not without flaws. Some are accidental or perhaps typographical such as "fluoride" for fluoride, "hepthanol" for heptanol and "A" rays for y rays. In certain figures Naf is shown as larger than H-, nonlinear hydrogen bonds are shown in liquid water and elements such as Be and Mg are given electron affinities of zero. In another fieure the most orohnhlc dlqtanrr of on elrrrnm from the nuclpus is equated with the 90': prohnh~lityboundary. The reprcscntntiun u i clrrcron clouds always presents something of a problem and the author's choice of a smoke ring-like representation of electrons in orbitals may instill some unfortunate mental imagery in heginning students. However, for the most part, the few deficiencies in the text could he re-
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in format, easily read, and appropriate in its scope and level of treatment. A supplemental "Study Guide" by the same author is available which provides further aid in problem solving and concept utilization. It precisely para)lels this text in chapter coverage. Donald J. Brown Western Michigan University Kalarnazoo,,MI 49008
General Chemistry, S e c o n d Edltlon Ralph S. Becker and Wayne E. Wentworth, Houghton Mifflin. Dallas, 1980. xviii 855 pp. Figs. and tables. 20 X 24 cm.
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Study Gulde for General Chemistry, S e c o n d Editlon by Becker and Wentworth Benjamin L. Carroll, Henry Shanfield, and Russell A. Geanangel. Houghton Mifflin Co., Dallas, 1981. 299 pp. 18.5 X 23 cm. Seven years separatr the fir31 and serund rdit~onsoithistext. Although s r c t i u m t r ~ m the firat edition are read~lsrrcuynired, the greater impact of the second edition is immediately discerned. The use of color for section headings and notes in the margins skillfully provide the reader with an outline of the important words and topics. The 300-page Study Guide (written by Benjamin L. Carroll, Henry Shanfield, and Russell A. Geanangel also of the University of Houston) reinforces the outline and should provide the additional drill required by some students for mastery of the required skills. Both editions of this text were written "for an introductory full-year course in chemistry, with students of chemistry, science, and engineering in mind. . . .I t is written a t a level comprehensible to beginning college students. The student needs no knowledge of calculus and no previous exposure to chemistry in order to understand the material." How can the two editions he sosimilar vet so very different? Experience of the authors may provide the answer. The text relies heavily on empiricism. The authors have changed the order in which topics are presented. They have brought together descriptive materials, observations and results of experiments to reinforce the skills required to practice chemical tethnology. The order of topics presents a convincing "logic of the discovered." Although many professors may (Continued on page A202)
Reviewed in this Issue Karl Kumli, Fundamentals of Chemistry Ralph S. Becker and Wayne E. Wentworth, General Chemistry. Second Edition Benjamin L. Carroll, Henry Shanfield, and Russell A. Geanangel, Study Guide for General Chemistry. Second Edition John Daintith, Editor, The Facts on File Dictionary of Chemistry David J. Malcolm-Lawes, Introduction t o Radiochemistry William R. Stine. Applied Chemistry, Second Edition Paolo Manifto, Biosynthesis of Natural Products Howard T. Odum and Elisabeth C. Odum, Energy Basis for Man and Nature Jamal T. Manassah, Alternative Energy Sources, Part A and Part B Ian M. Cambell, An Examples Course in Reaction Kinetics. An International C a s e Studies Approach Sconish Schools Science Equipment Research Centre, Editors, Hazardous Chemicals: A Manual for Schools and Colleges Albert Hofmann, LSD: My Problem Child Richard Evans Schultes and Albert Hofmann, Plants of t h e Gods: Origins of Hallucinogenic Use New Volumes in Continuing Series Titles of Interest
Reviewer Donald J. Brown W. F. Arendale W. F. Arendale George B. Kauffman Gregory R. Choppin Robert S. Cichowski Tom J. Mabry Susan Helms Buddhadev S e n Norman C. Peterson Malcolm M. Renfrew George B. Kauffman George 6. Kauffman
Volume 59
Number 6
June 1982
A201
