tion space and deacribe the semi-empirical surface devised by H. Eyring and M. Polanyi (1931), mentioning also the modified version proposed by Sato (1955). The third chapter deals with the statistical mechanical basis of rate theory. Topics considered in the fourth chapter include the corrnsion of a metal, the smelting of iron, development of the latent photographic image and potentials across biological membranes. After presenting some basic facts about the bioluminescence of the firefly, the glowworm and the small crustacean Cypridina, the s,uthors develop in Chapter 5 the theory of bioluminescence, which has a non-Arrhenius temperature dependence. Absolute rate theory is also applied here t o evaporation and condensation. The sixth and find chapter deals with one of the most important experimental frontiers in present-day chemical kinetics, the measurement of rates of very rapid reactions in solution. Flow methods, oompetition methods and perturbation methods are discussed. I n conclusion, absolute rate theory is applied to fast reactions. This small volunle is thoroughly indexed; and it is excellently printed, even where complicated exponentids abound. References to hooks and journal articles sppear at the end of eseh chapter. The reader, once he is infected with the authors' enthusiasm, will he pleased to note the existence of such hooks as "The Theory of Rate Processes" by Classtone, Laidler and Eyring (1941); "Quantum Chemist,ry2' hy Eyring, Walter and Kimhall (1944); and "Statistical Mechanics and Dynamics" by Eyring, Henderson, Stover, and Eyring(1963). LAWRENCE P. EBLIN Ohio U n i w s i t y Athens
developed a concise treatment of the basic principles of nuclear chemistry a t the level of the undergraduate student who has some familiarity with scientific concepts and terminology. This includes the most capable of the first-year students. The first chapter summarizes the strueture of the atom and its nucleus and includes a discussion of binding energy. The second chapter discusses alpha particle emission and its explanation in terms of the tunneling effect; excitation of nuclei by neutron bombardment, and processes by which excited nuclei lessen their energy; beta decay, electron capture and positron emission; and radiation background as one of the diffioulties in radiation measurements. The third chapter deals with the interaction of particulate and electromagnetic radiation with matter as the basis for detecting and measuring the radiations. It includes a brief discussion of radiation dosage units and maximum permissible dose. The fourth chapter considers gas detection and scintillation detection. The basic physics of ionization chambers, proportional counters, and G-M counters is presented with clarity, and there is a survey of the operating principles of scintillation detection systems. The last two chapters are the mast, chemical ones in the hook. Here are discussed radioactive decay statistics; secular equilibrium; the statistics of counting radioactivity; and applications of nuclear chemistry in fields of fi~sianand fusion weapons, controlled fission and fusion, the production of transuranium elements, the uses of radioisotopes, aetivity analysis, radiometric analysis, isotope dilution analysis, and activation analysis. Specific applications of interest include the first. use of nuclear power in space and the use of isotope dilution analysis as a method for determination of the blood volume of a patient,. I t is a pleasure to record that all the volumes which have appeared in this series of small books are well indexed.
Boric Concepts of: Nuclew Chemistry
LAWRENCE P. EBLIN Ohio Universily Athens
Ralph, T.Oowman, Oak Ridge Institute nf Xuclear Studies, Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Reinhold Publishing Corp., 116 pp. Figs. Kew York, 1963. xi and tables. 12.5 X 19 em. Paperbound. $l.Q5.
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The fifth hook to be issued in the paperback series, Selected Topics in Modern Chemistry, consists of material which ie "the outgrowth of a series of lectures given to various groups over a period of years," according to the preface to this little book of six chapters averaging 19 pages each. Overman's strong interest in chemical education and his experience aa Chairman of the Special Training Uiviaion a t the Oak Ridge Institute of Suclear Studies make him well qualified to write for students of chemistry concerning the fields of radiochemistry and nuclear chemistry. Like the other volumes in this series, Overman's hook presents material which is somewhat too extensive for inclusion in a firskyear texthook but which should be available to students who wish to make a, more thorough study of the particular area with which it deals. The author has
Chemical Calculations
Sidney, W . Bmson, University of Southern California, Los Angeles. 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 254 pp. Figs. and 1963. xii tables. 15 X 22.5 em. Paperbound. $2.95.
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The first edition of this book, published in 1952, emphasized the logical application of the conversion-factor method to problem solving in general chemistry. In the past decade, this approach has attained almost universal acceptance. Much of the credit for the trend away from "cookbook" methods of solving mathematical problems must go to Prufessor Benson. Despite a higher level of competition, the book remains a classic in its field. Volvme
Tho second, paperback edition represent an addition to rather than a. revision of the first. All of the problems have been retained; about 100 more, principally of a. more advanced nature, have been added. The explanatory material, except for a short section on acid-base equilibria in Chapter 13, is repeated verbatim from the first edition. Brief discussions of the m d a r heat ccrtpacity of gases (Chapter 6), successive equilibria (Chapter lo), Bryinsted acids and bases (Chapter 12) and half lives (Chapter 17) have been grafted on to the text. The properties and reactions of substances are outlined in two new appendices. It is unfortunate that the author continues to use the terms "molecule" and "molecular weight" with reference t o such compounds as sodium chloride. One might also wish for a more consistent use of ionic as opposed to molecular equations. With these reservations, the hook can be recommended as a particularly lucid treatment of the mathematiea of general chemistry.
WILLIAML. MASTERTON Universily of Connecticut Stom
General Chemistry
William H . Nebergall, and Frederic C. Schmidt, both of Indiana University, Bloomington, and H e n ~ yR. Holtzclaw, JT., University of Nebraska, Lincoln. 2nd ed. D. C. Heath and Co., Boston, 1963. viii 791 pp. Figs. and tables. 19 X 23.5 em. $9.25.
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The seoond edition of this text w i an extensive, thorough revision which brings the book up to date while retaining the basic organization and features of the first edition (reviewed in J. CHEM. E D T C . , 36, 637 [1959]). An excellent chapter on coordination compounds has been added, reflecting the research interests of the new third author, Dr. Henry F. Holtzclaw, Jr. This chapter includes 8. brief introduction to the Ligand Field Theory. The chapter on Colloids has been strengthened in accord with present-day work in synthetic polymers and protein ehemietry. Other modernizations include new or expanded sections on atomic orbitals, atomic weights based on carbon-12, and use of the terms "Celsius" instead of "centigrade" and "rare gases" instead of %ert gases." Many new industrial developments are described, such as the De Nora cell for the production of sodium hydroxide, the synthesis of diamonds, the ion engine, rocket propellants, eemiconductors, solar batteries, fuel cells, and breeder reactors. The authors set s n excellent example in problem solving. The factor and molar methods are used throughout to minimize
on The Gaseous State. The appendix includes useful sections on exponential arithmetic, logarithms and the solution of quadratics. Unit8 and dimensions are
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carefully included with all srtmple problems and the authors follow the advice of their o m section on significant figures. End-of-chapter review questions and problems have been revised and supple mented, with answers included for all numerical problems. The lists of references to readily available recent literature should be helpful to instructors as well as to students. The text appears to he relatively free from elrors although i t still ascribes the motion of s. paddle-wheel Croakes tube to straight momentum transfer instead of in terms of the radiometer effect. (See THIS JOURNAL, 38,480 [1961]). The book is attractive in format, distinctive in its purple color, and liberally illustrated. The inside of the dust jacket has a handy Table of Atomic Weights and a Periodic Table both based on carban-12 and suitable far display or reference purposes. In summary, this book is worthy of consideration as a text for traditional first year courses in college chemistry. It has good balance between descriptive and theoretical chemistry. The 46 chapters provide sufficient material to allow the instructor to select portions fitted to the special needs of his classes. ALBERTINE KROAN Universilv of Toledo Toledo, Ohio
Programed Instruction for Schools and Industry
J. L. Hughes, International Business Machines Carp., Science Research As299 sociates Inc., Chicago, 1962. xv pp. Figures. 18 X 25.5 em.
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A Guide to Programmed Instruction
M. Williams, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York. John Wiley and 180 Sons, Ine., New York, 1963. xi pp. Figures. 14.5 X 22cm. $3.95. To this reviewer's knowledge all teachers who have prepared two or three programs on selected topics for their own students have remarked upon the dramatic increase in their own ability to teach any other topic more effectively. I t can safely be aseumed that this phenomenonis universal, provided that the teacher prepares, and revises, programs for, and with, his own students. However, before this can be effectively accomplished, same instruction in the art of programing is essential. Until recently, though there have been several reference works available whieh claimed to help a teacher learn how to construct program, only one outstanding work could safely be recommended. That book, "Teaching Machines and Programmed Learning," edited by A. A. Lumsdaine and R. Glaser, Department of Audio-Visual Instruction, National Educsi tion Association, Washindon, D. C., 1960, is still recommended to all who are interested. For a general introduction to the field, "Teaching by Machine" by Jerome P . Lysaught and Clarace
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500
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Journal of
Chemical Education
L. M. Stolurow, US. Office of Education, HEW, Supt. of Documents, Washington 25, D. C., 1961, is probably the best available. Now, two more books, those under review here, can be added to this list. With these, a t least for the next few years, the necessary references are now completely availilable. Hughes' book is an introductory text. It, with that of Stalurow, can be strongly recommended to any teacher or industrialist who wishes to know what programed instruction is, and something about its elementary details. Specifically, after defining programed instruction by means of examples from selected sources, Hughes discusses the detailed means by which one begins to write, and revise, a program on any selected topic. Hughes alao includes much useful material in six appendices, though Appendix A, listing commercially available programs, was necessarily out of date before the book waspublished. Lysaught and Williams discuss the art of program construction in much greater detail, extending their very helpful examples into those areas which deal with refinements of the items (frames) in a program. Since Hughes only treats this lightly, if a t all, Lysaught and William complements the work of Hughes almost ideally. Because they are somewhat slow in getting t o the r e d points t o be discussed, L ~ s a u g h tand William may be boring to some readers who are anxious to learn the details. However, the background which is discussed first is necessary, and a careful study of the first five chapters will make the last four more effective. Both books discuss linear and intrinsic though Hughes stresses intrinsic programing more. Probably in an effort to address their books to two somewhat different audiences, teachers, and industrialists, the authors of both books have perhaps overstressed the advanatages of programed instruction as a tool which eliminates the need for teacher-time in instructional activities of a routine nature. Unquestionably, this use constitutes an important. advantage of programed instruction, However, a far greater advantage of programed instruotion lies in its use as a means of improving the teacher's skill as a communicator, when programed instructions are written, and revised properly. This advantage, alone, justifies the current excitement about programed instruction. Finally, probably because the value of programed lnstruction was first recognized by behavioral psycholopjsta, these books, as well as others which deal with programed instruction, seem by implication and outright statement to imply that man learns by a process, which differing only in degree and not in nature, is similar to that by which lower animdsle~rn. Hence, both books being reviewed emphasize, as part of the art of programing, certain techniques, such as gradual fading of a stimulus, the excessive importance of reinforcement, and other special devices. To be sure, man does learn, in part, as any other animal learns. But beyond this, because he is different in nature from all other ttnimals, man can Leem in other ways. Neither of these two books stress the importance of challenging the student
occasionally, neither indicates emphatically that man can learn by being asked to think. Both seem to imply that man can learn only if heis told. Many chemistry teachers have reacted adversely to this implication which they have, properly, imputed to some proeramed instructions in scientific t o ~ i c s
instruction. Programs, particularly in chemistry, are being prepared which do challenge the student to think occasionally as he threads his way through the list of ordered questions and answers. With the otherwise deeidedlv heloful
more programs
JAYA. YOUNG King's College Wilkes-Barn, Pennsylvania
Chemistry 1: Atomic Structure and Bonding: A Basic Systems Program
Edited by Charles R. Dawson, AppletonCentury-Crofts. Lyons and Carnahan (affiliates of Meredith Publishing Co.), 273 pp. 15 X New York, 1962. xi 22.5 cm. Paperbound. $3.24.
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Chemistry 1.
Response Book
84 pp. $0.64. Chemistry 1.
iii
+ 44pp.
Teachers Manual
No charge.
The program which is the subject of this review is the first to be published by a regular textbook publisher; it is the product of Basic Systems, an organization of professional program writers. The subject matter covered is the usual text material on the structure of atoms (protons, neutrons, electrons, electron shells), the periodic table and the regularities of structure as a function of position in the table, eleotronegativity, and bonding (ionic, cavdent). While the program is designed for high school, i t could find some use in college classes as well. The student who goes through this program will have learned all this material thoroughly if he is capable of learning it a t all. There is s. picture or diagram in nearly every frame, so the student has no page flipping to do to find material referred to. There is plenty of repetition; not only a t once, but all through the program the student uses and reuses the material learned earlier, so that the program emerges whole, with no chance that the reader has forgotten the beginning when he gets t o the end. This repetition and practice are admirably and skilfully done. The teacher who looks a t the program for the first time will probably react negatively; but the teacher who bothers to work through the program far an hour will be convinced of its effectiveness.
