book reviews in one of the sir appendices. Approximately the first one-third of the chapters of the book are highly arithmetic. The third edition has been organized to allow for a reasonably clear-cut separation of the basic arithmetic from the more descriptive parts. Throughout all sections of the hook, the hisrorml perspective has l w n neither lost nor sncrifired. )Jot \,py)l much could have h e n sacntiwd when m e I.. nrwided wth 94.4 pages of "meat," 100 pagesaf supplemental material (ineludine the auuendices and an-
In summary, there has been an appreciable revision of the second edition, including a large number of additional problems and capable overall treatment of problem solving. Since the institution represented hy the reviewer has used not only the second edition but also the third (through only the first half of the text a t the time of this review), he feels some confidence in giving the book high marks for intellectual integrity, sound pedagogy, scientific accuracy, and a reasonably different approach acceptable to very large classes of chemistry majors.
nuclear stability. There does not appea& be any more of an attempt to moralize in the nuclear energy arena than there is on environmental issues. A142 1 Journal of Chemical Education
Blwmsburg, PA 17815
Brasled University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN 55455
An Introduction to Numerical Analysls General Chemlrtry Problem Solvlng I
eal Properties." The chapters from 15 through 19 do what is necessary to flesh out the very lightly treated (asin Chapter 1) items in the general area of energetics. Those of us who devote a special course t o solution chemistry, metal ion chemistry, especially related to the first transition series will find the chapter on coordination chemistry more than satisfactory. The second author of the text has used some restrain! in thr a n a ot n,olerular orIritnk. The suhiccr i c prrrrntrd I,ut is not dl nervasivr. T h ~ reviewrr s dcai fwl rhnt the stress on MOs of heteronuclear molecules is more than can be justified in the first year course. The large service-type course, even though populated by many seience-oriented students, will not be overly blessed with students who appreciate this level of chemical bonding. Though minimized, the calculus has not been ignored. For instance, where some is needed as in the treatment of heat capacities, rate constants and activation energies may be "footnoted." As is usual, the terminal chapters deal with essentially carbon chemistry and nuclear chemistry. The organic section manages to squeeze in some additional descriptive inorganic chemistry by the incorporation of a few selected electron deficient molecules (e.g., the boranes) and a variety of silicon compounds. There is a healthy balance of mechanistic and functional group approach to carbon ehemistry. There is mare attention paid to the energetics and enzymatic hia-processes than
Wayne P. Anderson
Bloomsbwg State College
Robert C.
material by page number (e.g., all pages ahove 943) these numbers do not appear as part of the pagination hy the publisher. A grouping of some ten chapters following the arithmetic section covering honding structure and a great deal of general deserintive material is found. However. those
applications, pollution, or the environment will be disappointed. However, if the potential users take trouble to examine the text carefully, the pertinent material in these areas will he found woven into the appropriate sections. Thus. metal and nonmetal
compounds. Finally, significant figure errors occur in several of the answers. I believe that the author could have done a more thorough job of anticipating student questions and providing helpful hints in the Sample Problems. I also am uncomfortable with the author's use of gravimetric factors t o solve mass-mass problems. Nevertheless, the hook would be a useful supplement to an introductory chemistry course.
Russell S. Drago, Spring Dale Publishing, Voorhees, NJ, 1979. iii 263 pp. Figs. & tables. 25.5 X 17.5 cm.
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This hmk is one of several which has been written in recent years to assist general chemistry students in problem solving. The hook covers most of the topics which are discussed in a typical introductory chemistry course. However, topics such as chemical geometry, chemical equilibrium, reaction rates and free energy changes which are covered in most year-long general chemistry courses are omitted. Apparently, the author plans to cover these subjects in a second volume. Each chapter of the book contains aset of objectives, one or more Tests in which the student is guided from one step to another in a programmed fashion and some Sample Problems. Complete solutions are presented for all Test questions and Sample Problems. Exercises a t the end of each chaoter include
student is asked to verbalize general concepts. Answers, but not solutions, are presented for the Exercises. One of the key factors in the success of a problem book is the approach used by the author to solve each tvoe of oroblem. Unit conversions are used in mast problems in this bmk. Direct mass ratias (gravimetric factors) rather than male ratiaa are used as conversion factors in mass-mass problems. The ideal gas equation serves as the basis for solving all gas-law problems, and half-reactions serve as the basis for halancing redox equations. A systematic approach is described for drawing Lewis structures. There are some errors and some imprecise statements in the bmk. For example, on page 106 i t is stated that " . .. the equiuolent weight of a substance can he calculated by dividing the molecular weight by the number of Ht or OH- ions furnished by a mole of material." If that procedure were followed, the equivalent weight of HCI would be cald a t e d hy dividing 36.5 by 6.02 X loz3.Also, the terms "molecules" and "molecular weight" are used when referring to ionic
..
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Editor: Kendall E. Atkinson, John Wiley &Sons, Inc., New York, 1978.vii 587 pp. Figs. & tables. 23'12 X 17 em. $19.95.
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The author's aim with this hook has been to introduce numerical analysis to upper undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics.. ohvsical sciences. and enei. , nrrriny. Rraderi w e expected to knrw calC11.114, linrm a.grhra. f\.ndammtal; of differential equntmna. They i h d d nlru hnvr some knowledge of computer programming. Subjects in this textbook are introduced first in simple terms, followed by a brief theoretical discussion, and completed with detailed description of numerical methods, including derivation, error analysis and their suitability for different applications. The material is generally wellpresentedin a clear and concise form. Particularly useful for applications are the brief computational algorithms which follow the discussion of numerical methods. Some of our graduate students have already made use of these algorithms. With respect to content, i t covers rootfinding methods, interpolation, approximation of functions, numerical integration, differential equations, solution of systems of linear equations, and matrix eigenvalue problems. Out of a total of nine chapters, the lengthiest ones are on differential equations, numerical integration, the matrix eigenvalue oroblem and root finding for non-linear
and 30 exercises, with selected answers. This textbook contains material for more than a one-year course. Comparing it with other works in this subject, we find that the computation algorithms in this textbook are more convenient than some of the computer programs listed in other texts. The discussion of the literature is also quite helpful. On the other hand, we miss, in this textbook, material on integral equations, partial differential equauons. gen?rnrmn of rpcc;al f~nctiona. nnd \Icmrs Cnrlu mrrhods. Owroll, thi-trxtbook isaood iorau intruduction the subjects i i covers and for (Continued on page A1441
