ity test on all four liquids. The average time that it took the students to do this was one hour. I was surprised to find out that the students reported no difficulty in running the nromam. I reallv exoected them to have o r o b n s w i t h thk su&rsaturation seement. u I do helieve that rheonly reason they did not have problems was due to the rlarifymg mformation that I supplied to them with the printed materials. No knowledge of computers seems to be necessary in order to run this program. Some of my students had never used a computer before, but appreciated this experience as their first exposure. With the helpof the orinted sheets that I suoolied to them. the students did not need arsistanee to run the pngram or to understand the d m e tiona. I dosuggest that the program be modified to have just one menu to access all four modules. As written, the students need to make three different selections in order to get to either the solubility of a known suhstance segment or the supersaturation segment. One menu and one key press should he sufficient to access any of the segments. The students were asked whether they found the program useful. Eight of the nine students answered affirmatively. One student appreciated the fact that it covered material similar to that which we were discussing in class. Another liked the fact that it was much ouicker to do the exoeriments by computer than hy traditronal lahoratory procedures. A t h ~ r dstudent enpyed finding t yan unknown substance Oththe ~ d e n t ~of ers commented that the program clearly showed them how to find the solubility of a substance and that it cleared up for them the distinction between solute and solvent. The student who didn't find the program useful stated that she did not learn anvthine new from the program, hut that sheenjoyed usmg it. Thestudents uere asked what thpy had learned from [he program. T u o students mentioned miscibility and another mentioned the generalization that solubility of a solid increases with increasing .tempera. ture. Favorable comments from the students included the following: "It helped me in the understanding of solubility." "The computer is much faster than the normal experiment." "I enjoyed the part where I had to figure out the identity of the unknown." "The supersaturation segment was interesting." Negative comments from the students included the following: "Trying to determine which mixtures were miscible in each other was difficult because the graphics were not clear." "The adding of the solute was slow and monotonous. I t took too long." Overall, I do not recommend this program for college level General Chemistry. I t may be more appropriate in a chemistry eourse for nonscience majors or in high school chemistry. The material covered in the program is too small a part and too simple a part of the overall general chemistry curriculum. I would cover the material in less than 15 minutes of a 45-hour course. Also the laboratory experiments are too easy for the student to complete in the actual lahoratory, and I believe that the laboratory experience would be more valuable than the computer simulation. As mentioned earlier, the
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supersaturation demonstration may be useful on the college level, hut the directions need to be written more clearly. J e a n n e M. Gizara Columbia Greene Communltf College Box 1000 Hudson, NY 12534
General ChemMry, Third Edltlon Kenneth W. Whinen. Kenneth D. Galley, and Raymond E. Davis. Saunders College PublisningCompany:New Vork. NY. 1988. xxxii 884 pp. Figs. and tables. 20.8 X 26
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This is a beautifully printed book. I t abounds with multicolored photographs, illustrations, and reoroductions. The mint is clear, generally spaced, and highly iegihle. The paper 13 pleasantly glossy. Taken togprher, these factors make for a wry read. able hook. One of the features of this book, as has been the case in previous editions, is the abundance of exercises to be found at the end of the chapter. The users will encounter little trouble in making homework assignments. The text does a thorough joh of solving an adequate number of sample problems. The authors have seriously atwmpted to present up-to-date materials. Thus, recent developments in such areas as supercanducting ceramic materials and tunneling microscopy have been included. In this vein, the list of elements includes those having atomic numbers 10P107, which have no stahle nuclides. The organization of the h w k is traditional. The usual introductory chapter is fallowed by several chapters on stoichiometry and then structure and bonding. The chapter entitled "Molecular Structure and Covalent Bonding Theories" devotes considerable coverage to the VSEPR theory and perhaps leaves the student with the feeling that it has unusual importance. Chapters 15-21, which cover 204 pages, introduce the student to physical chemistry. All basic physicochemical subjects are adequately covered. Each of these chapters solves a representative number of numerical problems and includes an extensive number of exercises. The last 10 chapters can be classified as "descriptive chemistry". The first of these deals with metallurgy and includes a very brief description of zone refining. Chapter 23 covers the nontransition metals. The halogens and the noble gases are covered in the same chapter. Because of this reviewer's interest in arsenic chemistry, he must object to the statement on page 726, viz., "All ar. ." Insenic compounds are poisonous deed, arsenic compounds are, relatively speaking, not very toxic and arsenocholine and arsenobetaine are really quite innocuous. I t serves little to perpetuate such myths. Transition metal chemistry is the subject of chapters 28 and 29 which cover 47 pages. The chapter on nuclear chemistry includes the important and honest statement, fusion ass practical energy source lies far in ~~
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the future at best." Some of us still remember the 19503s,when we were told that a lump of uranium, the size of a baseball, would furnish abundant, cheap and clean energy almost forever. The final two chapters are concerned with organic chemistry. The approach is quite conventional. The first of these chapters is devoted entirely to the hydrocarbons while the second is concerned with the chemistry of functional groups. The volume reflects the philosophy of most current general chemistry texts in that physical chemistry and numerical problem solving receive the greatest emphasis. Nevertheless, the text is highly recommended. The physical appearance and format are first class, the authors write well and the instructor is assisted by a wide choice of questions and problems for thestudent. The text will serve to provide a solid and up-todate foundation for more advanced chemical training. Raloh A. Zinoaro " Texas A 8 M University College Station. TX 77843 ~
Fundamentals ol Chemislry: General, Organic, a n d Biological Joseph D. Deleo. Scott. Foreman and Company: Glenview. IL. 1988. 793 pp. Figs. and tables. 20.5 X 26 cm. This text is a new entry into the very competitive market of chemistry for the allied health sciences. The standard course for these students includes elements of inarganic ("general"), organic, and biochemistry. The author does admirably well on the latter two areas but slips badly in the first area. Let us address first the good features of this book. The presentation makes frequent use of excellent examples from the areas of medicine, health, and biology to relate the concepts to the students' future careers. These vignettes add a great deal of interest to the textual material. The use of frequent illustrations, margin notes, chapter summaries, and lists of key terms and concepts should enhance the learning process. The concise treatments of organic and biochemistry occupy approximately 58% of the 793 papers and are organized along the standard formats of funetional groups and classes of compounds. The last three chapters on metabolism are especially well done. The quantitative sections include the usual treatments of stoichiometry, equilibria, kinetics, etc. The oxidation-reduction treatment is probably the weakest of these. The author is weak in the realm of descriptive inorganic chemistry. I t is probably desirable that the author was parsimonious as this reviewer has serious objections to some glaring errors. We find an page 119 Hg+ as the ionic species for mercury(I), but curiously Hg202 appears on p. 153. This axide is not well characterized and should he omitted. In the area of nitrogen chemistry,
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Volume 66
(Continued an page A46) Number 1
January 1989
A45
