Chemical Education Today edited by
Book & Media Reviews
General, Organic, and Biochemistry: Connecting Chemistry to Your Life by Ira Blei and George Odian Freeman: New York, 2000. 775 pp. ISBN 0-7167-3747-7. $55.40. reviewed by Charmaine B. Mamantov
This text is intended for students who want to pursue careers in the health sciences or environmental science. As the subtitle indicates, the emphasis is much more on topics related to the health sciences. The book is meant for a twosemester (or three-quarter) sequence of classes. Students taking such a sequence will in most cases not take any additional chemistry classes for their curriculum requirements. A student who has completed minimum high school mathematics requirements (algebra) should have no problem with the level of math in this text. In addition, there are enough explanations and examples given in the introductory chapter for the student to review necessary math concepts. There is a list of learning objectives at the beginning of each chapter. These objectives are well written and should be very helpful to the student. Color is used throughout the text to draw attention to certain features. For example, gold is used to highlight the role chemistry plays in a number of career choices. This should help answer the often-asked questions “Why am I being forced to take this course?” and “Where will I use this in my chosen profession?” Other colors are used to highlight Chemistry in Depth boxes, which are used to go into greater depth on certain selected topics, Chemistry Within Us, which relates topics currently being discussed in the text to issues involving human health, and Chemistry Around Us, which relates such topics as environmental issues to these concepts. This continual reinforcement of the relationship of the material that the students are learning in the course to their career choices, the environment, and their daily lives is a strong point of this text. These three special features are also highlighted in color in the index, which gives additional emphasis. The organization of the General Chemistry chapters
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Jeffrey Kovac University of Tennessee Knoxville, TN 37996-1600
(1–10) is fairly typical. The Organic Chemistry chapters (11–17) are also typical in the order in which the information is presented. The nine chapters that make up the biochemistry part of the text would be difficult to cover in two semesters if the general and organic parts are well covered. In particular, the chapters on metabolism would be difficult to include. This, however, is no different from the situation in other texts written for this group of students. A good background on carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins could be given in the time allowed for a typical sequence and some additional discussion of enzymes would also be possible. The exercises at the end of each chapter seem to represent fairly well the material in the text. The number of problems is not overwhelming, which may be important for some students. Answers to all odd-numbered problems are found in the back of the text. In addition, there are examples with solutions within the chapters to reinforce the concepts as they are introduced. Chapter summaries are also useful, and, especially in the organic chapters, key reactions at the end of the chapter are very helpful. A number of supplemental materials are available with this text, including a CD-ROM for the students with simulations and interactive quizzes to help with review. A CD-ROM for the instructor has all textbook illustrations. A Web site is also available. All of these supplements have become standard. Some students, and instructors, may find that the very strong emphasis on reactions related to the human body makes this text not as suitable for students in environmental science or agriculture. There are numerous drawings in the text relating the topics being covered to human physiology and health. These drawings are well done, but will mainly be of interest to the nursing majors. In summary, this text seems to be well constructed for its intended audience of students in nursing, nutrition, physical therapy, and environmental science. While the concepts presented are also adequate for agriculture students, these students may feel left out by the lack of examples in the professional connections given. Charmaine Mamantov teaches in the Department of Chemistry, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1600;
[email protected].
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 78 No. 6 June 2001 • JChemEd.chem.wisc.edu
