as co-chairman of Poly Ed (The education committee of the ACS polymer-oriented divisions) conducted a survey to determine what educators considered to he important in a polymer chemistry syllabus. We used the results of this survey [J. Chem. Educ. 1980, 57, 4361 as guidelines in updating Polymer Chemistry: An Introduction which was published by Marcel Dekker in 1981. We published a second edition and a lower level textbook (Giant Molecules, Wiley) in 1988and 1990,respectively. Stevens'second edition was also published by Oxford University Press in 1990. In reviewing this revised textbook, I have compared its contenta with the Poly Ed syllabus, which proposed t h a t all lecture courses should include portions of the following seven topics-introduction, morphology, molecular weight, testing and characterization, and step reaction and chain reaction polymerization. While it was not referenced in the Stevens' first edition, the chapter on morphology and the other required subjects are adequately covered in Stevens' second edition. The Poly Ed syllabus also includes the following optional tapics-rheology, solubility, natural polymers, additives, readions of polymers, synthesis of polymer reactants, and polymer technology. Both editions of Stevens' textbooks include a chapter on natural polymers. There is not much discussion on svnthesis of reactants in either edition. ~, Iwt there are short discussions on rheolow, soluhihty and additives, and a chapter on reactions of polymers in the second edition. There is no reference to inorganic polymers in the Poly Ed syllabus, but Stevens' has published a chapter on thisimportant phase bf polymer chkmistry in both editions. Since, we ate now living in the age of composites, more emphasis could have been placed on additives including fillers and reinforcements. Regardless of a few minor deficiencies, this textbook is a welcome addition to the many good polymer chemistry textbooks avajlable. Unfortunately t w few community colleees. "~. senior colleees and universities are traching courses in polymer chemimy. In my opinion, the many guod polymer chemistry textbooks now available should rataly~e the introduction of more courses in polymer chemistry so that our graduates, who will in all probability be employed by polymer-orjented firms, will not be completely dependent on on-the-job training. Ravmond B. Sevmour Unsersity of Southern Misrlmpp So~tnernStation. Box 10076 k n m b u r g . MS 39406
Hazardous W a s t e from Small Quantlty Generators Seymour I. Schwa* and Wendy B. Pran, Island Publishers: Washington, DC. 1990. xi 266 pp. Tables. 15.8 X 23.5 cm. $39.95.
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This well-written book by authors from the University of California, Davis, doesn't
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Journal of Chemlcal Education
specifically deal with the disposal of harardous wastes by academic institutions. but it
immediately will be useful for adminisrrators in institutions developing less than 1000 kg per month. The EPA classification of small quantity generators (SQGs) applies to those in the 1000-100 kglmo range; those whogenerate less than 100 kglmo, designated "conditionally exempt SQGs", also will find helpful guidance even though they are not legally obligated to the same degree. The book is aimed a t reducing the illegal disposal of hazardous wastes by these relatively small generators who in total produce an estimated two billion pounds annually. Ignorance of regulations and concern about the costs of legal disposal have been the chief causes of waste dumping, hut laxity in Law enforcement also has been a factor. With fair and tighter enforcement the cost of legal disposal will he lower than illegal. The book will be a useful reference for classes concerned with environmental protection. I t also will be helpful to universities assisting small colleges and secondary schools with waste disposal and in answering the questions of local officials and the public about proper practices. The book covers more than existing regulations. There are recommendations for improvement to make eomplia more convenient. alcolrn M. Renfrew University of Idaho Moscow, ID 83843
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HartSp's Book of Sclentlflc Anecdotes Adrian Beny. ed. Harrap: London. 1989. 239 pp. 14.8 X 22.8 cm. Figs.. illuslratlons. $24.60. This collection of 64 selections from books, magazines, journals, and newspapers, arranged in 11 sections, was compiled by Adrian Berry, science writer for London's Daily Telegraph, an Oxford Universit y graduate in madern history, and an author of nonfiction and fiction hooks and computer software. Each of the selections, rangingin length from 3 sentences to 8 pages and printed in small type, is prefaced by an introduction by Berry in larger type, and many are enlivened by cartoons by Matt Pritchett. According to Berry, the hook "attempts to illuminate some of those inventions and discoveries that have changed the world, and the people who made them." "A highly p&sonal collection, and in no sense intended to be a 'complete' record of all the imoortant events in the histon, of science," the volumeeontainsas many anecdotes from technolo~yad from pure screnre and includes items dealing with exploratron. terrestrial a n d extraterrestrial; nuclear power (Chernabyl); communication; cryptology; astronomy; physics; hiology; mathematics; medicine; "bogus science"; military science, from -Archimedes to the atomic bomb (Einstein's celebrated letter to Franklin Delano Roosevelt is reproduced here); science fiction (with an excerpt from Francis Bacon's The New Atlantis (1627), "one of the first science-fiction novels"); microbiology; and education (Nobel physics laure-
ate Richard P. Feynman's "hilarious and horrifying" account of his experience as a judge of school science hooks). Among the more amusing items are a "Glossary of Incompetence," "Sticking in the Knife" (a set of rules for oral examiners), "Heaven is Hotter than Hell" (274 OF. vs. 230 'F). and "Murphyh Laws o i Trchndog.y." ~ m o n g the chemists mcluded in the rollectmn are such luminaries as Lavoisier, Hunsen, and Pasteur. A 9-page appendix, "The Marchof Knowledge," Lists 184 events and milestones dating from 30W BC to 1988, while a 5-p hihliography of 92 hooks and articles from 1841 to 1988 and a 4%-page, 3-column index add to the utility of the hook. Errors are relatively minor, of which the following are typical: 476 AD for AD 476 (p 11); FrCdCrick for FrCdCric (p 36); phsyiological for physiological (p 38); and Annolen de Physik for Annalender Physik (p 170). However, Lavoisier is mistakenly identified as "the principal discoverer of oxygen" (p 129). This attractive volume is recommended for readine. ". browsing, and refermce and as a source of interesting ~IuricSto mwgorate lectures in science ur chemistry courses. George B. Kauffman Calil~niaState Universily. Fresno Fresno. CA 93740
You Want Proof? I'll Glve You P r w f l Sldney Hsnis. W. H. Freeman: New York. NY, 1990. Unpaginaled [I54 pp.]. 18.2 X 23.3 cm. $10.95 (PB). Sidney Harris has that unusual ability to find humor in and to poke fun a t science and technology, as evidenced by the cartoons in this, his 10th collection in hook format. These 150 hilarious gems from America's foremost science cartoonist first appeared in Air & Space, American Scientist, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Clinical Chemistry News, Fantasy a n d Science Fiction, Hippocrates, Johns Hopkins Magazine, Phi Delta Kappan, The New Yorker, Physics Today, Playboy, Punch, Science, The Scientist, Today's Chemist, Wall Street Journal, and several extinct publications. In n e w of the wide appeal of Harris' wit to both scientists and nonscientists alike, it is not surprising that a traveling exhibit of his science cartoons and paintings has been appearing since 1985 in numerous museums around the country. The hook opens with a foreword, "recently found among Einstein's papers," in which the writer complains"This fellow Harris has been besmirching my character for years." The title cartoon depicts one mathematician punching another in front of a hlackboard covered with numbers and shouting "You want proof? I'll give you prooe" However, my favorites include the following: James Joyce proclaiming, "What I meant by 'quark', in Finnegan's Wake, is a hypothetical particle with a fractional eleetric charge." A homemaker reading a label on a can, "Caution: This tomato soup combined with our chicken noodle ~ o u pcan
