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skin contact, rinse t h e affected area with plenty of water. No other reference of which I am aware gives so mueh information, conveniently arranged, one page for each compound. Each page is a material safety data sheet, better than the commonly used "OSHA Form 20" data sheets. The arrangement is identical for each substance: Upper left, physical properties and the "Maximum Acceptable Concentration," the Dutch equivalent of the US. "TLV*" and "PEL" values. Upper right, a narrative paragraph describing the particular hazardous properties. Center page, three columns, one for Fire, Explosion, Inhalation, Skin contact, Eye contact, Ingestion hazards; one for preventing these hazards; and the third far fixing things when the precautions were not carried out. Below that, three more columns: Treating spills, Storage precautions; and Laheling and packaging for shipment (not for use in the laboratory). And a t the bottom, special notes. If I were marooned on a desert island, in charge of the safe use of chemicals for my students. marooned with me. and I could ~~. have only thrrc safety h m k ~this , would be my third.Theother twowuuld be Hretherirk and Muir, reviewed earlier on these pages. Of course, there are several others that one ought to have, but these three are basic. Every chemistry teacher, every chemistry professor, every chemistry graduate student, and every chemist should be familiar with the kind of information that is in "Handline" Chemicals Safely" for each of the compounds they, or the students in their charge, use. JAY A. YOUNG Silver Spring, MD 20907
McGraw-HIII Encyclopedia of Environmental Science, 2nd Edition McGraw-Hill Co.. New Yo&. 1980.1 858 pp. Figs. and tables. 28.6 X 21.8 cm.,
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$34.50.
subjects broadly ("soil," "fertilizer," "predan expert in the field. The 2nd Edition does reflect major revision of the original in keepingwith the significant changes in environmental science in the past decade. At the same time, it retains a high quality of writing, together with good pictorial and graphic presentations. Although the general topics are little changed, most have been modified in text and graphics to reflect new information. A change of topic from "radioactive waste disposal" to "radioactive waste management" may reflect a fundamental improvement in our conception of that problem. The encyclopedia is strong in such basic environme&l sciences as bio&, geography, oceanogmphy, and meteorology. With the exceotion of amiculture. those anolied fields . dral/ng with I & human impnr~arr dcarihed Ics~rxtmsivrly.'l'his is particularly true with industrial subjerts. Fur rxat~~plr. thew are nu articles per se on textiles, food processing, metallurgy, paper making, or the chemical industry, and yet the impact of these and similar technologies is major upon any comprehensive characterization of environmental sciences. Soeeific chemical contamination iswes are nut addressed in detell. The PCB pn,hlem ~i dercnhed, but aphrt f n m one inaccurate sentence, one searches in vain for information about the PBB controversy. The encyclopedia is not strong or detailed in topics of environmental chemistry. Yet, for the academic chemist, the reference will prove useful. The professor preparing a lecture on the chemistry of an environmental issue will find it useful for filling in baekground information to which t o relate the chemistry. The student preparing a term paper will find useful information. For these reasons it is recommended far the library and if environmental interest is strong, for the personal bookshelf. New to the 2nd Edition is a series of preliminary essays. Among these, "Environmental Analysis" by David F. S. Natusch is an excellent overview of analytical chemistry. Every student of that discipline should read it.
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JAMES L. PYLE
The term "environmental science" imposes upon its user a broad mandate. One must treat land, water, and atmosphere in their diversity as they are found upon this planet, and the extraterrestrial. as well. The inwlvemrnt dliving things with thw physical base must be runsdered as iinrrrelatiunahipj develop, and as I& f m n s chance the physical base. Prominent among these life forms is Homo sapiens. Surely, no other can match our species when i t comes to environmental impact, and thus the treatment of the subject includes the spectrum of technology of twentieth eenturv societv. Issues of health. enrrgs, natural resources, food and aarirullure, industrial dcveiupment, and ~ a r f a r e must l~cccmsidered.Finally. theperrpcctiw of the atomic and molecular level cuts across the entire field as the skill of the chemist is used to observe and t o reshape the environment. The First Edition of this work was puhlished in 1974. Advances and new learnings since, make clear the need for revision. The new work follows mueh the same format as the old. Articles of varying length treat A228
Journal of Chemical Education
for average readers, particularly the average American citizen. There are numerous subjective statements scattered throughout the book without any hard evidence. The statement "But cutback greater than this, say, 25%, would significantly decrease living standards," (p. 52). has no basis. According toseveral studies by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Global 2000, The Ford Foundation, and several others, such a cut in energy consumption may not cause any real lowering of the standard of livine. In fact. such a reductlon in energy conwnlpthrll ma) even Improw the qui~lityot livmg hy certain d c f m tmn, Suprrfic~aland frequently erroneous philosophic and economic excursions should have been avoided. Such naivetC detracts from what the authors really have t o say. Scientists do not "daydream." Economic competition does not necessarily lead to the adoption of the most efficient technology. "The single most important practical consideration in developing a new technology is money." This is a simplistic opinion of the authors. These are only a few examples of many such totally irrelevant and simplistic statements. Nevertheless, as mentioned earlier, the second part of the hook provides a good overview of energy resources and technologies. Perhaps, it would have been a better book without the first five chapters. One final question looms on the mind of this reviewer, that is, "for whom has the book been written?" Sophisticated and informed readers may find the booksimplistic, whereas the lay reader may find the book too technical. This reviewer believes that the comprehension of the energy problem by the vast majority of Americans is not only vital to the future of this nation but also to the entire world. From that point of view, the authors perhaps have fallen short of the goal by wandering away from the principal objective of the book as defined by the title. Notwithstanding foregoing comments 1 wish wide reading of the hook, because the readers will find that petroleum and atom are not necessarily synonymous with energy, and understanding is imperative for the adoption of a sane national energy policy. ~~
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BUODHADEV SEN Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA 70803
Miami University Oxford. OH 45056
How t o Obtaln Abundant Clean Energy Linda Baine McGown and John O'M. Bockris, Plenum Press, New York and London 1980. 262 pp. $14.95. Overall this is a good hook; the authors have done a commendable job in compiling the various energy resources and the contemporary state of arts for their utilization. Most of the information compiled may not he readilv available to the lavman. ~,~~~~ It is not until Part I I . Chapter C, thnt the reader comes tu the texr thnt really conftmm tu the t i t l e d the book. In rtrtaln rriperl; the first five chapters are irrelevant t o the principal objective of the authors; they may even be dissonant to the authors' goals. Technical details contained in these chaoters mav turn away many readers before they are able to utilize the information, and the entire pur~
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Polluted Rain Taft Y.Toribara, Mwton W. Miller, and Paul E. Marrow. (Editors), Plenum Press, New York, 1980. xi 502 pp. Figs. and tables. 17.5 X 26 cm. $49.50.
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Thi5 bwk contains the pmreed~nysoirhe 'I'wrlfth Huelmtrr International Contrrmcr on Enwrcmmtntal Toxicity. 'l'ht pairrra address a wide range of problems associated with the scavenging and transport of pollutants by precipitation. The principal emphasis is placed on problems associated with acid rain. The oaoers oresented are of a sufficiently general nature that they are intelligible t o any science student.
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