Chemical Education Today
book & media reviews Introduction to Chemical Principles, Fifth Edition H. Stephen Stoker. Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 1996. xv+730 pp. Figs. and tables. 20.4 × 25.5 cm. The fifth edition of Stoker’s Introduction to Chemical Principles parallels his previous editions. These textbooks are written for the students who have little or no background in chemistry or have had too many years pass since their course work. The author states, “The text’s purpose is to give students the background (and confidence) needed for a subsequent successful encounter with a main sequence college level general chemistry course.” The text can be used for a one-term course in preparatory chemistry. An introduction, followed by measurements and dimensional analysis, commences the general chemistry sequence. Problem solving, stressing dimensional analysis and significant figures, is emphasized throughout the textbook, each example problem being followed by a similar practice problem. Most of these example problems are new to this edition, but are similar to previous examples. Also the end-ofchapter problems have been changed substantially from previous additions. These problems are “matched pairs”, with the answers to the odd-numbered problems listed. Macroscopic chemistry, mixtures, and compounds, precede microscopic chemistry, electronic structure, and bonding, which is followed by chemical nomenclature and chemical calculations. In this edition, the geometry of molecules (VSEPR theory) is closely related to the electron-dot structures with the arrangement of the covalent bonding topics. The sections on chemical nomenclature have been rewrit-
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ten and now include a flow chart to aid in student comprehension. The sections on empirical and molecular formulas have been expanded by relating empirical and molecular formulas before introduction of the actual empirical formula calculation. The text concludes with the other topics of general chemistry, a chapter on nuclear chemistry, and a chapter on hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives. This text develops each topic assuming no previous knowledge, but the topics develop sequentially within the chapter. There are plenty of problems at the “drill” level for practice. Additional problems and cumulative problems at the end of the chapters combine concepts and encourage greater understanding of the principles. Key words are highlighted in the text and listed at the end of the chapter with definitions. No chapter summaries are included. FYI boxes relating topics to everyday occurrences are a pleasant delight. Illustrations are used to convey concepts in the textbook, and necessary tables of values are included in each section. An excellent mathematics review is located in the appendix. Stroker's text continues to be a sourcebook for preparatory chemistry. This book could be used both as a supplement to a main-sequence college-level general chemistry course or as a textbook for a preparatory chemistry course. In the paperback edition, it should be appealing to the student and should be deserving of textbook selection.
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 74 No. 5 May 1997
Doris Zimmerman Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Edinboro, PA 16444
