lntroductlon t o Chemical Principles, Third Edltion Edward I. Peters. Saunders College Publishing, New York, NY, 1982. iii 654 pp. Figs. and tables. 18 X 24 cm.
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A third edition, alheit substantially identical to the previous edition, attests to the practicality of a text. The first edition (1974) Was 1~viewedin THIS JOURNAL (52, (2)A119, February 1975), and the comments made a t that time are still valid. Aa previous editions, the text is intended far a one-semester or one-quarter mume that prepares students far a college-levelgeneral chemistry course. The behavioral goals for students are to acquire the skills of using a basic chemistry vocabulary, to write common formulas and balanced equations, and to set up and solve elementary chemistry problems using dimensional analysis. Additiona1ly;a familiarity with atomic and molecular descriptions of chemical phenomena is to he achieved. Mindful of the detail with which topics are presented, my impression is that the teat is still an ambitious undertaking for a student to use in thesuggested timerpan. explicitly nlnreding [hat this may he the caw, the author in the preface does mention that the text provides for flexibility in that the instructor has the prerogative of selectingtopies and the extent of coverage. This appears to be true. The subjects are skillfully presented. The topics, as apparent from the chapter headings, are the conventional ones. The new aspect of this edition is the stress on reodibility. Underlying the choice of words and sentence structure is a concern for reading level and logical development of concepts. I t is suggested that this should provide for improved learning by those students whose English is a second language,and by those "below normal reading ability." At the start of each section, performance
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g d (behavioral objectives) are clearly stated whenever a new concept or skill is introduced. The problems continue to he presented in a semi-programmed format. In the preface, the availability of a supplementary student guide is mentioned. Instructors who had used previous editions, as well as those using the text for the first time, have a textbook which provides an excellent introduction to college general chemistry. J a m e s A. Goldman Division of Continuing Education New York City Technical College of the City University of New York Brooklyn. NY 11201
Polymer Science Overview: A Tribute t o Herman F. Mark G. Allan Stahl (Editor), ACS Symposium Series. Washington. DC, 1981. 356 pp. Figs. $35.95. Many scientists talk about Herman Mark, who is recognized as "The Father of Polymer Science," hut too Little has been written about this man who has been honored with 18 honorary degrees and 34 medals and awards. Albert Einstein has stated "I have been able to look into the future, because I stood on the shoulders of giants." Dr. Mark is one of these modern scientific giants. Fortunately, Dr. Stahl has written his biography while Mark is still active at the age of 88. As evident from biographical chapters hy his Brooklyn Polytechnic student Dr. Turner Alfrey, his admirer Dr. G. A. Stahl, his German colleague Dr. Rudolph Brill, his son Dr. Hans Mark, and his contemporaries: Drs. R. Simha, C. S. Marvel, L. Pauling and M. Morton, this diplomat, athlete, researcher, author, editor and teacher, like Sir Thomas Moore, is a "man far all seasons." There are 11other chapters in this book by
eminent polymer scientists, such as Drs. W.
0.Baker, H. Ringsdorff, and B. Ranhy, hut this review will be focused on the first 10 chapters on the "Geheimrat." As explained by his son in Chapter 7, the title "Geheimrat" was bestowed on Herman Mark on his 60th birthday as sort of a joke. This'official title had been bestowed, in the past, on distinguished professors by Austrian and German emperors. Unlike the official Geheimrats who were usually "stuffed shirts," this unofficial Geheimrat did not fit the mold, hut the title stuck and has taken on a new meaning. His ability as a diplomat was demonstrated by his efforts in patching up quarrels with Nobel Laureate Herman Staudinger and his efforts in the estahlishment of the Weizmann Institute a t Rehovot where Dr. E. Katchalski-Katzir investigated enzyme engineering. This scientist, who contributed Chapter 14 in this hook is now the holder of the H. F. Mark Chair a t the Polytechnic Institute of New York. Herman Mark, who was forced to leave Vienna because of a Jewish father, also was the first western scientist to contact scientist counterparts in the USSR (1950). to visit Japan (1956), and China (1972). The Geheimrat was an athlete and soldier before receiving his Ph.D. degree at the University of Vienna in 1921. Lt. Mark received Austria's highest award for bravery in 1918, and by using a combination of diplomacy and athletic skill, he escaped from military prison in Italy in order to visit his sick father in Vienna in 1919. Herman was accomplished in soccer, tennis, and mountain climbing. The latter sport plus his ingenuity in making coat hangers out of 1100g of platinum wire were distinct assets in his escape from Austria to Switzerland in 1939. His research has been continuously pro(Continued on page A402)
Reviewed in this Issue Edward I. Peters, Introduction t o Chemical Principles, Third Edition
Reviewer J a m e s A. Goldman
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G. Allan Stahl, Editor. Polymer Science Overview: A Trademark
Raymond B. Seymour
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Berflanl0 J. Caycedo, translated by J. A. Schufle, The Life and Times of Juan Jose D'Elhuyar: Discoverer of Tungsten, in 18th-Century New Granada
George B. Kauffman
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Titles of Interest
Volume 59
Number I 2
December 1982
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