Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews
As a chemistry instructor, you may not consider the conflict between science and religion when you are preparing for class, but you might be surprised at your students’ views on the matter. For some insight, consider reading Secularism and Science in the 21st Century, edited by Ariela Keysar and Barry A. Kosmin. This month the eighth edition of a popular general chemistry textbook, Chemistry, by Stephen S. Zumdahl and Susan A. Zumdahl, is reviewed. Do you teach a chemistry course for allied health majors? Reviews of new editions of two general–organic–bio books are included: The ninth edition of Introduction to General, Organic, and Biochemistry by Frederick A. Bettelheim, William H. Brown, Mary K. Campbell, and Shawn O. Farrell, and the fifth edition of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry by H. Stephen Stoker. CBF
Introduction to General, Organic, and Biochemistry, 9th Edition by Frederick A. Bettelheim, William H. Brown, Mary K. Campbell, and Shawn O. Farrell Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning: Belmont, CA, 2010. 839 pp. ISBN 13: 978-0495391128. $195.95 reviewed by David P. Pursell
General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry, 5th Edition by H. Stephen Stoker Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning: Belmont, CA, 2008. 901 pp. ISBN 978-0547152813. $195.95 reviewed by David P. Pursell
Allied health students are one of the largest groups pursuing science in two-year and four-year colleges. Their focus is significantly different from students majoring in a science discipline or planning to attend medical, dental, or veterinary school. The latter typically take a year of general chemistry, a year of organic chemistry, and one or two semesters of biochemistry as science requirements before turning to in-depth study of their chosen discipline. Allied health students, on the other hand, typically take only a year of combined chemistry topics in a single course sequence before moving to more clinically oriented studies and practicals. This combined one-year study of general, organic, and biochemistry, typically referred to as GOB, is the subject of this textbook review. Many publishers have offerings in the GOB category, and there are some long-running editions. Brooks/Cole Cengage has two such offerings, Introduction to General, Organic, and Biochemistry, 9th edition, by Bettelheim and co-authors and General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry, 5th edition, by Stoker;
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edited by
Cheryl Baldwin Frech University of Central Oklahoma Edmond, OK 73034
both presume students have little or no chemistry experience. Both books are organized into three parts, each corresponding to an area of chemistry. Depending on student needs, the parts may be taken individually as discrete courses in general, organic, or biochemistry or as a year-long sequence encompassing all three. Both texts are about the same length, with approximately one-third of their material dedicated to each area of chemistry. They are exceptionally student-friendly in their organization, readability, graphics, and schematics. Each text follows a similar format for chapters, beginning with an outline of sections. Bettelheim uses some approaches that are particularly useful for the target audience. Every chapter begins with a section titled What Do We Need To Know before We Begin? that serves to focus student attention and inquiry on the coming topics in context with what has preceded the chapter. Each subsequent chapter section title is posed as a question; for example, Section 3.8 is titled, How Do We Name Binary Covalent Compounds? Nonscience majors benefit from this questioning technique because it focuses their inquiry on what they need to understand and apply in each section. Bettelheim’s photographs, graphics, captions, and language are crisp and to the point. Worked example problems within each chapter are followed immediately by similar additional problems for student practice. Each chapter has Chemical Connections that apply concepts from the text to topical medical, industrial, and research issues. The Chemical Connections provide students with context and perspective to the chemistry so that it does not just become material they must get through, but rather material directly applicable to their future academic and professional careers in the allied health fields. Each chapter concludes with a thorough summary followed by additional problems of varying levels of challenge. Stoker’s text is particularly strong in its visual, schematic approach to organizing concepts for allied health students. The chapters are intentionally concise and use Chemistry at a Glance sections to graphically portray the interrelationships of concepts, topics, and techniques covered in the written text. Several of these Chemistry at a Glance sections appear in each chapter, providing students with a convenient visual summary of one or several text sections, facilitating students’ consolidation and understanding before new sections are introduced. Stoker also uses Chemical Connections sections throughout each chapter to apply concepts from the text to applications of chemistry relevant to students’ personal and professional lives. The worked example problems within each chapter are followed immediately by student practice problems that use a problem-solving method similar to the worked example. Each chapter ends with a written summary of key concepts, followed by additional problems. Unique to the Stoker text is a multiple-choice practice test at the end of each chapter. These tests are particularly useful for allied health students who often must pass a number of multiplechoice examinations administered by various certifying agencies. The multiple-choice tests should enhance student success on these certifying exams and are a great addition. Both texts follow a similar sequence in the general chemistry part, covering measurement, atoms, bonding, reactions and rates, gases, liquids, solids, acids and bases, and ending with
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 86 No. 11 November 2009 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews nuclear chemistry. Both texts require quantitative calculations without an over-reliance on mathematics. The detailed descriptions of equations, units, and dimensional analysis techniques do a fine job of guiding allied health students who are typically weaker in quantitative skills. Both texts are successful with incorporating descriptions and practice with the art of drawing Lewis structures, an essential skill for students when they encounter the organic chapters. However, Bettelheim provides a more detailed and systematic approach to drawing Lewis structures and even includes the concept and practice of resonance and the curved arrow notation for pushing electrons, a topic Stoker covers more minimally. Both texts end the general chemistry portion with a very useful section on nuclear chemistry, with many examples of applications to the health professions. Surprisingly, the organic part of each text is the shortest in terms of number of pages. Both begin their treatment of organic chemistry with hydrocarbons and then proceed to functional groups. Each covers alcohols, thiols, ethers, aldehydes, ketones, carboxylic acids and their derivatives, amines, and amides. Both emphasize nomenclature and basic reactions. A shortcoming for both texts, however, is that the reactions are treated as equations to be memorized, with virtually no effort to explore why the reactions occur as they do from a mechanistic point of view. As a result, students experience “the infamous, dreaded ‘orgo’, a marathon of memorization” (1). Bettelheim presents a separate chapter on chirality in order to introduce the concept in advance of its critical role in biological systems. The chapterlong treatment is quite thorough and includes many example problems and exercises to reinforce the concepts. Stoker saves his discussion of chirality until the beginning of the biochemistry portion, and his presentation is brief, perhaps short-changing this important topic. Of course, the authors of both texts must make choices about the concepts and topics to cover in such a short treatment of organic chemistry, and their choices work well to provide coherent coverage of general, organic, and biochemistry. The biochemistry part of both texts is the most robust. Both have chapters on carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, enzymes, nucleic acids, and energy. They then diverge on the remainder of the biochemistry treatment. Stoker provides three in-depth chapters on metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. Each chapter provides details of various pathways and also excellent schematic summaries in Chemistry at a Glance sections that visually portray appropriate components and their interrelationships. Bettelheim combines carbohydrate, lipid, and protein metabolism into one chapter in a more abbreviated treatment of these biochemical pathways. By consolidating the treatment of pathways, Bettelheim has room for separate chapters on neurotransmitters and hormones, nutrition, immunochemistry, and an online chapter about body fluids. These additional chapters provide many examples of interest to allied health students. Both texts provide selected answers in the appendices, a nice feature for students to use in checking their work without having to purchase a separate solutions manual. Bettelheim presents short appendix sections on exponential notation and significant figures, which are useful for most allied health stu-
dents. Bettelheim has a separate glossary with key terms referenced to the appropriate text section(s); providing page numbers would save time when thumbing through the text to find the appropriate section. A separate index is very thorough and is keyed to essential terms in the text as well as many supplemental terms, concepts, and topics. Stoker consolidates the glossary and index into a combined section that works quite nicely, giving students one place to look for key terms, definitions, and page numbers, as well as a thorough compendium of supplemental terms, concepts, and topics. Stoker covers exponential notation and significant figures in the initial chapters of the general chemistry part, nicely incorporating examples and worked problems that emphasize the required mathematics skills. With new editions of textbooks, one must ask what is, in fact, new. Both new editions are only a few pages longer than their predecessors. Bettelheim has enhanced the problemsolving approach in worked examples in the text by adding a short Strategy statement in each worked example. For instance, in the previous (8th edition), Example 9.2 deals with an acid– base reaction. The problem is stated and the worked solution is immediately shown. In the new 9th edition, the same problem is Example 8.2, and after the problem statement the new problemsolving Strategy is provided as follows: “Strategy. Use Table 8.2 to identify the stronger acid from the weaker acid and the stronger base from the weaker base. Once you have done that, determine in which direction the equilibrium lies. It always lies in the direction of the stronger components moving towards the weaker components.” This written strategy is a nice addition because it helps students think about how they might approach the problem. In his 9th edition, Bettelheim has enhanced the photographs, schematics, and graphics, provided new Chemical Connections, and has improved the chapter summaries and end-of-chapter problems. Stoker’s new 5th edition has added content throughout the text in response to user and reviewer requests. In addition, advances in biological chemistry have been incorporated into the biochemistry portion. An example of new content is an entirely new Section 10.15, Equivalents and Milliequivalents of Electrolytes. As milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L) of ion concentration in blood are commonly used in the allied health professions, this section has been specifically added to meet the
© Division of Chemical Education • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 86 No. 11 November 2009 • Journal of Chemical Education
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Chemical Education Today
Book & Media Reviews needs of the target audience. The new section includes several worked examples, all dealing with mEq/L of ions in blood, followed by practice exercises. To provide further enhancement, the Chemical Connections on Electrolytes and Body Fluids in the previous edition has been updated to include the mEq/L units and further provides mEq/L data for ions commonly used in intravenous replacement solutions. Stoker has enhanced many of the already-excellent schematics and graphics to make the text even more appealing to visual learners. For faculty seeking a general, organic, and biochemistry text that is tuned to students, these two texts are worthy of serious examination.
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Literature Cited 1. Zurer, P. S. Chem. Eng. News 2001, 79 (16), 42–43.
Supporting JCE Online Material
http://www.jce.divched.org/Journal/Issues/2009/Nov/abs1274.html Full text (HTML and PDF)
David P. Pursell is in the School of Science and Technology, Georgia Gwinnett College, 1000 University Center Lane, Lawrenceville, GA 30043;
[email protected].
Journal of Chemical Education • Vol. 86 No. 11 November 2009 • www.JCE.DivCHED.org • © Division of Chemical Education
