Physical Chemistry and Its Blological Applications Wallace S. Brey, University of Florida. Academic Press, New York, London, 1978. xi 589 pp. Figs. and tshles. 26 X 18 cm. $14.95.
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Mathematical sophistication of the students is a n important consideration in selection of a textbook for aphysical chemistry course directed a t undergraduates majoring in biological sciences. In some circumstances the course might he populated exclusively by students who are comfortable using differential and integral calculus, but in other cases an appreciable portion of the students will have only a casual knowledge of calculus and may still have difficulty with necessary algebraic manipulations. Brey's stated assumption is "an acquaintance with calculus." Twoexamplesof the level reached in the heginning and middle of the text are Presentation of the Maxwell-Boltzmann distrihution and subsequent use to obtain ump,ii, and uZ (p. 15); Presentation of the Schradinger equation and wave functions for 1s through 3d,, electrons in a hydrogen-like atom ip. 279). Only a small portion of the material could be covered in a one quarter or one semester course. This textbook should be given serious consideration if the course is to emphasize molecular structure, the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter, and chemical kinetics. Nearly a third of the hook is made up of the four chapters entitled "Electromagnetic Radiation and the Structure of Atoms," "Bonding and Molecular Spectroscopy," "Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy," and "Photochemistry and Radiation Chemistry." The chapter entitled "Kinetics of Chemical Reactions" provides excellent coverage of the anticipated tnnira ...,......
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