statement that some 99% of the alpha particles in the Rutherford experiment were not deflected is entirely different in order of magnitude from the figure usually given (one in 100,000 deflected). I n spite of its omission of several of the topica which are more and more frequently found in the new general chemistry textbooks, the book has a great deal to offer b&h student and teacher. It is not inbended far honors courses in chemistry, but honors students would find many sections of the book useful and interesting. Many instructors would want to use supplementary monographs or other materials to expand some of the areas treated lightly or not a t all. The skill and authority of the writers in their special field is obvious in this work; their apparent disinclination to pursue certain topics in the field of physical chemistry more thoroughly than they do is probably not an oversight. All teachers, whet,her in college or university, will want to examine this book for possible use in a moderately hieh level. modern chemistrv course. but 11; far onk based solely on h;ghly abstract physico-chemical principles. GRANT W. SMITH The Pennsylvania State University Uniuersilfj Park
Fundomental Chemistry
Donald H. Andrews, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, and Richard J. Kokes, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore. 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons. Inc.. New York. 1965. xiii 811 'pp. Pigs. and tables. 17.5 x 24.5 cm. $8.50.
properties. Virtually all the criticisms I made of the original edition no longer apply. Naturally in a hook of this scope one could hardly expect t o find every topic treated from the viewpoint one might personally choose. I would have liked seeing, far example, a more explicit statement of the equivalence of AE defined thermodynamically with the change of energy as defined in the treatment of atomic structure. The one significant shortcoming I think the hook still has is its relatively weak chapter on kinetics. Even this, however, may be largely a matter of the state of the subject now. One could argue that chemical kinetics is changing so rapidly that it would be wise to wait for a. second revision to include a n expanded and "modern kinetics chaptern-a. chapter covering the microscopies of kinetics as determined from experiment. Or, saying it another way, I suppose that colliding beams of molecules are properly discussed now in junior and senior courses but it's just a little too early t o introduce them for freshman. At least this is the way I can r s t i o n d i ~ e the brev~ty and classical character of the kinetics chapter. All in all, I find myself much more enthusiastic about this second edition than about the first. modern chemistry is not descriptive but quantitative in its essence. "Fundamental Chemistry" is based on this premise and adheres to it as it develops the subject in a coherent and cogent way. I t will he exciting to teach students, upperclassmen, and graduates whose first real introduction t o chemistry has come from this book. Hopefully there will be lots of these students.
R. STEPHENBERRY Univemity of Chicago Chicago, Illinois
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Just two and one half years ago the first edition of "Fundamental Chemistry" appeared and I had the privilege of reviewing it far TEIS J o w ~ n r .(39, 653 [December, 19621). I had some reservationa about the book and a number of rather critical statements t o make. I did feel, however, that it was "refreshing and gratifying to see an unconventional new freshman text." I was favorably dispoaed toward the approach of the book especially because it paralleled the prejudices that I myself bad developed during several years of teaching freshman chemistry. The criticisms that some of us expressed a t that time were largely a t the level of execution, not of conception or of choice of topic. Now, in this new edition, the authors have undertaken a very substantial revision of the exposition itself, without losing the book's refreshing scope. Altoeether the book has been tiehtened. more in point. Oh yes, there are also some harder problems, too. And the book still retains what I consider its most unique fertt,ure: the presentation in a way, meaningful to freshman, of a n integrated descriptive chemistry based deeply and firmly on quantitative physical
520 / Journd o f Chemical Education
Fundamentals of Physical Chemistry
H . D. Crockford and Samuel B. Knight, both of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 2nd ed. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1965. 415 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 xiii X 23.5 cm. $7.50.
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The previous edition of this text was reGiewedin Tnrs J O ~ N A 36,L636 , (1959). No major fundamental changes have been made in snhject matter in the revision, but some changes in topic sequence and content are worth noting. Thus, the chapters on basic thermodynamics and thermochemistry now precede d l other topics except gases and liquids. Entropy and free energy are presented before emf, although after the chapter on chemical eouilibrium. Electrical conductivitv has
content occur in, perhaps, six of the nineteen chapters: introductory remarks now include a section on units and dimensions; the role of Gibbs free energy has been expanded; p H calculation is interspersed more throughout ionic equilibrium dis-
cussion mther than being appended thereto; pH determination by both potentiometric and colorimetric methods is condensed into a single chapter; kinetics is treated without mention of moleeularity. Guidance by the instructor will be helpful in steering students through some of the rough spots in the text. These could be r a t t w prrplwing ro one using the text fur s c l f - a ~ ~ I \ .Thus . on p. 2 the author% s~,~.~ifi~.nllv not(. rhc distinction betwem the cgs hnits of dynes for weight and grams for mass after a definition on p. 4 of the gram-atomic weight in terms of grams of weight. The term "mean activity coefficient" is introduced without noting that this is s. geometric, rather than an arithmetic, mean. Electrode potentials, as recommended by IUPAC, are com~ and the discussion of emf .l e t e.l vimored is solelv in terms of oxidation ootentials.
out further comment to the student, the authors on p. 126 while discussing osmosis state that "In NImay be expanded into a series and all but the first term of the series dropped out." I n fact, however, the symbol N, (obviously, although not. to the student, intended to be the mole fraction) apparently is present nowhere eke in the text and is not defined in the Table of Symbols and Abbreviations. Several other difficulties arise from typographical errors a t especially unfortunate places in the text: on p. 45 7 has been lost in the discussion leading to equation (3-5); on p. 50 the Poiseuille equation on p. 122 a semipermeable includes membrane is defined as one preventing the passage of solvent molecules; on p. 182 the analysis of results in example 10-10 is confused by garbled labeling of the parts of that example; on p. 263 a. cell of two similar electrodes immersed in solnt,ions of the same ions a t different activities is called a. concentrated cell. In summary, the general impression gained by a reader of the previous edition will probahly remain. If one accepts the premise that chemistry texts are being continually scaled upward in the level of sophistication a t a rather rapid rate, one must conclude that the revision of this text is not comparable.
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E . L. HERIC Universitg of Georgia .4 them
Isotopes in Biology George Wolf, M-chusetts Institute of Technology. Academic Press. Inc., 173 pp. Figs. New York, 1964. x and tables. 13.5 X 20.5 cm. Paperbound, 8 . 4 5 ; cloth, $5.50.
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This is a truly excellent hook on the use of isotopic techniques in biology, including biochemistry. The material is carefully written, the explanations are clear, and it is difficult to think of any topics which are not covered. The illustrative examples are well choaen, and are very interesting indeed. Even those who are generally familiar
