BOOK REVIEWS which tend to establish perspective and m i f y the whole. Each chapter contains a well-chosen reference list ss well as, in several eases, appropriat,ely selected works for further reading by the serious student desiring more extensive or intensive irrformet,ion. The instructions for performing a broad selection of laboratory experiments are concise, clear, and accurate enough to enhance efficient student work. The parts on separation and funct,ianal
group analysis will be particularly attractive to many instructors. The overall impression given by this book is that of a solid, readable, and ionctional textbook, ngto-date in coverage and well thought out in execution. I t should be equally useful as a text or reference book far students of pharmaceutical analysis or advanced undergraduate analytical chemistry. ROBERTE. T ~ ATT N \ Simthern Illinois University Carbondale. Illinois
Kinatier and Thermodynamics in Biochemistry
H . Geoffrey Bray and Kennelh White, both of the University of Birmingham. 2nd ed. Academic Press, Inc., S e w 418 pp. Figs. and York, 1966. xi tables. 16 X 23.5 em. $15.
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I n the preface to the first (195i) editiou of this book, the authors ststed that they hoped to provide a. "systematic development of the basic ideas of kinetics and thermodynamics as they are applied to biochemistry." As snch, the book is lint very useful because most of the material covered is eit,her already familiar lo most readers, or is not explained at all t,horoughly. There are, for example, fundamental developments of thermodynamics, kinetics, and enzyme kinetics; every one of these subjects deserves exposition by a specialist who takes pains with the definitions, hammers at the fundamentals, and points oot the difficulties. Here one gets a smattering. Part of the problem is probably th& the authors are trying to put into chapters material which requires books; in any case, it is poor pedagogy. As examples of material which is overly familiar, one may cite the numerous metabolio pathways reviewed in Chapter 10 (Free Energy and Metabolism), and the discussion of buffee in Chapter 4 (Equilibria in Aq~teous Solution). Incidentally, ii ane wishes to teach about equilibria, some problems would be very helpful. The book is not ~~seless, however. Because it covers an extraordinarily wide range of topics, and presents numerous illustrative examples, a perusal of this work is bound to make one aware of many facts and even some fields with which he was previously unacquainted. Furthermore, numerous excellent references are given, so that the book may be recommended as a bibliographicsl tool for one who wishes to find out where to learn about a given subject. For these reasons, it might be particularly helpful to a teacher planning a, course, heeanse it would both furnish useful ideas as to what topics might be included, and also suggest 1iterat.ure to cover these t,opirs. Some subjects are treated quite well. The discussion of react,ian aystems, and open versus closed systems, is excellent, although even here it would have been better if the authors had not made the mathematics very detailed as long as it was simple, and then written down the solutions to the equations when they became difficult. The ~ t n d e n tshould either be allowed to fallow the mathematics, or else have it given to him, b ~ i not t some of both. Very few erroneoos stnlemeots were detected, and there were f e a misprints. A more detailed table of contents would be helpful; t,he list of chapter headings does not tell what subjects are covered, and to find a subject again after reading it once is difficult and frmtrating.
PETER OESPER Haknemann Medical College Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Continued a page A70)
A68
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Journol of Chemical Educofion
