REVIEWS commented favorably on the three-dimensional perspective afforded by the presentation of the ball-and-stick pictures of molecules. In general, even students who had not used computers to any significant extent found the program easy to use and the manual ta be effective. The most significant problems occurred in making a print copy of the program's graphic output. It is necessary to save the image to a data disk, reboot witha disk containing a graphics dump utility, and then load and print the image. While this isnotdifficult, it doesintroducea distraction which detracts significantly from the otherwise smooth flow of the program itself. Had it been possible t o print from within the program, student reaction would have been almost unanimously positive, both with respect to the general quality of the program and with respect to its value in learning about conformatians. Kirk McMichael Washington State University Pullman, WA 99164
Synthetic Adventure FredD. WiNlarns. Educational Adventures. P.O. Box 667,Houghton. MI 49931 Hardware: Apple II family: 128K preferred. Also available for IBM PC. Components: 1 disk and instruction booklet Level and Sublect: Organic chemistry Cost: $45.00
Summary Ratlngs: Category Ease of Use: Subject Maffer Content Pedagogic Value:
Student Reaction:
Good Good God Good
Review The program is described in the aceompanying booklet as an adventure game which utilizes synthetic organic chemistry to overcome B series of problems or obstacles encountered in the game. The author of the software hopes that by experiencing the game, students become more aware of the significance of their classroom experience. I t seems to me that the game actually attempts to involve the student in a thinking process that is rather unique t o organic chemistry-that combination of inductive and deductive reasoning called organic synthesis. The audience it aims a t is students, typically sophomores in college, either beginning or completing their first course in oreanic ~.~ chemistrv. L'ponbooting'the disk and answering a few preliminary questions, the player of the game starts the adventure in a hydrocarbon village on the planet of Organo and proceeds t o move from one location t o the next by typing in directions like "go north". Along the journey the player picks up materials,
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Journal of Chemical Education
usually organic molecules, performs reactions with them, and uses the products to overcame obstacles in the way. Often products from one reaction are used as starting materials for another. The adventurer must proceed through over 50 locations until he or she arrives a t the origin of life forms on the planet and the end of the game. Because of the large number of locations one needs t o make a map of the planet on paper to keep track of not only where one has been hut also where one has set materials down that may be needed later in the game. It is quite easy to kill oneself accidentally, hut the game allows the adventurer another life and a chance to keep playing if one answers a given question in nonsynthetie organic ehemistry correctly. If the question is not answered correctly the game ends and, unless this or a previous game has been saved, one must start over a t the beginning. The three-page instruction booklet that accompanies the software is divided into two sections. The first part is directed toward the student and contains detailed instructions for playing the game as well as much helpful advice. It is strongly recommended that this he read before using the program heeause only basic instructions for playing are avsilahle in the software. The second part of the booklet is to he used a t the discretion of the teacher and contains hints, including reactions, for overcoming obstacles. Most students who play the game would probably need a t least some of these hints a i d perhaps some additional ones, especially if they are just beginning to learn organic chemistry. Once one has an understanding of how the game works, it is fairly easy to play this adventure game, even for those with no experience with adventure games or computers. The game possesses a good vocabulary, and t h e use of abbreviations certainly meeds uu the temoo. The urocedures used anohject in his or her inventory andeventually finds out that this can be overcome only by setting everything in the inventory down and then picking up all the objects except that which he or she had intended to put down originally. I have used the game primarily as part of the laboratory component of a two-term sequence in organic chemistry. I t was used a t the very beginning of this sequence, and five of the lab experiments performed by the students were easily arranged to provide either direct or indirect information about reactions that are used in the adventure game. A student was given some credit toward his or her lah grade for undertaking the adventure and overeomingohstacles. A number of hints were periodically given throughout the term. Student reaction to the game was mixed, with the better students taking to the game avidly. Those who completed the adventure spent approximately 30 to 40 hours playing it and reported the program was an enjoyable and an educationally rewardine,. exoerience. For their laree investment in time the). felt that they did hctter on synthetr~prd>lems on organic tests As one student said, "The program was extremely helpful in establishing the appropriate mind-set for synthesis." The major strength of the software is derived from its adventure-game format,
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which is addictiw once one successfully handles the initial m e or twoohstacles. Civen both personal experience and student reaction, i t isn't hard t o get hooked on the game because one eagerly anticipates the challenge of the next obstacle. Also, the use of humor and surprising responses in the game adds further enticement. This makes for avery enjoyable way for one tolearn bow organic synthesis works. However, for this format to be effective, a relatively large amount of time must he spent playing the game. Spendingonly one or two hours on the game is relatively worthless educationally, although i t probably stimulates one to want to know more about organic chemistry. Indeed, the very format that makes i t so addictive and useful to some students orovides lust the opposite experience for others. For studentswhudm't like this type ofgame,or like it but becume easily frumatcd in over. coming blocks or learning the game's vocahulary, playing the game seems to he a waste of time. Often these individuals are average or poorer students who may benefit from the software hut feel their time is better spent, justifiably so, studying organic chcmistry through more trnditionnl routes. Thesyntheses used during the adventure are fairly representative of those reactions in a beginning organic course of either a oneor two-term sequence. Those reactions include reduction, oxidation, hydrolysis, esterification, nucleophilic and electrophilic substitution, and free-radical substitution. Indeed, students reported remembering same particular reaction heeause of the game. For example, the periodic entry of "HNU and his pack of chlorine" on the scene seemed to help students recall conditions for free-radical substitution. I sugyert that, i i a follow-up disk is being planned, it should use the same adventure-game format but with reactions emphasizing carboncarbon bond formation like the Grignard reaction and the Aldol condensation. In conclusion, this is a beneficial program for good students and is best used early in the first term of organic, after a few reactions have been covered in class. By carefully considering what hints to give and when to give them in relation to the time needed to play the game effectively, a teacher can help provide the organic neophyte with a good sense of the problem ofuryanirsynthe. sis. Alternately, i t seems that the program may he used with success a t the end of an organic course as an integral problem and review for average students. An advantage of this approach is that students could play the pame more on their own. Indeed.. one avrd student uho was the first ro complete theadventure near the heginning of t h n~r ~ t term vfuryanic felt upon completion of ftnal termofthe sequence that he could now complete the quest with no hints! Paul L. Weber Briar Cliff College 3303 Rebecca St. Sioux City. iA 51 104 Marvels of t h e Molecule Lionel Salem. VCH: New York, NY, 1987.xii 88 pp. 14.7 X 21.7 cm.
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The responsible popularization of chemistry is one of the most important tasks fac-
ing the Chemical Education community, and one of the most difficult. I t resembles the writing of children's hooks in that i t must be lively hut not silly, accurate hut not pedantic, straightforward hut not patronizing. Above all, i t requires that the author have a sharply targeted audience in mind and demonstrate resuect for that audience. Becauae of this difficulty one must respect the c r u a g e of a serious sc~entistwho nttempts thir genre in good faith, w e n if, as in this case, his success is not complete. And one has an obligation t o point out in what respects he has fallen short. Let's face it--chemistry doesn't have the grandeur of astronomy, the purity of mathematics, the mysticism of modern physics or the visceral immediacy of much of modern biology. Our work daes not involve us in adventures like those of Roy Chapman Andrews. We have no Carl Sagan or Stephen Jay Gauld. James Watson and Primo Levi write more about people than about chemistry. Experimental chemistry is more like the activity of the watchmaker or the small shookeeuer. The deliehts of chemical theorv are remote fmm ordinary experrenre and hidden in thickets of "jnrgon" and rymhds. Despite this, 1.ionel Snlem does well in what he saysahout that partlrularareaof modern organic chemistry that interests him mostthe mdecular orbital model of bonding. But it is hard for a chemist to iudge his success because one learns nothing new from it--other than that "jargon" is easy t o sneer a t but almost impossible t o do without. The use of terms like "zone of calm" (for nodal surface) or "friendly" and "hostile" (for honding and antihonding interactions) are as off-putting as the use of baby talk for the parts and function of the adult hady. (One notes the inconsistent retention of a term like "antisymmetric".) I do think teachers could henefit from reading this hook and that would-be writers in this genre could gain a lot of insight in what t o do and what not to do. The book cannot he recommended, however, for the classroom nor for "lay readers." Indeed, the use of the latter term by Roald Hoffmann in his somewhat burbly introduction provides an instant early warning of its chief fault-an element of condescension that may derive from attempts to avoid "jargon", from the translation, from the cute headings for the (onepage) chapters or from a few of the numerous drawings (many of which are quite good and apropos). I discovered, by experiment, that a readily available geologist (whose involvement with organic chemistry ended more than 30 years ago) and a couple of handy Peruvian archaeologists (who had had the most eeneral of General Chemistrv courses) found it intelligible throughout, charming in places and informative about a lrmited area uf chem:stry. 'They got a vague awareness of the aesthetics of modern organic chemistry hut were not persuaded that even the simplest form of the Woodward-Hoffmann Rules had any relevance t d the real world chemical problems that they are most aware of-pollution and scarcity. I t was made clear that chemists are excited by their work, hut not why. In the end, the main problem is that the author, and his helpers, do not seem to have had a well-defined target audience. Perhaps someday someone will take aim a t the hig audience that would welcome a book that
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was broader in scope and more mature in tone hut still as clear, concise, and generally delightful as this one is. I am glad to have read it, but I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it, and I doubt that I will make a place for i t on my bookshelf. However, the book would make an excellent gift for a chemistry secretary, or any nonchemist working in a chemistry-related context. James H. Brewster Purdue University West Lafayene. IN 47907
Physlcal Chemistry, Seventh Edltlon Robeti A. Alberty. Wiley: New York. NY. 1987. x 934 pp. 16.7 X 23.9 cm. $49.21.
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The seventh edition of Physical Chemistry is an improvement over the sixth edition. Several chapters have been split t o facilitate introduction of the material as well as to permit inclusion of new material. At least 32 mistakes, many of which were typographical, have been corrected. Some mistakes have persisted, and there are a t least 18 mistakes in the seventh edition. Overall, this edition is comparable to other textbooks on physical chemistry, such as P. W. Atkins's third edition or Ira N. Levine's second edition. Each of these textbooks has its strength and weaknesses, and this review will point out some of them. Alherty, unlike the two other aforementioned authors, treads on pedagogically unsound ground when he ignores the distinction between extensive and intensive thermodynamic variables in most of the early chapters. But he can also he very precise, as in his discussion of the effect of pressure changes on an equilibrium mixture of gases (see "Effect of Inert Gases.") Alherty and Atkins are equally terse when they introduce Helmholtz and Gihhs energies, although Atkins is more thorough than Alberty. Levine eliminates this mysteriousness without resorting to Legendre transforms. Alherty, and Levine to a lesser extent, bury the interpretation of -AGm = -AHiT AS, or AS, = AS,,, AS,,,, in the text after introducing the Gibbs energy. Atkins alludes t o this interpretation quickly, but waits until five chapters later to articulate it. Alherty, Atkins, and Walter J. Moore (fourth edition) discuss irreversible and reversible P-V work, unlike Levine who restricts himself to reversible work. Alherty and Atkins introduce fugacity and nonideal mixtures a t about the same time, whereas Levine tarries too long in the opinion of this reviewer. Alberty's chapter on chemical equilibrium is especially well written. Atkins introduces the chemical potential, confuses the issue by quickly introducing another new concept, fugacity, and stumbles through to make a complete story. Levine also presents the chemical potential in a somewhat awkward manner. All three authors present the phase rule and the Clapeyron equation similarly. Alberty and Atkins discuss higher-order phase transitions in detail; Levine is much less detailed. All three authors give a mathematical discussion of colligative properties. Atkins and Levine, unlike Alherty, interpret the math.
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Volume 65
Atkins discusses changes in chemical potential in different phases; Levine gives a malecular interpretation. Alberty and Atkins provide strong motivation for developing quantum mechanics, emphasizing black body radiation and line soeetra. hut Levine does the best iob in makine the Sehriidineer eouation ola;sible. Alhert)~omitsthe cnseof a free particle, tails tc, discuss tunneling, and is unnecessarily terse when discussing a particle in a boa. But he daes discuss atomic structure thoroughly, and his presentation of vibrational and rotational spectroscopy is appropriate for the amount of times that most instructors will have. Alberty is to be commended for his integration of polymer examples, such as "thermodynamics of rubberlike elasticity" and kinetics of polymerization. In addition, he has a whole chapter on equilibria of hiochemical reactions, making this hook a useful text for biochemistry as well as for chemistry majors. In summary, none of the most recent textbooks on physical chemistry by Alherty, Atkins, and Levine were clearly superior to the others. The books by Alberty and Atkinsare very similar with regard to organization of topics. Alberty's book has many strengths, as this reviewer learned while making the review. This hook would henefit the student if it were to include either a list of objectives or a summary of each chapter. Vauahan Pultz Northeast MlosoLrl Stale Unlvers ty r(rrKsv e, MO 63501
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Polymer Ploneers: A Popular History of the Sclence and Technology of Large Molecules Peter J. T. Morris. Center for History of Chemistry: Philadelphia. PA. 1986. 88 pp. 17.5 X 22.7 cm. $7.50.
Polymer science is one of the leading areas of chemistry as witnessed by the fact
that polymer processing accounts for almost $100 billion of value added to American manufacturing every year. Recently the Journal of Chemical Educotion ran a series of articles on polymers (May, 1986,63(5)). This cooiauslv illustrated "oooular histl.ry,"wrrttenfm high schooland unrveralty students whu may he consirlerint: R career in some branch of polymer science or technology, will also he of interest t o anyone wanting to know more about this important branch of chemistry and chemical industry. T h e first publication t o emerge from CHOC's Polymer Project, it was written "to meet the " erowine " need for a oooular account of the development of polymers, based on recent scholarly activity." In this relatively short book, Morris tells the story of the evolution of our knowledge of macromolecules from prehistoric times to the latest developments in academic and industrial research. He has woven together three approaches. He provides (1) 3 4 page bioeraohical sketches of a dozen kev indi,. vidunls,groupd hy pmrs intu s ~ chnmolog. x irnl ircrms: 21 trme charts to plnre each
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Number 11
November 1988
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