dents who consider themselves "no good a1 math" but who are taking a science course. 11 the students have essentially no ability witt mathematics, then this text may be of assistance. As pointed out in the review of the first edition (Hubbard, C. D., J. CHEM. EDUC. %A522 (1975)) muchof the book coversver) elementary material in a most tedious fashion. T h e first four chapters (3fi% of the book) cover material a t such an introductory level that it would be a waste of time for most eollege students. One definitely gets the impression that the tent is aimed at the high school level.
Graphs, and Logarithms contain murematerial that might be useful for students whc are having difficulty with mathematics. Many worked out problems and problem sets with answers a t the end of the text are valuable. T h e final chapter "Special Topics" deals very briefly with significant figures, calculators (somewhat condescendingly since earlier the author stated "However, aslide rule hassome advantages for calculathms. I t is easily portable, requires no batteries or electric outlet, a i d can be used very rapidly after a little practice."), trigonometry (2 pp.), and the notation of calculus. I question why the last two sections were even included. Several of the shortcomings noted in the first edition appear in this edition as well,
dard notation of placing the dependent variable on the left side of an equation with the dependent variable on the right is not noted in chapter 6. T h e discussions of the mole concept and stoichiometry problems in chapter 7 are somewhat weak. Figure 8.6 in chapter 8 could he very misleading to a navice since the scales on the plot are not indicated, and i t is clearly possible to have a plot where the line is a t 45" from the horizontal and have y f- x, but rather y = C x. The discussion of graphs is elementary with much omitted. T h e major limitation of this book appears to he the level to which it is aimed. A far more useful textbook would have resulted by seriously ahridging (or eliminating entirely) the first few chapters that deal with grammar school arithmetic and expanding the remaining chapters that begin t o deal more directly with chemistry.
HERBERT R. ELLISON Wheaton College Norion, MA 02766
'PhLsical a n d Mechanistic Organic Chemistry Richard A. Y. Jones, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1980. v 357 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23 cm. $17.50 (soft cover) $57.50 (hard cover).
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This textbook, which is intended for use by advanced undergraduate and first year graduate students, is one ol'a growing number of up-to-date texts devoted to physical and
A66
Journal of Chemical Education
mechanistic organic chemistry. Althoug relatively short in length when compared t other books on the subject, most importar topics are covered, nonetheless, and mor with clarity and thoroughness. The autho as noted in the intnlduction, has not intende to discuss every relevant suhject; his objec has been to enumerate the basic principles b which organic reactions mechanisms ar studied. I believe the author has succeeded i this objective. The book is subdivided into twoparts, wit part 1of six chapters dealing with the tech niques of physical organic chemistry and par 2 with mechanisms of the major reaetiol types. There is extensive reference to t h literature, with coverage through early 1979 There are also suggested readings from book and review articles at the end of each chapte on topics relevant to the chapter's suhjec matter. At the end of the tent one can alsc find a list of other books on physical organi, chemistry and, in each ease, the author' perception of the emphasis of that hook. 08 the negative side, this textbook offers nc practice problems. On the positive side, onl! a small number of typographical errors car he found in the text. Specifically, the book begins with aver! enjoyable chapter on how chemists appmaet mechanistic problems. The author has ver! cleverly used the von Richter reaction t o i l lustrate this approach. This discussion pre. sents a beautiful example of how chemists ir different times have studied reaction mech. anisms and how better tools have made thit study easier. Chapter 2, which deals with kinetics, demonstrated to me one of the eharmt of the book. T h e mathematical derivations although terse, are almost always presented in a fresh manner. The author also has a knack for comparing mathematical expres~ rions in a most insightful way. The remaining chapters of part 1 deal with acids and bases, the importance of the reaction medium, and molecular orbital methods including Dewar's PMO technique. In part 2 one can find discussions of ali,hatic nucleophilic substitution, elimina.ions, additions to carbon-carbon double mnds and earbonyls, aromatic eleetrophilie md nucleophilic substitution, hydrolysis of :stem, molecular rearrangements, and, in the ongest chapter in the bonk, pericyclic reac.ions. Among the many interesting topics iescribed in these chapters, of particular inerest to this reviewer were the diseussionsof on pairs in nucleophilic substitution reacions, the way in which changing reaction mditions and concentrations can alter the ate determining step of the reaction, and romatic electmphilic nitration and all of its ntricacies. This reviewer f w n d the presenation on pericyclic reactions, however, t . 4 .i7, a n d pcrtomance in..l,< .ln pros ~ d aew i + w and challenging rxpenmcr lor each i u d m t . ~
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MARGARET-ANN ARMOUR
University of Albena Edmonton, Alberta
Organic R e a g e n t s for Copper Frank J. Welcher and Irwin Boschrnann, Krieger Publishing Ca., Huntington, NY. 1979. v 614 pp. 23.5 X 16 cm. $34.50
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This reference book summarizes and reviews all of the known oreanic reaeents which react with copper ions. It is presented in a strictly analytical approach to contrast to the inorganic chemists point of view whieh concerns metal-ligand interaction. Almost all of the organic compounds listed in this volume react with capper to give a colored complex whieh permits spectrophotometric determination of copper. However, certain compounds also lend themselves to gravimetric, potentiometric, polsrogrsphic, and flame photometric determinations. One criticism that this reviewer would make of this collection is that the authors have compiled simply all compounds that they have been ahle to discover which react fwith copper. They have not provided the reader with any realistic indication as to whieh compound might he best for a given situation. While the reviewer acknowledges that every situation cannot possibly be anticipated by the authors, simply listing page after page of very similar compounds does not assist the researcher who is generally unfamiliar with Lhe reactions of copper and various organic reagents. The book appears t o he well indexed and A68
Journal of Chemical Educatior
contains two separate indexes: a copper analysis in alarge varietyof materialsand an index of each of the organic reagents for copper. This last index lists approximately nineteen hundred different reagents which have been known to react with copper. While this reviewer is not in a position t o comment on the completeness of this hook, it would certainly seem a t a first reading t o provide a valuable source of information for those researchers wishing to pursue the analysis of copper. As such, it will prohahly be a valuable addition for a research, rather than a teaching-oriented science library.
L. B. CHURCH Reed College Portland. OR 97202
Carbanions in Organic Synthesis John C. Stowell, John Wiley & b o w . New 247 pp. Figs. and tables. 23.5 X 15.5 cm. $22.50. York, 1979. xi
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This new volume offers much in an area that has received little attention and deserves more. It goes a long way in filling the void in the application of carbanions to organic synthesis. The author provides valuable summation of the most useful information puhlished in the last decade in surprisingly less than 250 pages. The book is best considered as earbanions as used by the synthetic chemist rather than as synthetic methods used by or generated by earbanion chemists. From this focus the strengths and weaknesses follow. The major contribution is a survey of re-
tion are considered seque&ially for each of an impressive array of carbanions. Indeed this structured ordering contributes markedly .to the achievement of excellent coverage of important synthetic use of carbanions. The synthetic chemist and many chemists doing synthesis will find this approach a welcome and highly useful entry into the field. Those with greeter need or interest for information in carbanion chemistry may not fare so well. The first two chapters on the general preparation and reactions of earbanions are very hare indeed and certainly not up to the level of the remaining parts of the book. For most readers considerable augmentation of this kind ofmaterial from other sources may he required. There is a complete ahsence of material in tabular form. Many readers could advantageously benefit from a moderate use oftahles recording much of this excellently chosen material. Shelton Bank State University of New York at Albany Albany. NY 12222
Laboratory Teaching in Tertiary S c i e n c e (A Review of S o m e Recent Developments) D. J. B o d , University of New South Wales, J G. Dunn. T Kennedy, and M. G.
Walker, Western Australian Institute of Technology, The Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australia. Sydney. 1978. iii f 108 pp. Tables. 30.5 X 22 cm. $6.00. This excellent reference hook is a review of innovative biology, chemistry, and physics laboratory programs that were descrihed in publications appearing hetween 1970 and 1977. For this hook, the authors surveyed a considerable variety of journals, proceedings, etc., and selected approximately 130 reportedly innovative laboratory programs a t a variety of institutions. The authors divided the programs into eight broad categories. These categories are the (1) Keller Plan or Personalized System of Instruction (PSI), (2) Audio-Tutorial Method (A-T), (3) Computer-A-sisted Learning (CAL), (4) Learning Aids Laboratory (LAL), (5) Modular Laboratory, (6) Integrated Laboratory, (7) Project Work, and 18) I'articioation in Research. he maioritv of this hook is devoted to hrref desenpt~onsof each of the reported programs In that sectmn the many programs are first grouped according to the above eight categories and then each program is hriefly descrihed. In so far as possible from the published report, the authors have reported the "Aims," "Organization," "Assessment," and "Evaluation" given in each report. Under "Aims," the reason for introducing the new teaching developments are given; "Organization" covers the physical arrangements such as number of students involved, hours during which the lab is open, staffing, etc., "Assessment" refers to the type and style of assessment of student performance. requirements associated with grades, number of experiments, etc., and "Evaluation" deals with expressed advantages and disadvam tages, problems encountered by staff or by students, and workloads, as well as the results of questionnaires, discussions, interviews. and performance tests. In other sections of this hook, the authors have analyzed the characteristic features of each method. discussed the trends that seem t
