BOOK REVIEWS any deeper is beyond the scope of the book, where an ordinary text might include further information in small print or in a. footnote. However, there is no aversimplification; discussions are clear and to the point: on bslance, it is an admirahle work. The hook is restricted to additions to carbon-carbon multiple bonds, (additions \
\
,C=O is discussed in another volume , of the series), nucleophilie substitution, to
eliinlttions, and a ( r a t h a short) descrip tion of electrophilic substitution. Partienlarly good are the sections on steriochemistry, on effectsof structure and solvent, on the Saytyteef and Hofmann Rules, and on Substitution vs. Elimination. The discussions build well on Stewart's book. (One missed opportunity: internal return and solvent separated ion pairs, etc., are dismissed as too complicated, although Stewart provides an excellent introduction.) Though the tone is largely mechanistic there are sections devoted to synthetic applications of the several kinds of reaetions. These slip hack into the familiar textbook style of eittdoging and perhaps could have been done better. Nonionic reactions slip in, as well as some ionic ones whose meohanisms (not discussed) are more complex than simple addition or suhstitution. Some obvious examples of demonstrable usefulness, such as formation of epoxy resins, are missed. It is refreshing to find some hiogrs;phical sketches of chemists still alive and working, hut they are surely the sketchiest sketches that ever saw print. Answers to the problems are not included. RICHARD HI~TT Brock Uniueraily St. Calharines, Ontario
Physical Chemistry
Gordon M. Barrow, Case Institute of Technology, Cleveland, Ohio. 2nd ed. McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1966. xiii 843 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 24 cm. $12.50.
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At first glance, this appears to he a much changed hook. The publisher's art is much more obvious in this second edition, and the result is an attractive, easily readable layout which is a eonsidersble improvement. On closer examination, the changes in the text turn out to be minor, but logical and helpful. For those who liked the approach of the first edition, hut had reservations about specific sections, the new edition may have greater appeal. Those w.ho dislike the mixture &the molecular approach with the more "classical" topics will find that this is still the maior distinctive feature of the hook. Topics which have been ex(Cm2inued on page A1008) L I ~ E no. IM 01
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BOOK REVIEWS panded in this revision inrlude the Maxwen-Boltzmann distribution, the thermodynamic functions for ions, partial molal quantities, the molecular interpretation of entropy, symmetry in crystals, heat capacity of liquids, and metallic crystals. Noneof these additions are long, hut they fit easily into the book and make [it a much more coherent whole. Perhaps even more noticeable than the additions are the rearrangements. The majar change in this regard is the earlier treatment of nanideal systems, immediately after the ideal systems in the free energy chapter. Although most nonideal topics are still late in the book in the chapters on electrolytes, the strict separation is no longer made. The other obvious change is the division of long chapters into shorter, less encyclopedic units. For example, the very long chapter on experimental m&& for molecular structure determination has become three (speotroscopy, diffraction, and electriritl and magneticproperties). As should be the case in a second edition, very few errors were noticed. Page 205 gives diagrams for graphical entropy cdculation, hut does not mention that they me for nitrogen, and an equation for a cell reaction on page 739 does not follow the conventions given on page 723. Oxidation potentials have become "electrode potentialr" and are described as reductions in the text but retained as oxidations (with signs for reductions) in the table on page 725. Students may find the statement that the numbers "give the tendencies of the electrodes to accept electrons. " difficult to reconcile with electrode reace-. tions written as Li = Lit The description of the changes makes them seem minor, hut the combined effect is that of a considerably improved hook. Anyone interested in the approach should seriously consider i t apart from their opinion of the first edition.
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DONALD A. TARR St. Olaf College Nmthfield, Minnesota
Basic Chemical Thermodynamics
Jzirg Waser, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. W. A. Benja278 min, Inc., New York, 1966. xvi pp. Figs. and t%hles. 15 X 22 cm. Clothhound, $8; paperhound, $3.95.
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Unfortunately the redundance and duplication of technical textbooks in fundamental fields is great and increasing a t a rapid rate, concurrently with the general publication explosion. Thus, in general, not only is every field covered thoroughly by a multitude of textbooks but every nuance of approach appears to he represented hy several examples. This reviewer's tendency therefore is to approach a. new book in a field like thermodynamics (Continued on page A1011)
A1 008 / Journal of Chemical Education
