-
some extent offset the othemise V- succinct ~~~approach to the malerial. The book is much mure appropriate for a survey mume directed toward the health-related scicncex. ~
~
Richard L. Taber C o f College ~ Colorado Springs, Co 80903
Essentials 01 General, Organlc and Blochernlstry
The section pertaining t o organic chemistry consists of ten chapters and emphasizes the orincinle reactions of the maim , funetionel grw&. Cnk,rtunately, there i.i little rmphaair on mechnnivms to p n w d c a hnsis fm the reactions. Also, modern techniques of organic chemistry such as nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy are not presented. Stereochemistry is fragmented among several chapters, with the majority being presented in the material on carbohydrates and amino acids in the biochemistry section. An interesting chapter on polymers is included. The authors have done a fine job of providing interesting examples of how organic chemistry can be applied to the solution of biological problems. The final section is devoted to biochemistry and begins with chapters on cell structure, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, vitamins and bioenergetics. This is followed by chapters on the metabolism of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. Again, the treatment is very brief. As a n example, the chapter on carbohydrate metabolism covers hormones, diabetes, the Embden-Meyerhof pathway, the TCA cvcle. . . the ohosohoeluconate oathway, photosynthesis, and muscle contraction in just 13 pages of lext. Following intermediary metabolism is a chapter on the biochemistry of genetics. Student interest in this subject is usually very hiah and considerable suoolementatian hv . t h i instructor will probably be necessary. DNA replication and transcription and the Monod-Jacob model of the regulation of protein synthesis are treated in just two paragraphs each. It is the tendency toward a cursory treatment of the many topics a t the expense of in-deoth . .resent at ions that is the maior weakness of the book. Too man" interertine t ~ p i c rrcpwinllg , in the hmchcm~atrgsecrmn. arc &all with in a line ur tu.8 tu make the book of much value to a discriminating liberal arts student. However, the sections on "Topics of Current Interest" are good and to ~
Joseph I. Routh, Dnrrell P. Eyman, and Donald J. Burton, University of Iowa. W. B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, 1977. xxx 631 pp. Figs. and tables. 18 X 27 cm. Accompanying Instructor's Manual: 120 pages. Figs. and tables. 18 X 26 cm.
+
This hook covers the basic concepts of general, organic, and biochemistry and is directed toward students of the health-related sciences. The authors also suggest that the text might serve as the basis for a course fol liberal arts students. T o condense even the essentials of these three fields into a single volume for students with generally modest backgrounds is a difficult task, and hard decisions must be made about which topics are to be included. In this book the authors have chosen to Concentrate an the bare basics of each field, with little in-depth discussion of mosttopics. I n order to provide the students with a sense of excitement, and t o broaden their horizons hevond the basic material.. sections on t o ~ i e r ofcurrcnt interest a r e d y r r t ~ dthn,ughout the chapters. Thew arc generally well done and wdl rtimularerludent inLerest and provide the basis for discussion. In order to help the students t o focus on the most fundamental concepts while reading the material, there are lists of specific objectives a t the beginning of each chapter. The problems a t the ends of the chapters are reasonably numerous and should prove to be helpful to the students. The first section, consisting of nine chapters, covers the basics of general chemistry. Most of the major topies encountered in a full course in general chemistry are included. This necessarily means that the treatment of many topics is cursory. Instructors will lik~lg have to elaborate considerably an topics thought t o be most fundamental to the student's background. ~
~
~
. . "
.
.
~~~
Vojtech Fried, Hendrik R, Hameka, and Uldis Blukis. Macmillan Publishing Company, New York, 1977. xix 983 pp. Figs. and tables. 18.5 X 26 cm. $16.95.
+
B w k s written by several authors may result from the collaboration of all of them throughout, or they may consist of parts each written independently by one of them and bound together. This book appears t o be of the latter type, since it possesses in abundance one of the main characteristicsof this twe-unevenness. I t is uneven in literarv .. jtyk, in depth of coverage, in accuracy nnd lugir. As compared with the bwk bv .Moore, it is less llroad in coverage hut mmedetailcd and advanced on some topics; the quality of writing is inferior t o Moore's, and in some sections lapses in accuraev are rather serious. The 25 chapters of the hook are grouped into parts covering the gas laws, including kinetic theory of gases; chemical thermodynamics; quantum mechanics and spectroscopy; statistical thermodynamics; chemical kinetics; and electrochemistry. Neither colloids nor macromolecules are treated a t all. The first two sections, on thegaslaws and thermodynamics, illustrate most clearly the failings of this book-the poor planning, the inconsistencies, the mistakes, some too significant to be dismissed as mere typing errors. Since these are serious charges, let them be documented by examples: I t is stated that for a gas obeying GayLussac's law, the coefficient of expansion is equal top-' (apI3T)v.Actually, Boyle's law, not Gay-Lussac's, is the criterion for this equality. ~
~
~~~~~~
(Continued on page A344)
-Reviewed in this Issue Joseph I. Routh, Darrell P. Eymnn, and Donald J Rurlon, Essentials of General, Organic and Biochemistry Vojtech Fried, Hendrik F Hameka, and Uldis Hlukis, Physical Chemistry J o h n R. Amend, and Ralph A. Olsen, Experimental Chemistry P J. Farago, M J. Frazer, and S.D. Walker, editors, Chemical Education in Europe Ruddhadev Sen, To Secure Certain Unalienable Rights Michael J. S.Dpwar and Ralph C. Daughwty, The PMOTheory of Organic Chemistry Tse-l,ok H ~ JHard , and Soft Acids and Rases Principle In Organic Chemistry G . Ruchi, editor, Organic Syntheses, Volume 56 W L. F. Armarego, Stereochemistry of Het.erocyelic Compounds. Parts 1and 2 Rruee J. Rerne, editor, Statistical Mechanics, Part a: Equilibrium Techniques
Reuiewer Richard L. Taber Charles E. Reid CarlJ. Popp Bassam 2.Shakhashiri Jim Bier Richard S. Givens Wesley A. Pearson Hassen S. El Khadem Vasu Nair Robert M. M a w
Volume 55. Number 9,September 1978 1 A343
b0 0 k reviews Apparently misled by the fact that one expression for the difference C, - Cv ineludes (bVIbT), asafactor, the author states that this difference is negative when the coefficient of expansion isnegative, as for water between 0 and 4 "C.A few seconds' consideraum of onvthar standard furmula for this difierencr. T\ir2 .l, would have shown that the sign ot' C, - ( ' v is indepcw dent of that of a and is never negative. One of the exercises asks the student t o prove that for an isothermal change in an ideal gas AG = -AA. The student who finally givesup the struggle to prove this erroneous relation and turns t o the answer page finds it "proved" there by an easily noticed sign error. Another exercise calls for deriving expressions for C, and C, in terms of T, V , a, and the isothermal and adiabatic compressihilities Pr and Us; the expressions as eiven are interchaneed. .. . and moreover the rompreseib~litiriarc incorrectly dctinrd. The altsucr 11, anuthrr rxrrclse givrs the wlue uf (op, dl',.$ fur an ideal gas as ~p 1'. 'l'he mi rain^ minussign mas hconlg a mmor s i p I t it s u g ~ r $ t sthat thr 311thmhac not dune somethmr that e v m teacher
