reviews lntroduction
to Organic a n d Biological Chemistry
Stuart J. Baum and John W HiK Macmi Ian: New York, NY. 1993. VI i + 481 pp Rgs. an0 tao es. 20.5 k 25.7 cm.
I always have enjoyed using textbooks by John Hill and his coauthors. One of our freshman chemistry sequences has employed his Chemistry and Life text for years. However, it was disappointing to see the newest publication that deals only with organic and biochemistry. This book is a coverage of material that is encountered in the second semester of courses designed for students who are allied-health maiors (~redominantlvnursine students). Thr philosophy oithe dook, stated in-he prekce, rs ur serve a s a recund-semester source after a student hsr had the first seme.stcr of gcncral chemistry Material covered includes a good overview of the essentials of organic chemistry, with some interesting special topic chapters an drugs. The biochemistry section deals with classes of compounds (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, and nucleic acids) a s wefl a s chapters that focus on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism. A number of health-related issues are covered brieflv in several of the sections. My concerns arc not with the book as such. It is well-written. the illustrations arequite well-done and the medical npplicntions appropriate. One minor quibble: the seutlun on use of ureatme krnase a s a diagnostic marker far a myocardial infarct omits the valuable role played by isoenzyrne data that will allow clear distinction between CK elevations due to myocardial damage and CK increases caused by trauma to skeletal muscle. The concern with this book is whether it is needed. Obviously, some people believe it is-the predecessor has gone through four editions. However, with the cost of textbooks as high as they are, why require students to buy two different books for a year of chemistry? This book is (with minor changes in wording) identical to the second half of Chemistry andLife (fourth edition) by Hill, Feigl, and Baum. Students in the one-year sequence for allied-health majors would benefit greatly from exposure to these authors throughout the year. Instead of purchasing Introduction to Organic and Biological Chemistry for a semester, let the students enjoy the excellent writing of Hill and colleagues for the entire year by using Chemistry and Life. Donald F. Calbreath Whiiotth College Spokane, WA 99251 Physical Chemistry R. G. Mortimer. BenjaminICummings Publishing Co.: Redwood City. CA. 1993. xvii + 1098 pp. Figs. and tables. 20.9 x 26.2 cm.
Physical chemistrytexthwks have been growingfatter in recent years. Of those on the market, this bwk probably is the fattest and the "meatiest". Including the six appendices, problem an-
swers, and index, this volume has more than 1100 pages. I t has 351 figures, 1139 problems, and 235 worked examples. This text is divided into 22 chapters. Chapter 1is an intmduction to systems, states, and processes. Chapters 2 to 8 deal with thermodynamics and its applications. The thermodynamic laws, phase equilibria, multieomponent system, chemical equilibria, and electmehemical systems are covered. Chapters 9 to 15 treat quantum mechanics and its applications. Basic principles, postulates, the hydrogen atom, multielectron atoms, and the electronic states of molecules are discussed in relatively rigorous fashion. A short chapter (27 pp) on translational, mtational, and vibrational states is followed by a longer chapter (64 pp) on spectmseapy and photochemistry. Chapters 16 to 19 cover nonequilibrium processes (gas kinetic theory, transport processes, and the rates and mechanisms of chemical reactions). The last three chapters involve the concepts of statistical mechanics and its application to nonequilihrium processes and the structure of condensed phases. The topics presented are similar to those in other current physical chemistry texts, and all of the areas essential to an undergraduate course are well covered. The style of this text differs somewhat from the others. At the beginning of each chapter are a boxed set of "Obieetives" that are ststed quitp simply-perhaps a bit wu srmply at &es. Thrre also ore two or three sentences representing a -l'rcview" This 1s followed hv five to 10-I'rinrioal Factsand Ideas."Eaehofthrsc helm to prepare the student f k t h e material to follow. On average, e&h chapter has 16 high quality figures, and these are really the highlights of the book. Approximately a dozen examples with solutions appear within the text of each chapter and ample problems are provided. Answers to about half of the problems are given in the back of the bwk. Each chapter ends with a fairly simple summary, reinforcing the objectives and principal ideas formed at the beginning. The text of the book reads smoothly. It is rich with the use of "we" in derivations to reduce the use of the passive. Far example: " are common. This has "we now make. . . " and ' k e construct the effect of counteracting much of the rigor in the hook. The one minor thing that could be improved is the cumbersome system for numbering equations and examples. The equations are numbered consequently for each section of a chapter. Thus, one particular equation has the lengthy designation 1 1 . 3 4 3 ~ . There are often about a hundred equations per chapter, so much space is devoted just to labels. The examples unlike the equations are numbered by chapter and not section. Thus, example 1.5 winds up in section 1.4, for example. The above criticism is quite insignificant when the wealth of material packed into this text is considered. In summary, this text has all the necessary ingredients to be used far a two-semester undergraduate physical chemistry course. How it would be received by students is difficult to assess without a trial run,but most likely it wauld do well. Anyone teaching physical chemistry will want to have a copy of this bwk as a reference.
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Reviewed in This lsssue Stuart J. Baum and John W. Hill, Introduction to Organic and Biological Chemistry R. G. Mortimer, Physical Chemistry Louise S. Grinstein, R o s e K. Rose, and Miriam Rafailovich, Women in Chemistry and Physics: A Biobibliographic Sourcebook Kendrick Frazier, The Hundredth Monkey and Other Paradigms of the Paramormal Titles of Interest Monographs New Volumes in Continuing Series
A108
Journal of Chemical Education
Reviewer Donald F. Calbreath
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Jaan Laane George B. Kauffman Laurie M. Kauffman
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George B. Kauffman
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Professors will fmd the figures and problems to be particularly useful.
Jaan
Laane Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843 W o m e n in C h e m i s t r y and P h y s i c s : A Biobibliographic S o u r c e b o o k Louise S. Grinstein, Rose K. Rose, and Miriam Rafailovich. Editors. Greenwood Press: Westport, CT and London, 1993. xix+ 721 pp. 15.1 x 23.2 cm. $99.50. With few exceptions, women scientists have found few chroniclers. According to Lilli S. Homig, Senior Consultant to Higher Education Resource Services, in her foreword to this "definitive archival collection of original essays," "the idea that there are hardly any women scientists remains firmly entrenched in the minds of the public and of practicing scientists alike". This book should go a long way toward dispelling this myth of women's scarcity among scientists and the still prevalent belief that women and science are somehow incompatible. I n order to participate in science, women have historically faced a n unrelenting struggle, first merely to be allowed to study and then, as full-fledged researchers, to obtain suitable positions, to overcome nepotism rules, to have publications accepted and grant proposals funded, to be admitted to professional societies, and to be kwarded with recognition, honors, and awards. Many experienced difficulties in juggling their roles as scientist, wife, mother, and homemaker. All these difficulties are exemdified bv the dedicated women portrayed in this book. While many of the-historical biographees were single, many, especially the contemporary ones, were or are married. Some ofthe latter worked alone, while some worked with their husbands, e.g., Gerty Radnitz Cori, Marie Curie, and Marie Anne Pierrette Paulze Lavaisier. Same, whose hushands wanted more traditional wives, were divorced. A number of the subjects were also Jewish, making anti-Semitism a n additional obstacle for them to overcome. The cross-referenced biographies, nontechnical accounts of their work, and bibliographies of 75 historical and contemporary women scientists are arranged alphabetically from physicist Fay Ajzenberg-Selave to biochemist Rasalyn Sussman Yalow. They range in t i m e of b i r t h from 370 (physicist and astronomer Hypatia) to 1941(astrophysicist Beatrice Muriel Hill Tinsky) and i n length from 2 pp (Marie Meurdrac, probably the first woman to write a treatise on chemistry, 1600's) to 15 pp (chemist Joyce Jacobson Raufman, 1929- ). Three American Chemical Society presidents (Helen Murray Free, Mary Lowe Good, and Anna J a n e Harrison), and 29 of the 5 1 Garvan medalists from 1937 to 1993 are included, along with five Nobel laureates (Marie Skladowska Curie, Irene Joliot-Curie, Dorothy Mary Crowfoot Hodgkin, Maria Gertrude Goeppert Mayer, and Rosalyn S. Yalow) and two wives ofNobel laureates (Isahella Helen Lueoski Karle and Leona Woods Marshall Lihhv). 'The 66 contrihutok of these entries in-
T h e Hundredth Monkey and O t h e r of t h e Paranormal
Paradigms
Kendrick Frazier, Editor. Prometheus Books: Buffalo, NY, 1991. Figs. & tables. xiv + 400 p p 15.2 x 22.7 cm. $17.95 PB.
The Skeptical I ~ u i r e r edited , by Kendrick Frazier, a science writer and former editor of Science News, is a quarterly journal published by the Committee for t h e Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal. CSICOP was founded in 1976 to "provide the public, educators, and the media with accurate, scientifically evaluated information about the wide variety of paranormal and fringe-science claims that everywhere bombard us." As every chemistry and science instructor can attest, such claims possess wide appeal among students and the public, who often fmd it difficult to distinrmish between science and oseudoscience. esoeciallv a1 the ~ometimesfurry buundarita between the two. The book revirwrd hrre should go a long way toward helping us mnkc the distinction clear u, our studenh and to the public This newest collection of 43 essays and articles selected from issues of The Skeptical Inquirer between Spring 1985 and Winter 1990 examines engrossing and important issues a t the intersection of science and popular belief. This is the third such collection edited by Frazier, the earlier two being Paranormal Borderlands of Science (1981) . . and Science Confronts the Paranormal (19861 . . ( k u f f m a n . G. B. Sei. Teach. 1986. k4.174). The 39 authors reore-
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psychologists, philosophers, writen, scholars, and investigators, who not only explore virtually every aspect of paranormal and fringe-science beliefs and claims but also include brief postscripts and references that update the original articles and summarize and resoond to criticisms. 'l'hmughout t h r volume, which contains n useful, detailed nome mdex ,14 pp., 2 culumns per page1 but no subject index, the a u thors prowdc constructive ad\.icr about critical thinking, asac.ising evidence, and encouraging the use of common sense and intelligence to find rational solutions to mysteries sensationalized by themass media and embraced by the New Age movement and other cults. I highly recommend this sourcebook to instructors, students, and anyone seeking scientificallv emlana. responsible . tions for controversies, boa&, bizarre mysteries, and popular cultural myths. G e o r g e 6. Kauffman California State University, Fresno Fresno. CA 93740
Unfortunately, portraits of the subjects are lacking, Today, when society confronts unprecedented challenges i n the maximum utilization of human resources, t h e need for more women in science is especially urgent. The inspiring success stories in this volume feature role models who should helv encouraw young women to scck carwrs in chemistry and physm. We hope rhnt rhr hook also w ~ l lpromote funher research on countless orher unsunjg female scientists and on the neglected topic of the past, present, and future role of women in science. G e o r g e B. Kauffman and Laurie M. Kauffman California State Univemity, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740 Volume 71
Number 4
April 1994
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