Physical chemistry with applications to the life sciences (Eisenberg

Review of Molecular Driving Forces: Statistical Thermodynamics in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Nanoscience, 2nd edition. Journal of Chemical Educa...
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ROOH REVIEWf -

glycolysis, the TCA cycle, or the electron transport system. There is also nu mention of body fluids, enzymes, hormones, or vitamins, all topics which are normally included in the courses this material is intended to supplement. Aside i'rom the deficienciesmentioned, this group of exercises can be recommended as decent supplementary material for the typical health sciences chemistry course.

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Gusiavus Adolphus College St. Peter. M N 56082

Techniques and Experiments for Organic Chemistry Addison Auk, ' ~ l l y n& Bacon. Boston, 1979. vi 442 pp. Figs. and tables. 27.8 X 21.3 cm. 513.95.

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This is the third edition of a laboratory text with the same title, the first two having been published by Holbrook in 1973 and 1976; but apparently neither of the earlier versions has been reviewed. Expanded considerably in length to 400 pages, this edition is made up of two parts. Part I, "Laboratory Operations," is made up of detailed sections on separation techniques; determination of physical properties, including density, refractive index, optical rotation, molecular weight, and a "qua1 o" solubility treatment, as well as boiling point, melting point, and IR, UV, 'H NMR, and MS; qualitative analysis; and descriptions, with ample illustrations, of special apparatus and techniques. Part I comprises 240 pages of the total of 400. At the end of man" of the

etc.; many of these are simply examples of separations required in preparative experiments in a later section. Part 11, "Experiments," is divided into "Separations" (8 isolations from natural ~roducts.one resolutionl. and three subsec-

identification of an alcohol unknown bv stepwise deductive reasoning under "Qualitative Analysis" in Part I; unusually detailed treatment like that in Vogel's texts of density, refractive index, and molecular weight and their correlation with structure; and two indices, a Chemical Substance and General Subject Index. The general format of this edition has been improved over earlier versions but, in this reviewer's opinion, still leads to confusion for students. Each part is subdivided by the symbol " o " , these in turn being made up of paragraphs (g). The confusing format can be demonstrated. For example, in 3 81, a brief outline of 81.1 and 81.2 is presented, with no comment; then details of each, identified again by the same numbers, are given. In "Projects," the arrangement of equations, discussion, and original literature copy is better coordinated than before, and the literature is set off in shaded areas for improved visibility; but "Figures" (repraductions of the literature) are often divided up into two or even three pages. This reviewer noted very few misspellings (eluent, p. 254; Knoevenagel,p. 361); it would have been preferable had the author elected to use the more widelv accented "GC" rather

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jasmone and jasmone, for example, ten sets of directions (from the original literature) are mesented. several of them beine alternatives with an excellent reference source for teehniques. Unfortunately, the student who uses it continually will find that the fragile eardboard binding does not withstand frequent handling; and the 8% X 11pages will begin to come loose. Paul R. J o n e s University of New Hampshire Durham, NH 03824

Physical Chemistry with Applications

lo t h e Life S c i e n c e s one-pot reactions. In some eases several examples of each type ( e g , diazonium reactions, esterification) are described. Mechanisms of almost all of these are included in the usually ample discussion of the reactions. The last two subsections are "Synthetic Sequences," a set of four multi-step transformations; and "Projects," groups of syntheses, arranged according t o the nature of the final products (flavors, hydrocarbons, cyclopro~ pene derivatives, pheromones, and sex hormones). In the case of "Projects," the usual cookbook directions are not provided; rather the student is presented with experimental sections from the original literature in English, German, French, or Italian, which are to he scaled down and otherwise modified far the present objective. Very little discussion of the chemistry related to the last two sections is provided, and no mechanistic aspects are included. The unique features of this laboratory text, besides the original literature citations mentioned above, includes case study of the

A152

Journal of Chemical Education

David S Eisenberg and Donald M. Crothers, The Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Company, inc., Menlo Park, California, 1979. xxvi 868 pp. Figs. and tables. 24 X 17 cm. $21.95.

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Physical ehemistry courses intended far students in the life sciences have undergone a transformation from non-calculus courses, often of one-semester duration, to full year courses that use calculus extensively. The textbooks desiened for these courses have kept pwr nit11 t l k C ~ J I , Thy ~ : C U ~ P 181 "l'h! ~ .4: ('lwni.tr" wth .\pplit or~tn t u the 1.~rvS ~ r ~ w e -13' '~ t ~ ~ i ~ kmnmt dl v.md rhe rigor adequate enough to form the basis for a full-fledged ehemistry majors course. The book is divided into five parts. Part One "Macroscopic Systems" and Part Two "Solutions and Electrochemistry" constitute nearly half of the book and are composed mainly of classical thermodynamics. A chaoter on chemical kinetics is included in

Part One. Quantum theorv. ..chemical bandine and speet;oscopy comprise Part ~ h r e e , "Microscopic Systems." Part Four "Bridging the Macrofieopic and Microscopic" is devoted to statistical mechanics and transport properties. Finally, Part Five, "Symmetry and Molecular Structure" contains a discussion of X-ray diffraction and symmetry~. prineiples. This text is characterized by thoughtful attention to pedagogy. The prose does more than fill the space between equations; it conveys the content of the equations. The material in eachchapter is divided into three

lutions, at appropriate points within the text is very helpful. Often, important ideas are developed in these exercises. The problems a t the end of each chapter that are related to the exercises areso indicated. In some chapters more drill-type problems would be desirable. No solutions manual is available, nor

Students ought to read these, but in all likelihood, i t is the instructor who will be interested in them. The treatment of thermodynamics achieves a nice balance between rigor and intuition. The discussions of the biochemical itantl~rdi t n t r m d inwnl~r.nnrrqunlllm 8 l r r pnr!ntol.dv lucd Then. ore i . m w t rrl I,~ n d ~ ~ ~ t ~ . it ~ n thi. c i t re11 i c ~ F.ITVXAIIIII~C 1t1t ~ I , W diffusion of a salt through a membrane is given as an example of a reversible process. The definitions of state and state function are unusual, the latter is identified with an equation of state and the farmer with the notion of "defined state", i.e, a state in which the state variables have specified values. It is confusing to use the phase rule to determine the minimum number of state variables long before the phase rule is developed. These are minor criticisms. In the main, thermodynamics is well organized. One reason for offering a course in physical chemistry for the life science major is the heavy emphasis on quantum theory and chemical bonding that aften prevails in the ehemistry majors course. Yet, spectroscopy cannot be understood without a grounding in quantum theory. Eisenherg and Crothers have done an excellent job of selecting an adequate but not excessive amount of material in this area, although many instructors will find the chapter on chemical handing rather terse. No mention is made of the valence bond method or of electron pairing The two chapters dealing with spectroscopy are very good, especially the sections on ORD and CD spectroscopy. Chemical kinetics is well presented. Relaxation and enzvme kinetics are described

from the brevity necessary in an undergraduate text. The chapter on transport processes is a valiant attempt to introduce many concepts in a terse manner. However, the result is disjointed. Four pages on autocorrelation functions and one page on irreversible thermodynamics are hardly sufficient. This book is a welcome addition to the group of physical ehemistry textbooks aimed a t the biologically oriented student. I have used it for the second semester of the physical chemistry course with students in the life

sciences. I would not hesitate to use it again

Leslie S. Forster University of Arizona

Tucson. AZ 85721

Quantum Chemistry-A Scientific Melting Pot Per-Olov Lowdin, Jean-Louis Calais, and Osvaldo Goscinski, (Editors). John Wiley a Sons, Somerset. 1978, v 423 pp. Figs. and tables. 25 X 17.5 cm. $26.50.

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This volume contains papers submitted to a symposium in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the University of Uppsala. or^ ganized by the Uppsala Quantum Chemistry Group and published as a supplement to volume XI1 of the International Journal of Quantum Chemistry, the symposium attracted not only quantum chemists and specialists in neighboring fields such as astronomy, molecular spectroscopy, solid state and surface physics, and quantum biology, but also a number of scientific philosophers to place the relatively infant field of quantum chemisty so valuable in our century, in perspective appropriate to the occasion. T h e thirty-four contributions to this volume leave one with the impression of a quantum chemistry symposium on a grand scale reviewing the many advances made in diverse areas in recent years, yet keeping an eye toward the future. The subject matter is roughly dichotomized into presentations of the rather specialized current applications and methods one would expect to see at a world symposium of quantum chemists, and mare introspective and speculative accounts of trends in quantum chemistry. Particularly noteworthy to teachers are the very clear a e ~ counts of interpretation in quantum theory by Bunge, KBlnay, Kanstad, Layzer, Linderberg, Woolley, and Levy-Leblond, culminating in Lawdin's well-organized comprehensive (albeit preliminary) unification of quantum and classical mechanics and thermodynamics, based on the mathematics of a trace algebra. Qualitative discussions of the predictive power of wave mechanics applied to chemical reactions by Ohno (nonempirical calculations), Fukui (reactive orbitals), Halevi and Schrieffer (potential-energy surfaces) as well as articles dealing with applications to hiological problems by Demoulin et al. (bioinorganic chemistry), MeLachlan (protein folding), Sung and Szent-Gy6rgyi (cancer theorv) will also beof interest to nonsoeciulistr. I'hc remainill: III~ r g twhnwal p.rlrer, will be berkrapprvci2,~wll~y..pe, ~ 1 1 . it n~tne various areas.

Don R. McLaughlin The University of New Mexico

Albuquerque, NM 87131

Radiotracers in Agricultural Chemistry Michael R. L'Annunziata, Academic Press. New York. 1979. xx 536 pp. Figs. and tables. 23.5 X 15.5 cm. $62.00.

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This is a lab-oriented textbook written for the student interested in biology and agricultural chemistry. T h e book is written on a level suitable for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. The author

has made a great deal of effort to present over half of the material in such a wav that it is applicable toany student interested in almost any aspect uf the nuclear sciences. T h e hook begins with a brief and simple description of nuclear radiation, nuclear Lhenry, and the kinetics of radioisotopic decay. The second section of the book is devoted exclusively to the interaction of radiation with matter in such a way as tu describe the most common counting techniques in use today. These counting techniques include liquid scintillation counting, semiconductor devices, and solid state scintillation counting. As might be expected, the major emphasis is placed upon the use of liquid scintillation counting and appears to be quite complete. A great deal of attention is paid to the determination of efficiency factors, and the

thuse topics which are more applicable to agricultural chemistry. Specifically, the enperimental techniques d autoradhgraphy, microhial metabolism in soil, metabulisrn studies of animals, and radioisotopic dilution analysis are described. The last chapter of the hook is concerned with the isolation and separation of compounds containing radioisotopic labels. In the introduction the author states that topics such as elemental analysis using neuLmn activation analysis is not material appropriate for this book. This reviewer would argue that the well prepared agricultural student should a t least he familiar enough with the technique to know of its existence and potential application to future problems. Nevertheless, the author has done a very reasonable job in presenting a large volume of material in a manner which is hoth scientifically correct and complete. Each chapter contains a large bibliography and reference section. Almost all of the chapters have at least one experiment specifically designed for in-class use. Despite its steep price, this reviewer feels that a very worthwhile book has been presented and should, a t least, be included in most teaching~rientedscience libraries.

L. B. CHURCH Reed College Portland, OR 97202

Nucleic Acid-Metal Ion Interactions Volume I, "Metal Ions in Biology" Thomas G. Spiro. (Editor), John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1980. ix 256 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 2 3 crn $24.50.

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This first volume of the new series,"Metal Ions in Biolom," fulfills the editor's promise of readable accounts concerning new directions emerging from this active area of biochemical research. The authors and topics are well chosen to give an authoritative overview of the major advances that have been made during the past decade in the field of metal ion interactions with nueleie acids. In the lead article, Dr. Bsrnett Rosenberg presents a n entertaining and informative narrative beginning with the serendipitous discovery of the antitumor activity of cisC12(NH&Pt in his laboratory and concluding with several accounts a f t h e clinical applications of this drug, which has proved successful against a range of human cancers. This relatively short review provides an excellent (Continued on page A154)

Volume 58

Number 4

April 1 9 8 1

A153