options. (Often the users must switch from menu to menu. It is hard to remember what is where). Both versions of the system are remarkably free from bugs. There are a few "difficulties",as opposed to bugs, but ways exist around them. Error handling is excellent. Autodesk, chiefly known for its popular computer-aided drafting program, *Autocad", is known also for its rigid and effective cops protection. HvperChem for the IBM PC is no exception (0-tihis tradition,-because it uses a "dongle" device on the parallel port of the PC. Effectively, this limits the use of HyperChem to a single PC. For the IRIS system, the installation of HvperChem requires the manipulation of mile-long codes, and is best coiducted by a system expert. The "Help" line of Autodesk is indeed helpful and effective, however. Both versions of "HyperChem" have a "SCRIPT" feature which, in theory, allows the instructor to set up certain problems and operating conditions for the student, without requiring too much input from the student. From the PC version, printing works quite nicely. If one has a Hewlett-Paekard Deskiet 500C. nice color imaees mav be printed by loading the fmage in the clipboard a i d from the WINDOWS graphics package. Pedagogic Value HvnerChem will be useful to those who teach General . Chemistry in allowing students to perceive the basic shapes of molecules and to manipulate the images. I t is convenient to make a videotape of the display provided by HvnerChem for view of the entire class. This ~ a c k a e ewill be Lseful to students in organic chemistry no't only-to see and manipulate basic molecular geometries, but also to perceive the effects of steric interactions leading to changes in bond angles or torsional interactions. Physical chem~stlyand organic students will benefit from t h i view of the orbitals and the realization that chemlcal bonds are not localized between two atoms, as Lewis structures would have them believe. Students like viewing the "realtime" approach to the best geometly, as energfminimization progresses. One advantage of HyperChem is that an accurate calculation may be performed on a subset of a large structure, which makes calculation times manageable. The great strength of HyperChem is in the ease of entry to proteins and nucleic acids. Proteins may be constructed from standard geometry amino acid inputs to a helix or to a beta sheet structure. The angles associated with critical bonds may be varied as required. Nucleic acids may he constructed by calling up various bases in their standard geometries in A, B, or Z helix forms, as well as in the two ribose geometries. The representations of the duplex helical DNA structures are particularly striking.
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Erratum Protein Structure: New Approaches to Disease and Therapy Max F. Perutz, W. H. Freeman: New York, 1992
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The author of the above book was misidentified in the Titles of Interest listings in the March 1993 issue (page A89). We apologize to the author and for any confusion that has
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Student Reaction Student reaction has been positive Recommendations Although HyperChem is one of the best conceived packages on the market, nothing is perfect, and a few minor criticisms are in order. For organic students, it is not obvious how to specify stereochemistry. For example, the "Build" option (where HyperChem converts a 2D input to a 3D structure prior to calculation) has a penchant for placing groups axial on a cyclohexane skeleton. However, the "constrain torsional angle" and "constrain bond angle" options are useful, once they are mastered. The stereochemistry deficiency is bad enough to make one of the other calculation programs (say, PC MODEL) preferred if organic classes will be the main users of the program. In addition, the "Molecular Dynamics" option is not explained in adequate detail for the average user to derive much benefit from this energy minimization mode. The "LOG" file can be actuated to obtain a print-out of the calculation. Even so, the "LOG" file is too sparse to be of much use for a student wishing to write a report on a calculation, and its implications. A record of the energy after each iteration, which is provided in the log file, is of little use to the student. However, bond angles, interatomic distances, etc. which MM2 (3) ordinarily provides as o u t ~ u tare , not available. ~ L ~ i e s t i o ndump s: Hiickel and CNDO calculations, and add a version of Gaussian. Add a "move atom" ontion for the sake of organic students. Improve the rePo& of the calculation in the LOG file. Summary Should you spend time trying to convince skeptical administrators to purchase HyperChem for your teaching program in the face of limited teaching budgets? The answer is most definitely YES, especially if biological molecules will be of interest. HyperChem is a well turned out program of high educational value. Even for nonbiochemists, this package is a valuable addition to the teaching program that students will enjoy using. C. A. Kingsbury UN-L Lincoln, NE 68588 Quantum Chemistry, Fourth Edition Ira N. Levine, Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1991. x + 629 pp. Figs. and tables. 18.3 x 24.2 cm.
This new edition of a standard introductory quantum chemistry text contains no major changes, but it has been somewhat improved. It has been pruned and weeded, rather than replanted. The educational philosphy of this book always has been to be as clear and simple as possible and make few mathematical demands on the student. Although matrix notation is now introduced in the body of the text, rather than in an appendix, matrices are scarcely used at all. The derivations are straightforward al~ebra.There are relatively few diagrams or graphs. The introductory material is designed to lead into theories ofthe chemical bond and structure of molecules. The final chanters emphasize molecular orbitals, but the book contains almost nothing an spectroscopy. The author has put this in a separate text. This edition makes Quantum Chemistry more user-friendly. Major terms are in boldface. Each chapter now ends with a brief summary and key equations "which should be memorized" are Volume 70 Number 5 May 1993
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identified. This makes the text more useful, particularly with a student population whose first language may not be English. There are also some worked-out nroblems surinkled thoughout the pages. Some of the outdated material in the book has been eliminated, along with same of the older references. Many new references have been added. But some frustrating contradictions remain. The reader's f r s t exposure to the hydrogen atom uses Coulomb's Law in the now obsolete Gaussian form. ' h o sections later the analogous magnetic equation is in completely modem notation. The electromagnetism portions of major physics texthooks are now completely in SI, and this is what students should be seeing in more advanced works a s well. Quantum Chemistry remains a solid and useful textbwk, particularly for those who require a relatively gentle introduction to the field. It has been enhanced and will be used for many years to come.
Edward Finkel Fernbank Science Center 156 Heaton Park Drive Atlanta, GA 30307
Monographs Inorganic Materials . Duncan !& Ewceand Dermot O'Hare, Editors. Wiley: New York, NY, 1992. xiv + 543 pp. Figs. and tables. 1 5 . 7 23.7 ~ cm. This book addresses areas of research in this field where inorganic materials are central to that research. Each chapter provides an introduction to the subject under discussion and then develops the field to provide a n overview, with certain topics being expanded. Areas of interest include: Molecular Inorganic Superconductors; Molecular Inorganic Magnetic Materials; Metal-Containing Materials for Nonlinear Optics; Inorganic Intercalation Compounds; Biogenic Inorganic Materials; Clay Chemistry; Polymeric~Coordination Complexes; Metal-Containing Liquid Crystal; and Precursors for Electronic Materiala.
Chirality in Industry: The Commercial Manufacture and Applications of Optically Active Compounds A. N. Collins, G. N. Sheldrake, and J. Crosby, Editors. Wiiey: New York, NY, 1992. xiii + 409 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.8 x 23.7 cm.
Electrochemistry in Colloids and Dispersions Raymond A. Mackayand John Texter, Editers. VCH: New York, NY, 1992. 546 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.4 x 24.2cm. $115.00.
Nucleic Acid Targeted Drug Design C. L. Propst and Thomas J. Perun, Editors. Marcel Dekker: New York, NY, 1992. xiii + 619 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.2 x 23.6 crn. $165.00.
Society of Plastics Engineers Monographs. Fundamental Principles of Polymeric Materials, Second Edition Stephen L. Rosen. Wiley: New York, NY, 1993. mi + 420 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.4 x 24.4 cm. Modern Synthetic Methods RolfScheffoM, Editor. VCH: New York, NY, 1992. 489 pp. Figs. &tables. 17.7 x 24.7 crn. $75.00. This new book providesaccess to some selected and rapidly developing areas of synthetic organic chemistry. It focuses on synthetic aspects of the chemistry of carbanions and acetylenes as well a s on some topics in carbohydrate chemistry. Contributions from six leading experts not only outline the general background, basic principles and their application in organic synthesis, but also provide representative experimental pmcedures and references.
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Journal of Chemical Education
