Book and Media Review pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Review of Chemistry in Context, 8th Edition: Applying Chemistry to Society, A Project of the American Chemical Society Shadi Abu-Baker,*,†,§ Shahrokh Ghaffari,†,§ Christian Frazier,†,∥ Nathaniel Frazier,†,∥ Daniel Mayo,‡,§ and Raj Thamburaj†,§ †
College of Arts and Sciences, Ohio University Zanesville, Zanesville Ohio 43701, United States Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, California State University, Fullerton, California 92831, United States
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7th and 8th editions.3 More information about the authors of this edition can be located at the ACS Web site under educational resources. An explanation is given by the editor-inchief in the preface of the book for the significance of the word “context” in the title of this book. Presentation of multiple meanings of “context” are applicable to many issues that our society faces today at all levels (e.g., local, regional, or global) and is appropriate to encourage teachers, along with their students, to become leaders. Learning from the 12 detailed chapters of such a book that contains so many related topics can easily overwhelm its audience of “nonscience majors at the college level”. Credit should be given to the authors for simplifying the topics and organizing the discussions neatly as well as systemically. This enables students to learn chemistry in the context of their own lives while surveying significant issues facing the world, such as alternative fuels, air quality, global warming, and acid rain. One interesting aspect of this book compared to similar titles is the combination of environmental issues with chemistry in each chapter. It starts with the one central topic of all environmental textbooks, namely, “sustainability”. Authors discuss the role of chemistry in a sustainable environment from both angles: irresponsible use of environmentally hazardous chemicals, and employing chemistry to improve the environment. Credit should be given for presenting the reality of conflicts between the economics of a cleaner world and the need for jobs. In Chapter 2, the first endangered element of our environment, “air”, is covered. Students are introduced to the composition of air and then to human-made and naturally occurring toxic chemicals released into air and the risks associated with polluted air. The periodic table, compounds, and mixtures are also introduced here. Steps to calculating number of different particles in air are also given. Some of these could be introduced after students become familiar with bonding. Chapter 3 continues with climate change and the greenhouse effect. In this chapter and before the introduction of electron diagrams, outer-shell electrons and molecular shapes are mentioned. Additional chemistry background might be needed by some students to grasp this material. Chapter 4 is about energy and renewable sources of energy. The book describes energy from chemical reactions. Again, the structural formulas in this chapter may very well be overwhelming for some students. Chapter 5 is about chemistry of water and water quality. Here the authors do a good job covering water pollution, water treatment, and the future of water on this
Chemistry in Context, 8th ed.: Applying Chemistry to Society (A project of the American Chemical Society) by Middlecamp, C. H.; Mury, M. T.; Anderson, K. L.; Bentley, A. K.; Cann, M. C.; Ellis, J. P.; Purvis-Roberts, K. L. McGraw Hill Education: New York. 523 pp. ISBN-13: 978-0073522975 (softcover). $169.
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n many universities, students in nonscience programs are required to take at least one science course to graduate. In an environment that has embraced enrollment-driven funding models in many schools, chemistry departments try to get their fair share of these students. Many of these students have little or no previous experience in chemistry and are averse to courses that demand significant quantitative skills. The presentation of chemistry should be broader (more of a survey course that incorporates the minimum depth needed for concepts) and emphasis should be on the relevance of the concepts to everyday life. Topics such as the quality of air we breathe and water we drink represent these broader subjects. It is a challenge to “balance” between basic information needed to understand the underlying concepts and the minimum quantitative skills needed to fully appreciate the relevance and significance of the subject matter. “Chemistry without math” may be attractive to draw enrollment, but the reality is that the capacity for problem solving and critical thinking cannot be sacrificed in any chemistry course. Ultimately, to what extent or degree these concepts balance will be determined by the goals set forth in each course. Finding a textbook for such an audience is another story and a challenge. Several textbooks have emerged during the past two decades, including Chemistry for Changing Times1 by John Hill. Supporting materials have also emerged, such as World of Chemistry2 produced by PBS, and finally Chemistry in Context, which came about through an ACS project and which is unique and stands out among other resources. Its uniqueness, appeal, and strength are the result of cooperative efforts put into the production by colleagues across the nation. The investment of ideas, time, and interest through workshops has made the book a much better choice than “Chemistry for Changing Times”1 for the target audience. The current edition of Chemistry in Context, 8th ed.: Applying Chemistry to Society was prepared by a talented team of seven writers, including Catherine H. Middlecamp, Michael T. Mury, Karin L. Anderson, Anne K. Bentley, Michael C. Cann, Jamie P. Ellis, and Kathleen L. Purvis-Roberts. Middlecamp has served on the writing team of Chemistry in Context since 1996, in addition to being the lead author and the editor-in-chief for the © XXXX American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00306 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
Journal of Chemical Education
Book and Media Review
Notes
planet. More information about water pollution as it relates to acid rain is presented in the next chapter. In Chapter 6, the authors show how air pollution can cause serious problem for large volumes of water. In this chapter, acidity and pH are briefly introduced. Chapters 7 and 8 cover nuclear chemistry and electrochemistry; the treatment of these topics is well done and quite informative. Presentation of material in those two chapters is comparable to other chemistry textbooks. Chapter 9, which covers polymer chemistry, is overdone in some areas. Perhaps the topic would follow more naturally after additional organic chemistry principles are introduced. However, the coverage of recycling of polymers is informative and the chemical properties of different polymeric materials that are considered environmentally friendly (or not) are discussed. Chapter 10 introduces designer drugs in a way that is interesting and appropriate for a general audience. Students must be familiar with basic organic functional groups and know the difference between a saturated and unsaturated fat in Chapter 11 on food and nutritional science and technology, which is presented from both environmental and chemistry points of view. Dietary issues such as food calories and variations in food categories are presented. In the final chapter, genetic engineering is offered in an unbiased manner. Sufficient information about the application of this scientific technology in both agriculture and medicine is presented. Instructors using this book have access to PowerPoint presentations for each chapter through a McGraw-Hill Web site that offers various tools and technology products, including a dynamic eBook, test banks, and an instructor manual. The book provides end-of-chapter questions for students for a good review. To ease the readability, the book has five appendices that include constants and conversion factors, a review of exponential notation, and answers to selected end-of-chapter questions. In a textbook such as this one, the sequencing of concepts and applications is a challenge. A typical approach, which this textbook follows, is that basic information on the concepts and applications is presented in the same chapter. It is our experience that presenting basic concepts together in early chapters, both types of bonding and naming procedures for those compounds, with applications in later chapters serves our students better. The main goal of a service course for nonscience majors is to “generate” citizens who are informed about matters that affect their daily lives. Overall, this is a quite good selection for a chemistry class for nonscience or precollege chemistry students. Although some of the material presented in a few chapters is possibly beyond the intended students’ chemistry knowledge, the material is interesting and informative and it falls to the discretion of instructors to determine what to cover and how much. In conclusion, the 8th edition of Chemistry in Context covers chemistry applied to society for nonscience majors at the college level and we admire the inclusive nature of the text. This edition provides an increased emphasis on sustainability and global challenges. We recommend this textbook to instructors who carefully match each chemical principle to a real-world issue such as air quality, energy, or water.
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The authors declare no competing financial interest. § Faculty ∥ Student
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REFERENCES
(1) Hill, J. W.; McCreary, T. W.; Kolb, D. K. Chemistry for Changing Times, 13th ed.; Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ, 2013. (2) About the Host, Producers, and Advisors of the program, World of Chemistry. http://www.learner.org/catalog/producers/wccreators. html (accessed Jun 2015). (3) Home page for Chemistry in Context, 8th ed.: Applying Chemistry to Society. http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/ resources/undergraduate/chemistryincontext.html (accessed Jun 2015).
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DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00306 J. Chem. Educ. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX
