In the chapter following the chapters on acid-base equilihria, the author describes aprocedure for wnstructing and interpreting approximate logarithmic species concentration plots using only pKa and total analytical concentration data. His intent is to wnvince students, who often rush to compute before they think, t h a t "back-of-the-envelope" calculations often suffice to provide valuable insights into equilibrium systems. The workhook is written specifically for QuattroPro running on a n IBM-wmpatible XT- or AT- 386- or 486- computer with a hard or laser nrinter. Chanter I is a hrief disk. and dot matrix.. inkiet..~ introduction to QunttrnPm far the complete novice, startmg m t h turnrnl: the computer ON. Dirwtions fur constructing individual ~preadaheetsare detailed in the firat few chapters, but gradually became more general a s one progresses to later chapters. In this reviewer's opinion, most students probably would profit from a more extensive introduction to QuattroPro than is provided i n Chapter I, so they are not faced with simultaneously learning the software and the chemical calculations and wncepts. The author claims t h a t using this workbook with other spreadsheets should present no problems, and presents a one and onchalf page appendix "How to Use Other S~readsheets".But aeain. this reviewer belleves the student shouid be thoroughly famiar'wrth the other spreadsheet and have some knowledge of QunttroPro syntax hefow attempting to use this workhook.
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Russell Ban Kenyon College Gambier. OH 43022
hlstnnnns of scwnce, students of selence, and anyone concerned w t h the wellsprings of sclentlfic ereatlwty
George B. Kauffman and Laurie M. Kauffman California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740
Science with a Smile Robeft L. Weber. Institute of Physics Publishing: Bristol, Phila. delphia, PA, 1992.452 pp. 15.2 x 23.2 cm. $39.00
In this, his latest anthology of humorous items related to science, Robert L. Weber, Assoeiate Professor Emeritus a t the Pennsylvania S t a t e University a n d author of A Random Walk i n Science, More Random Walks in Science, a n d other amusing hooks, offers us hundreds of irreverent quips, stories, anecdotes, jokes,lecture excerpts, eannonn, quotations, essays, poems, limericks, clerrhews, sonnets, songs, ballads, heroic couplets, letters, L'UO~Y definitions, hoaxes, a ~ h u n s m sand , pamdres of srientdie mape&culled from books,joumals, magazines, and newspapen. 'fhe sources,mostly American, Canadian, and British hut also Czech, Chinese. Russian. Hunearian. and Philinnine. are &en in the generousmargins. Theltems range in lengrh fmm"one1iners"and hilarious howlers 'from student examination papers t o n 26-page invited address titled "How to display data badly." Other tongueinsheek didactic essays include "How to write a n article to impress your peers," *How to a d a t a seminar," "Haw to survive a conference," and %ow to set up a wnsortium." Each of the hook's 14 sections is ~ r e f a e e dhv ,one or m o r e ~ a r t i e u larly apt quotatmns. Among the urplrs featured or satirized are pemonnlities (inrluding chemnsrs Walther Sernst and Peter Debye,; academic life; hureaueraey; research: scholarly publirhtng; interdisciplinary strivings; conferences; and excessive safety, food, and environmental wncerns ("God and EPA" deals with the dassaction lawsuit brought against the Deity for failingto file a n environmental impact statement before creating the universe). Not all of the pieces are humorous; far example, Irving Langmuir's 1953 talk on pathological science (which has been recently and frequently referred to in discussions of cold fusion) and the discussion of fashions in science by Nobel laureate Sir Ernst B. Chain of penicillin fame. Despite its excessive number of typographical errors, the imaginative chemistry or science instructor will find a multitude of ways to use this book on humor and humanism in science to illustrate in lecture hall, classroom, or laboratory that science can be entertaining as well as enlightening.
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Einstein's Dreams
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AlanLightman. Pantheon Boob: New York. 1993.179 pp. 10.5 x 15.8 cm $17.00. At t h e 1890 Benzolfest August Kekul6 ascribed the genesis of his concepts of both the self-linkingof carbon atoms (1858) and the cyclic structure of benzene not to conscious, rational thought hut to dreams, and h e wnduded, "Let us learn to dream, gentlemen, then perhaps we shall discover the truth." Similarly, Alfred Werner's coordination theory occumd to him in a dream. Thus, the suheonscious is often intimately connected with what Alfred B. Garrett has called "the flash of genius," a n idea readily accepted in the humanities but still greeted with some skepticism i n the sciences. Einstein himself stated, "The most beautiful thing that we can experience is the mysteriow. I t is the source of all true a r t and science," and on another occasion he maintained that "imagination is mare important than knowledge." In this slim, poeket-sized volume, which has appeared on The New York 'IEmes Book Reuiew's hestseller list, Alan P. Lightman, the physicist, astronomer, astrophysicist, and author who is currently Director of MIT's Program i n Writing and Humanistic Studies, relates in 29 short ( 3 4 pp), untitled, but dated chapters the fictional dreams that Einstein might have had fmm April 14 to June 28, during his annus mimbilis of 1905. In a "Prolorme" the 26-vear-old Bern natent clerk"sorawls i n his chair.~,head &wn on hiddesk." haldinb "twentv eru&nled naees. his new theory of time." Each of t h r following dreamlrke, surrealistic chapters postulates a different world wnh alternative possibilitiesfur the nature ofrime and desrnbes t h r physical, personal, and social consequences on a variety of fictional characters. In the chapter dated "29 May 1905" the conception of time eventually selected by Einstein for his special theory of relativity (Ann. Physik 1905, [4]17,891) is depicted: ".. . i n this world time passes mare slowly far people in motion. Thus, everyone travels a t high velocity, to gain time." Einstein appears i n three "Interludes" (each preceded by a charming woodcut of a view of Bern by artist Chris Costello) and in a n "Ep~logue"where he gives his handwritten manuscript to the typist and is left feeling "empty." Although described a s a novel, the hook is short enough to he read in a few hours hut does not show the character development or sequential organization of action and scenes associated with t h a t form of writing. Lightman's first work of fiction is actually a series of brief, imaginative, fantastic, Daliesque vignettes reminiscent of Dylan Thomas' Under Mdk Wwd (according to GBK) or Charles Dickens'A Chr~stmasCarol (according to LMK). Its poetic Dassaees abound i n vivid imazes that make extensive use of the five senses, and irr author shows a detailed knowledge not only of Bern but a l w ufuther Swisd cit>es.This unique, mramerizing, nnd thought-provoking little volume will be of interest to scientists, ~~~~
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George B. Kguffman and Laurie M. KaUffman California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740
From Personal Ads to Clonln Labs: More Science Cartoons fromlidney Harris Sidney Harrrs W. H Freeman: New YorK. 1993. Unpag nated [I46 pp]. 18.4 x23.3 cm.$10.95 (PBI.
In this latest hilarious book America's foremost pictorial satirist of science has assembled 138 examples (including, forthe first time, four two-page cartoons featuring Dr. Quark) of his unique and inimitable brand of zany humor culled from diverse original publications. Amang the branches of science, pseudoscience, and technology receiving another of Harris' good-natured skewering are alchemv. . " . a n t h r o ~ o l o w astronomv. -. biolow. chemistnr. computer selencc, cosmology, environmentalism, genetic programm i n ~geology, . marhemat~ea,nutrition, oceanography, physics, and zoology. The imaginative chemical educator or science teacher will find a wealth of merry material for lecture, class, or bulletin board use in this vivacious volume that we are pleased to rewmmend most heartily.
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George B. Kauffman and Laurie M. Kauffman California State University, Fresno Fresno, CA 93740
Volume 71 Number 7 July 1994
A191
