Statistical mechanics, thermodynamics and kinetics - Journal of

Statistical mechanics, thermodynamics and kinetics. Peter C. Jordan. J. Chem. Educ. , 1969, 46 (5), p A378. DOI: 10.1021/ed046pA378.3. Publication Dat...
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fltlorido; liquid sulfu~.dioxide snd book reviews adrogen litlle about phosgene; and the t,wo topiw -

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references a1.e given to new publical,ioun rm methods which have hecn t.epol.ted in earlie]. voh~mes. The monographs in eadier vohtmes are cross-indexed. Det,ails in t,he monographs are sufficient for a prartiriug chemist to eval~ratethe method for adoption, but not normally snffieient O H which t,o base au actual experimeot. F e a t ~ u e dare the 119 pages of indexes. The alphabetical index (90 pages) lists uames of melhods, t,ypes of compounds, reagenbs, solvents, et,c. References are p r i m a d y t,o Vol. 21 and 22, hut there are also freq,~cutreferellcci to earlier volumes. There is a short glossary of English eqoivalents of Cel.mm names of eompomtds and reactions and a list of abbreviations of words and jo~lrr~als.Pages 3 4 - 7 present a systematic swvey of types of reactions for Vol. 21 and 22. A list of reagents encountered is give,, in pp. 538-545, but no page reference t o the monographs were eneoonterod. Lastly, there is n list of supplemer~tary ~eferences ill earlier vnlt~mesto those cited in volwnes 21 and 22. The reviewer finds this a. valoable index, serving t o pinpoint significant earlier references qnickly. Preceding the main section of the text is a six-page r.eview of most recent methods under the title, Trends in Synthetic Organic Chemistry. References are cited from 1967 (53%) and 1968 (45%), which is evidence of the effort the editors made t o keep abreast of new developments. The formal scheme of organization in the text is still somewhat of a deterrent t o wage of the Theilheimer series, but even browsing through the book is rewarding. T h e text is remarkably free from errors. The price of the book is steep in the reviewer's opinion, but who can evaluate the worth of chance associations? ERNESTI. BIXKER University of Massachusells Boslon

menbioned above on solvent ert,rsction and fused salts. References follow each chapter, and aft,er mosl chapters are some thonght-provoking exel.cises. Tho book is experimentally oriented; the aobhor refers to experimental manip~dations,actual p m c m e s in the lnbolator,v and in industry, and gives drawings and diagrams of appamtus. At the same time the theoretical or conceptual f~.amework for understanding the snbject is well presented. Thus, early in t,hehook the author outlines and elrlcidate5 the ides. of "salvenl system" and the interrelation of the ionization process in the solvent t o the identification of acids and b a s e in the system. However, he is careful to warn against the overextension of such guiding ideas, noting with an example from the phosgene system that the presumed neut,raliaation of calcium chloride with aluminnm chloride in that solvent clearly involved other processes, as demonstrated by tracer studies. The general choice of topics used as illustrations in each chapter is good, the emphasis being less on mlvent system formalism and more upon exploring diverse chemical topics such as reaction mechanisms or upon less-conventional ideas such a? hydrocat.bons acids and baqes. Possibly becanse of t,heir greater unfamiliarity or because of the aut.hor's greater enthusiaxn for the subjects of the last two chapters, the reviewer found these t o be the mast interesting and 1,esearchoriented. Among the topics diseossed are spectra of metal ions in molten salts, and solutions of met,als in molten salts. The most recent reference the reviewer found war. dated 1966. The book has an adequateindex. For the reader who wants t o know somet,hing about fairly recent developments in non-aqueons solution chemistrv but does not have t,ime or

for experimental work Nonaqueous Solvents

Ralph A . Zingaro, Texas A&M Universit^. D. C. Heath and Company (a division of Itsytheon Education Company), Lexington, Massachusetts, 1968. vi 106 pp. Figs. and tables. 13.5 x 21 em. $1.95, paperbound.

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Zingaro's "Nonaqueous Solvents," a title in the Heath "Topics in Modern Chemistry" series, is similar in content and level t o Sisler's earlier (1961) "Chemistry in Non-Aqueous Solvents" (Reinhold); there are enough differences and modern additions in the Zingaro book t o warrant a student or faculty member having both. The differences lie principally in the lest two chapters, which treat liquid-liquid solvent extraction and fused salt systems. The chapter headings adequat,ely indicate the contents of the book. After a n introduction and some atbention to the properties of water as a solvent and to classification of solvents, the book treats acids and bases and some theories dealing with t,he behavior of solntes in non-aqueoos solvents; liquid ammonia an a solvent,; anhydrous hy-

A378

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Journal of Chemical Education

JR. ANDREWPAWI.:RSON, Yale University New Haven. Connecticut 06511

Quantum Mechanics:

An Introduction

Herbert L. Strmuss, University of California, Berkeley. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood ClifIs, New Jersey, 1968. xiii 192 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 x 23.5 cm. Clothbound, $7.95, paperbound, $4.95.

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According to the preface, this hook is designed as a text for a first caumo in quantum mechanics. Because of its length (180 pages) i t seems particularly suitable to be used in the first term of a year course. I t is qnite good in discussing the postulates of quantum mechanics and the elementary standard applications such as a. particle in a. box, the harmonic oscillator, angular momentum, and hydrogen atom. As the book progresses into approximate methods and the various pert,urbation theories, however, it becomes somewhat hrief for a text, in an inbrodoc-

t w y course. This is even mrwe itnle whet, comnlex atom% and mdecules are disc~rsskdin the last chsptw. JIowever, this was meant to he a brief text. In spite of the conciseness tho author has managed to at least introduce a number of modern eoncepls and teehniqoes. O v e d this book is very enjoyable to read, seemingly quite free of errrm and very slraightforwatd and deal.. The most slriking featwe, and one that diffet.entiatw it fmm several other hooks nf this type, is the qnnlity of the pl.oblems. Each chapter is fallowed by a set of pmhlems, slmust everyone of which is phmically interesting and illustrales and leaches some physics. Scvwal of the problems even have references to recelli, literntwe, which is certainly not easy to dn in a book of this level. The author ha.; done a very fine job in the choice of the pmblems. I n summary then, this ia a bvief introductory lcxt in qosntom mechanics which packs s great amolmt of matel.ixl into 180 pages and if i t is too concise lo he a principle lext in a course, it is admirably sniied as a supplemen1al.y text, pnrticw Inrly since there is a pnperhnck edilion fat. only 84.95.

Statistical Mechanics, Thermodynamicr a n d Kinetics

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