number of pertinent study questions (no answers are given). One of the best fea-
book reviews Editor: W. F. KIEFFER College of Wooster Wooster, Ohio
Elements of Physical Science: The Nature of Matter and Energy
V e n e H . Booth. Macmillan Ca., New York, 1970. xii 468 pp. Figs. and tables. 18 X 26 cm. $7.95.
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This boak is a condensed version of the author's "Physical Science: A Study of Matter and Energy," and i t was written for use in a, one-semester course for nonscience students. Anyone who has taught a one-semester course for nowscientists is aware of the difliculty of acquainting these students in that limited amount of time with the more important principles of chemistry, especially t,hose principles that t,he layman with little mathematical background can understand and that can be related to their own experiences or future interests. The treating of the principles of astronomy, ~hysies,and geology in the same course seems to offer insurmountable problems, and i t is not likely that onc could succeed in that task with this hook. The author states in t,he Preface that the students must lean, and analyze large numhersof facts before the laws and theories may emerge. As bheresultof this approach and the Consequences of condensing the larger book, one finds that in many sections the material is presented in an encyclopedic fashion with insufficient development of the principles. The large amount of data will not be retained hy these student,^ after the courseisended, hut hopefully the principles will be rememhered; therefore, these should have been emphasized and the facts introduced only to illustrate the principles. References to appropriate books and articles would have
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led theinterested students to more factual information. One approach to the using of this book would he to emphasize the chapters on chemistrv and to bring in only selected parts of other chapters on &ronomy, physics, and geology which could he closely related to t,he chemisbry, e.g., the abundance of elements in the universe, the thermonuclear reactious of the stars, the concentration of minerals and ores by geological processes. If the elements of chemistry had been chosen as the central theme of the book, not only would the title he more appropriate but, perhaps, that subject could have been used to weave a limited discussion of astronomy, physics, and geology in with some principles of chemistry. About 18 of the 30 chapters are especially relevant to the teaching of chemistrv, " . with some overlan with .ohvsics . on topics like the gas laws, kinetic-molecular theory, heat, atomic spectra, etc. However, the ohapters are short and too many important topics of chemistry itre ireated in a very cursory fashion, so the student would not obtain a good understanding of the field of chemistry withollt considerable supplementary material. While relatively few printing errors were noted, there are some instances of outdated material being retained from the earlier edition and some errors in the explanations, e.g., the idea that water begins to boil when all of the molecules have enough energy to escape. On the plus side, there is much interesting factual information in the book, the illustrations are well done and helpful to the reader, and each chapter has a large
in this Issue
Verne H . Booth, Elements of Physical Science: The Nature of Matter and Energy D. F. Shrivcr, The Manipulation of Air-Sensitive Compounds Richard A . Durst, editor, Ion-Selective Electrodes Leonard C. Labmuitz and John S . Arents, Physical Chemistry Problems and Solutions R. D . Levine, Quantum Mechanics of Moleoular Rate Processes John Westlcy, Ensymic Catalysis J . S . Blakemore, Solid State Physics Mary Fieser and Louis Fieser, Reagents for Organic Synthesis. Volume 2 R. T . Bottle, editor, The Use of Chemical Literature: Information Sources for Research and Development Lawrence Badash, editor, Rutherford and Boltwood: Letters on Radioactivity J . H . Dymond and E. B. Smith, The Virial Coefficients of Gases: A Critical Compilation New Volumes in Continuing Series
tures of the book is the historical approach which is handled well considering the broad area of knowledge covered and the limited space avdahle. The basic problem remains, though. How can one adequately and clearly teach so many topics in one semester? CARLW. MOELLCR The University of Connecticut Storrs. Connecticut
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The Manipulation of Air-Sensitive Compounds
D. F. Shriuer, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illionis. McGraw-Hill Book 299 Co., Inc., New York, 1969. xiii pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 23.5 om. $17.50.
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The book entiteld "The Manipulation of Air-Sensitive Compounds" by D. F. Shriver is the first book of its kind since 1933, when Alfred Stock, the great German chemist, published his now classic hook entitled "Hydrides of Boron and Silicon." Shriver's book, like St,ock's, provides an introduction to methods of working with air-sensitive compounds; the main difference of course is that the present book was written 36 years after the first and has incorporated most of the new manipulative methods developed over past years. The boak is divided into two major Darts: Part I describes Vacuum Line design and construction of vacuum line systems for various purposes is descrihed. The construction of a simple and multipurpose vaccum line system is described with special emphasis on details concerning supporting equipment, such as vacuum pumps, solenoid valves, cold traps, high vacuum manometers, special stopcocks, etc. In addition to this, manipulative methods involving transfer of condensable and nan-condensable gases, fractionation, use of a. cathetometer, tensimeter, etc., are described in detail. The various measurements that can he made with a high vacuum system me also described in detail, such as vapor pressure measurements, molecular associat,ion studies, tensimetric titration, etc. Other uses for high vacuum systems, such as prepmatian of air-sensitive samples for nmr, esr and ir, gas sampling for chromatography, melting pointdetermination, sealed tuhe reactions, and others are described in detail. A special chapter on metal vacuum systems for manipulation of fluorine and reactive fluorides should prove of great value to those involved in any phase of fluorine chemistry. I n Part 11, attention is directed toward inert atmospheric techniques such as bench top techniques (Schlenk tuhe construction and manipulation) and the selection and operation of glove boxes. S p c cia1 ohmters deal with nurification of inert
(Continued a page A722)
Volume 47, Number 10, October 1970
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A721
book reviews Someone has finally written down what everyone has to know ta work effectively and sdely with air-sensitive compounds. There can be little question but that this book will he a. classic for some time to come, as was Stock's hook. The hook is really excellent in every respect. There is certainly a p e s t need for this hook and I highly recommend i t to every synthetic inorganic and organometallic chemist. Shriver's comments and evaluations of equipment sueh as dry boxes and techniques sueh as Schlenk tube operations could only have been made by an expert. Finally, this book gets down to the nitty-gritty concerning the exact details of construction of msjor and minor pieces of apparatus needed in the manipulation of air-sensitive comoounds. Instead of
inorganic and organometallic chemistry by writing such s. finebook. I have recommended to all of my gradus t e students that they buy this book, study it, and use it as their laboratory bible in tho operations and handling of air-sensitive systems. E. C. Asnnv Georgia Institute of Technology Atlanta, Georgia
lon-Selective Electrodes Edited by Richard A. Durst, Institute for Materials Research, National Bureau of Standards, Washington, D.C. NBS Publicat,ion, 1969. (For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office.) xxii 452 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23.5 em. 83.60.
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The development of ion-selective electrode potentiometry has occorred largely during the past five years, although the archetypal iion-selective electrode, the pHresponsive glav, electrode, has been with 11s for over sixty v e ~ r s . R ~ D O I of ~ Sion electrodes for various ions other than hydrogen and sodiom became commercially available only in 1966. Today there are electrodes for about twenty different anions or cations on the market. The present volume, the proceedings of s. January 1969 ~ymposinmsponsored by the National Bureau of Standards, is the first thorough general review of ion-selective electrodes to appear. Roughly equal coverage is given to discussion of the nature of ion-selective electrodes and to their application to various problems. There is some overlap, perticolarly in the discussion of the flouride electrode. There are very few serious errors. Literature coverage is complete through 1968 and there are some references to papers in early 1969.
A722 1 Journol of Chemicol Education
The introductory chapter by G. Eisenman provides a concise summary of the thmry of ion-selective electrode potentials and a. good description of glasses and macrocyclic antibiotics as cation exchangers. The mathematical develapment is left to appendices, where i t can be ignored by the faint of heart. J. Ross's chapter discusses the materials used as ion exchangers in most of the commercially available electrodes and includes clear drawings of the physical arrangement of such electrodes. There is a. eoad disous-
scribes heterogeneous membrane electrodes. These have proven, for the most part., les? sat,isfactory than other types and are not widely used in this country. Dr. Covington has also contributed aehapter on reference electrodes. Various electrodes are described in addibion to the familiar calomel and silver-silver chloride electrodes, and the problems of liquid junction potential, temperature hysteresis, and temperature dependence are discussed in detail. J. Butler and R. Bates discuss the problems associated with making Betivity measurements with available electrodes. Dr. Butler describes equilibrium const,ant and activity coefficient studies possible with ion-selective electrodes, while Dr. Bates addresses h i m d f to the problem of defining activity coefficients for various ions. This problem is a formidable one, largely because ionic strength variations usually accompany changes in ion activity. As Dr. Bates point,s out, changes in ionic strengt,h change not only activity coefficients, but also liquid junction potentials, and the latter may vary more than they do in routine pH measurements. Two chapters, by R. Khuri and by E. Moore describe bio-medical applications. Dr. Khuri gives s general review of the field, while Dr. Moore describes in detail applications of the calcium ion electrode. The utility of ion selective electrodes in medicine is clear even to the lavman. I t he a welcome advance. The remaining chapters by G. Rechnitz, T. Light, and R. Durst summarise appliescations to problems more familiar to chemists. Dr. Itechnitz touches upon the question of electrode response time, which can be quite long, and discusses in detail studies of equilibrium constants and rate constants for some precipitation and com~ l e xformation reactions. Dr. Light describes the use of potentiometry for control and monitoring of industrial processes. Relatively little has been done, but such applications look qnite promising. Dr. Durst provides a general survey of analytioal applications. That ion-selective electrodes are of interest thronghoot the scientific and technical world is demanstrated by Durst's collectian of references from workers in agriculture, biology, medicine, geology, oceanography, and several branches of chemistry. I n summsry, the book is an up to date and readable summsry of an important growing area. of analytical chemistry. I t is highly recommended to anyone whose
interests include the chemistry of aqueous solutions.
MICHAEL D. MORRIS University o j Michigan Ann A~bor,Michigan
Physical Chemidry Problems and Solutions Leonard C. Labmttz, Stern College for Women, Yeshiva. University, New Yark, and John S. AmUs, City College of the City University of New York. Academic Press, Inc., New Yark, 1969. x 524 pp. Figs. and tables. 15.5 X 23 om. Softbound. $7.50.
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The first part of this hook contains the problemstatementsaf 590problems. The second part consists of rather complete solntians to the problems. The solutions proceed from a statement of a familiar formula with any derivation or rearrangement for the particular case to numerical expressions and .calculated results. The book does not contain m y text material other than the problems and solutions. The problems are arranged in 16 chept,ers by subject matt,ef, and they are further subdivided into Seotions I, 11, and I11 of graded difficulty. The authors intend the book far advanced undergraduates and graduate students. This estimate of difficultyis reasonable: usually Section I problems are of appropriate difficulty for second or third year undergraduate courses, while the problems in Sections I1 and 111compare in difficulty to those found in texts for graduate or advanced undergraduate students. The coverage of thermodynamics and it8 applications is most complete covering 9 of the 16 chapters. The section on gases cont,ains a number of problems on nonideal equations of state, and the later chapters a n thermodynamic functions place a heavy stress on calculations taking non-ideal behavior into account. A number of very good thought questions are included on frequently misunderstood topics such as entropy change, reversibility, ete. Some problems which require derivations are rather inventive and give good practicein the use of partial differentials. The treatment of kinetics covers many interesting applications of measurements on reacting systems, but it relies on trial and error methods to determine reaction order even though graphical methods such as the Powell d o t make these methods unnecessary. T'he problems deriving rate laws from mechanisms are quite inventive, but there is not much emphasis on predicting mechanisms to fit rate laws. The problems on quantum chemistry emphasize basic principles rather well in the use of operators and the standard systems such as the particle in a box. The application of quantum mechanics to the interpretation of spectra and molecular wave functions is not well covered. With its numerous literature references the book does represent a significant effort t o bring a collection of rather advanced (Continued on page A724)
