Winning the Games Scientists Play (Sindermann, Carl J.) - Journal of

Keywords (Audience):. Graduate Education / Research ... Published online 1 March 1987. Published in print 1 March 1987. Learn more about these metrics...
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through all the steps described above if they requested help. In some eases they simply needed t o find the charge on one of the ions. Theoreticallvthev should have called up the data sheet, but most did not. Slower students who used the program did much better on their quizzes than those students who did not use it. I would recommend i t highly for a low level chemistry class. I t is not intimidating because the questions are simple and the explanations are clear. A confused hut motivated student would find the program useful.

Kathleen Sweeney-Hammond

me Mare1 School 3000 Cathedral Avenue N.W. Washington, DC 20008 Winning the Games scientists Play Carl J. Sinderrnann. Plenum Press, New York, NY. 1982. xii 290 pp. 13.5 X 20.7 cm. $15.95. This practical and insightful guide t o "gamesmanship" in science by an oceanographer who is Director of the Sandy Hook Marine Laboratorv in New Jersey was chosen by L ~ b r o r y~ o u r n n las one of the best scilteeh books of the year. Written specifically far the scientist or nonscientist of the '80s, a time of "prolonged drought.. .and stringency.. .[when] science will adapt, and scientific game playing may achieve new heights of precisian and worth," i t deals with interpersonal strategies in science, much of which could he described as "common sense" yet which is not a t all "common", especially t o scientific beginners. Part I, "A Primer for Scientific Strategists" (6 chaps, 120 pp) answers in great detail questions that are crucial for success in seienee-how t o write, publish, and present papers; how to attend, chair, and organize meetings; and how to participate in committee meetings. Part 11, "Critical Issues for Scientific Strategists" (3 chaps, 72 pp), describes how to get an the "fast track" and how t o get and use power. I t even devotes an entire 18-page chapter to ethics in science. Part 111, "Special Interest Areas for ScientificStrategists" (4chaps, 74pp),evaluates the roles of men and women (it ineludes a 6-page section on "sen in the laboratory"); describes how t o cope with hureaucracy and bureaucrats, the news media, lawyers, politicians, and the public; and considers the role of the scientist in industry. All hut two of the 13 chapters are provided with "Summary" sections, and the book concludes with a 6-page Epilogue driving home the lessons and sound advice given earlier. This delightful and witty guide to the strategies of "real 1ife"seienee makes an appropriate gift for those about t o enter upon a scientific career as well as for experienced scientists and citizens interested in the nontechnical aspects of modern scientific life.

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of the first edition (THIS JOURNAL 1982,59, A370). The second edition differs from the first edition in several minor but notable aspects which enhance the effectiveness of this text. In rough order of decreasing importance these changes are 1. The addition of more problems including summary qualitative problems well chosen for self-evaluation of basic understanding of the subject matter. 2. An increased number of worked example problems in the body of the text. 3. Linkage of problems to specified chapter sections. 4. Additional points in the text where the student is steered around typical pitfalls to understanding. Levine's texts have always been notable for these helpful admonishments. 5. Equations of the most fundamental importance are now signified as such. 6. Expansion of the Spectroscopy and Photochemistry Chapter t o include brief but informative descriptions of several additional spectroscopic methods (PAS, ORD, CD, PES, and ESCA). 7. Additionof somequalitativemolecular interpretations of thermodynamic concepts. 8. The cross-sectional area increment of the text is primarily taken up by eapanded margins. The current outer

p.lyr n l ~ r g i nis 3.5 rm, which may entirr rhr rrdderrumakemar~mnlnorrs. T h n 1 ~ x 1wnndina well ~ u m v lIII B twosemester introductory survey course in physical chemistry and should he given serious consideration for such a course. I t is less likely t o he the one book of choice for a three-semester course sequence of physical chemistry (e.g., courses in thermodynamics, quantum chemistry, and statistical mechanicslchemical dynamics). However, because of its extensive treatment of thermodynamics this text would be an excellent choice of the primary thermodynamics text in such a sequence (we have used it for this purpose with good results), and i t would he a valuable supplementary text (e.g., t o Levine's "Quantum Chemistry") to primary texts in the other courses. As expected for a book by Levine this text is notably free of errors. I have only been able to find one small, obvious one (on p 392) in the main body of the text. If you choose this text you might be well advised to discuss some of this text's examples chosen from biochemistry with your resident biochemists to determine whether the interpretations of these examples are still up-to-date in this rapidly changing field. Thomas G. Dunne Reed College Portland, OR 97202

Georae - B. Kauffman

California State University, Fresna Fresno. CA 93740

Physical Chemistry, Second Edition Ira N. Levine, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York. 1985. xix-980. 21.5 X 24 cm. One expects from Levine an exceptional level of care in exposition, and the new edition of this excellent introductory physical chemistry text maintains that level which was noted by D. K. Carpenter in his review

Volume 64

Number 3

March 1987

A9 1