BOOK REVIEWS

Basic Principles of Chemistry

Harry B. Gray, California Institute of Technology and Gilbert P . Haight, Jr, University of Illinois. W. A. Benjamin, Inc., New York, 1967. xvii + 595 pp. Figs. and tables. 20 X 26 m. $9.75.

The distinguishing characteristics of this new chemistry text at the introductory level may be expressed in terms of two statements which the authors make early in their work. First, in the Preface, they give approbation to the suggestion of the Westheimer Report that ehemistry be realigned according to contemporary re- search fields, and state: "[we have based] a large part of our syllabus on the develop- ment of structural chemistry and chemical reactivity, and [eliminated] the usual stark and unrealistic segregation of inorganic and organic structures and reactions!'

Second, in the Introduction, they outline what they see as "patterns of scientific investigation," stating with emphasis that "scientific knowledge progresses through the continuous interplay of all these steps [observation, formulation of laws, hypoth- eses, and theories] and of the pmgress of technology in inventing techniques by which to obselve nature."

If any one word could describe Gray and Haight, then, it would he integrated. Their work purports to integrate those parts of ehemistry which we have hereto- fore called physical, analytical, inorganic, and organic into a continuous fabric of chemical knowledge, aligned along the concepts of structure and reactivity. Their work also purports to weave a continuous fabric of chemistry through history by

showing the interplay between man, his observations, conceptualizations, technol- ogy, and the description of scientific knowledge which he has derived from these. These are the starting points of Gray and Haight; in remaining true to their convictions and in putting toget,her a textbook in introductory chemistry that adheres to these principles they have succeeded admirably. If one has quarrel with their principles, then one may not enjoy using their text; but the fault is not then with the book itself.

The book is more weighted toward a study of structure than i t is toward reac- tivity. After a brief introduction on the scientific method, chapters two through thirteen are devoted to a study of struc- tures of chemical systems, which begin with the traditional presentations of Daltonesque atomic theory, gases m d the kinetic molecular theory, change of state, the existence of ions, and stoichiometry. The book then turns to the modern de- scription of molecular structure by begin- ning with the periodic law, and working through properties of stoms to the Bohr atom, and then to atomic and molemlar orbitals and their application to the eluci- dation of chemical structures both for simple molecules and for the condensed phak.

This material, which represents about two-thirds of the volume, is written with unnsusl clarity, with excitement and with vigor. The authors communicate here a. contagious enthusiasm with their chemistry; they successfully wrap the reader up in the chmging patterns of chemical thought, and involve him with the thrills of discovery in the past and

-Reviewed in this Issue

Harry B. Gray and Gilbert P . Haight, Jr., BasicPrinciples of Chemistry Michell 3. Sienko and Robert A. Plane, Chemistry: Principles and Properties Keith 3. Laidler, Principles of Chemistry Russell S. Drogo, Prerequisites for College Chemistry Ernest D. Kaufman, Advanced Concepts in Physical Chemistry A. G. Sykes, Kinetics of Inorganic Reactions E . H. E. Pietseh and the Gmelin Institute, Gmelins Handhuch der Anorganisehen

Chemie. 8. Auflage, System Nummer 60, Kupfer. Teil B, Lieferung 4 E. H. E. Pietach and the Gmelin Institute, Gmelins Handhuch der Anorganisehen

Chemie. 8. Auflage, System Nummer 3. Lieferung 7, Wasserstoffperoxid D. H. Whiffen, Spectroscopy Anthony 3. Sonnessa, Introduction to Molecular Spectroscopy J. C. D. Brand, Applications of Spectroscopy to Organic Chemistry E. Heilbmner and P . A . Stmub, Hiickel Molecular Orbitals Emerson M. Pugh and George H. Winslmu, The Analysis of PhysicalMeasurements Isaac Asimar, The Noble Gases Helmut Stapj, Chemische Schulversuche: Eine Anleitung fur den Lehrer. Teil

3, Organische Chemie E. R. Plunkett, Handbook of Industrial Toxicology

New Volumes in Continuing Series

the controversial developments of the present. Their presentation of molecular orbitals is one of the best this reviewer has seen at any level, and surely the finest a t the introductory level. Some will take offense s t the casual and too brief way in which thermodynamics is introduced; the authors' purpose here is not to develop thermodynsmics in a complete way (by contrast to other "modern" freshman texts), hut to sketch the essential elements of thermodynamics so that it may be applied (and this is done success- fully) to their descriptions of structure and reactivity. Even with this as their working guideline, their material on ther- modynamics is too sketchy.

The last six chapters concern themselves with the themes of reactivity. An intro- ductory chapter develops the concepts of rrates, equilibria, and mechanisms; these concepts are then interrelated with the welldeveloped material an chemical struc- ture, and applied to coordination chem- istry, heterogeneous equilibria, and oxida- tion-reduction mechanisms. This material is, in part, traditional, and, in part, a departure from that which is usually offered to beginning students. I t is, nevertheless, presented with the same force and clarity, the same enthusiasm and excitement thst characterized the earlier work. The hook concludes with a. com- prehensive chapter an the chemist,ry of some nonmetals. This final chapter serves as a powerful concluding summary of what has gone before. Here all the tools, both experimental and theoretiod, which the authors have disoussed, are brought to bear on the chemistry of important non- metallic elements.

One might ask what has happened, in Gray and Haight, to what we used to call "descriptive chemistry." Lest the reader take offense st the hook for what might appear to he the complete elimination of test-tube chemistry, it should be made clear that "descriptive" chemistry has not been eliminated in fact from this hook. It has, however, been eliminated per se. With the possible exception of the last chapter of the book, there are no chapters entitled, for example, "The Chemistry of Group VI." For its own sake, then, there is no chemistry by description. But there is an abundance of the chemistry of real elements and real molecules, in t e rm of their structure and reactivity. This is, perhaps, the greatest departure of Gray and Haight from the traditional. This is the feature which will require adapting, and perhaps some struggling, to make i t succeed in the classroom. But it is an approach which is carried through successfully, and which does point toward the future.

This review cannot conclude without some words about the physical appearance of the book itself. The format will delight the student. There is an abun- dance of white space; the illustrations are beautifully done, and exceptionally clear. The authors and publisher have introduced the "picture essay," a device of words and pictures, the latter in profusion, to illus- trate difficult concepts and more advanced topics. Another device, the "frontier essay," an essay contributed by a guest author to illustrate the application of the principles of a. given chapter to very

372 / Journal of Chemical Educoiion

mdern (hence "frontier") chemical re- search, comes off somewhat less success- fully.

In conclusion. Gmv rand Hainht have . . writlrn n lmll~ant hmk, put togrrhrr with the h r i l . r d $ t & d waftmxd,ip. It ml. Iw rrcoumwnwd with x lmw nu rezewa- tions to a very wide range of introductory chemist.ry students.

.I. M. ANDERSON Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Chemistry: Principles and Proparlies

Michell J . Sienko and Robert A . Plane, both of Cornell University, Ithacs, New York. McGrrtw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1966. vii + 623 pp. Figs. and tables. 17 X 23 cm. 58.95.

This is an excellent text for today's de- manding general chemistry courses. I t is the more advanced level stemmingfmm an extensive revision of Sienko and Plane's extremely popular "Chemistry." While this is not a text for honors students, it is s. text which drastically reduces the need for supplemental materid8. But, shove all, it remains within the grasp of most first-year students.

The most noticeable chanees from the

kinetics, crystals, and complex ions. Many qualitative statements have been made quantitative. While the organiza- tion and much of the text are elemly taken from the previous edition, the new topics have been wed throughout the book rather than ss isolated inserts. In partic- ular, thermdynamics is used in most of the chapters and is included in the prob- lems. Topics such as fuel cells, NMR, and semi-conductors are effectively used to maintain the student's interest. Calculus has been used sparingly and in such s. man- ner that those students who have not had this preparation can still follow the argu- ments. The clear exposition which char- acterized the previous editions is main- tained and there are remarkably few typo- graphical errors.

I can think of no readable text which does not require supplemental material (in- deed it is hard to imagine one which would also be portable); this text however, is sufficiently thorough to allow the student to proceed directly to much of the best ma- terial mailable (e.g., King's "How Chem- ical Reactions Occur" [Benjamin] ). I t is s bit unfortunate that no references to other works hhve been included.

The objections to the text are mostly trivial and usually are easy to correct. The periodic table inside the front cover daes not contain atomic weights. The graphs of acbivstion energy versus reaction coordinate (implying the same path for both a, catalyzed and en uncatdyzed resc- tion) have unfortunately been carried over from the previous edition. The electron- cloud representations could he further im- proved and some of the references to the

shading in these diagrams are confusing t,o the student.

The text begins with atomic structure; then logically develops bonding. A ohq - ter on stoichiometry (which may be easily bypassed) precedes the states of matter and changes of state. Two chapters on solutions lead to kinetics; the kinetics is then used to introduce equilibrium. Electrochemistry and thermodynamics com~lete the theoretied m r t of the text.

of Molecules) which contains much of the discussion of bonding, should be quite ele- mentary for the student who has taken s CBA course in secondary school. Simple molecules such as H.0, CHs and NH, are discussed making use d hybrid orbitals. Bond angles are not shown in the accom- panying figures (perhaps because the suh- ject of bond angle determination is de- ferred until the final chapter). There is also brief consideration of coordination .~~ ~ ~ ~

~ ~

The I4 chnptrrs of dc..rriptivr rhrmi.,rry nmpl~x ,v iwdvnty (1 d,l tal- , nnllriple which follm dl, n drfi~itrly nlnovr ovrragr larrd.;, m d ~leh,<nluat~uw .4ll i n t i l l the jub uf relnring the priwiplr~ t u thp pwprr- treatnw>r d Imrd~ug IS quite limited, ties. An interesting chapter on noble gases has been added, but this has been done a t the expense of the previous edi- tion's chapter on organic ehemistry. The last chapter is a very standard treatment of nuclear structure and radioactivity.

The problems are plentiful, cover a wide variety of topics, and are graded in diffi- culty. A reasonable number of answers are provided and attention is usually given to both units and significant figures.

Here is a text with the added coverage needed in a modern first-year course; a. realistic size which permits coverage in one year; and finally, a presentation that most students can follow. Student reaction has been unusually favorable; important topics are clearly developed and the better students have had their imaginations whetted. I would heartily recommend a thorough reading of this book for all who have found the standard texts too shallow and the advanced texts beyond the reach of their students.

TAOMAS E. TAYLOR Heidelberg College

Tifin, Ohio

though in writing a one-semester text one must obviously make difficult choices in selecting materials.

Chapters 5 through 10 have a content roughly paralleling a 1-semester non-cd- culus physical chemistry course. The titles are: Gases, Solids, Liquids, Solu- tions of Nan-Electrolytes, Solutions of Electrolytes, and Reaction Rates. A final (11th) chapter (The Experimental Study of Chemical Structure) gives an excellent series of thumbnail sketches of experi- mental methods which the modern chemist has at his disposal. These include: ESR, NMR, IR, and Raman spectros- copy, mass spectrometry, X-ray, electron and neutron diffraction, magnetic suscep tibilitv. ete. The eist of each method is

The volume gives very little attention to thermodynamics. There is s well dune section dealing with the heat capacities of pqv .-. Free rnrrgiw, r n t r q k , and hrati

resrti<l~. nrr trrxrrd very tm~fly. I.:qui- lil,rium n d rwvtilm k i~~rrws 0 1 1 tlw other hand are explored in much greater depth. I n tackling the problem of presenting chemistry as "a. growing body of knowl- edge as observed by a. research worker," as the author purports to have done, he has assumed a task of some proportions, par- ticularly in so brief a volume (386 pages).

Superfluous use of "we" in the early chapters detracts a bit from the effective-

Principles of Chemistry ness of an otherwise straightforward ~ t y l e of writing. On page 15 for example, "we"

Keith J. Laidler, University of Ottawa, appears in each of 5 successive lines, to cite Ontario, Canada. Harcourt, Brace, an extreme ease. Occasional philosoph- and World, Inc., NewYork, 1966. xi + ical insights such as Occam's Ranor lend s 386 DD. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 23.5 hit of freshness to the text. . . cm. $8.50.- Examnles (Solved Problems) and their

This introductory college and university text is intended as a one-semester or two- quarter course for students who have taken secondary school chemistry a t the CBA or CHEM level. It presumes no mathe- matical background other than elementary algebra and logarithms; graphical meth- ods are frequently employed. Exponen- tial expressions are found in numerous olaees in the text.

The first chapter (The Chemical Equa- tion) and the second (Chemical Equilib- rium) provide the background deemed necessary far the student to pursue quanti- tative experiments early in the semester in his laboratory work. Chepter 3 (Atomic Structure) is somewhat out of character in rtn otherwise reasonably well-written vol- ume. A number of the explanations con- cerning original experiments which were employed in demonstrating properties of fundamental particles, are misleading, to say the least. Chapter 4 (The Structure

solutions tend to merge into the body of the text, rather than standing out making immediately evident where the problem solution stops and the text carries on. Problems are given at the end of each chapter, with answers to dtlternate proh- lems included in an appendix. Each chap- ter closes with a list of supplementary readings.

The author is to be commended for the wealth of chemically important, and mod- ern, information he has presented in this volume. Because of the brevity of treat- ment accorded topics, its greatest useful- ness may he as a. text far non-majors. I t does give a. great deal of insight into the modern chemist's investigations of the structure and properties of chemical sub- stances.

DONALD S. ALLEN State University of New York at Albany

(Continued on page 374)

Volume 44, Number 6, June 7 967 / 373