A Textbook of Physical Chemistry

Arthur W Adamson, University of Southern California. Academic Press, New York, 1973. xxi + 1079 pp. 24 X 17 cm. $16.95.

"A Textbook of Physical Chemistry'' is a new work designed for the one-year ju- nior level course in physical chemistry.

The general outline of the teat follows a conventional pattern for the sequence of topics. This pattern begins with a diseus- sion of gas behavior and kinetic theory of gases, continues through thermodynamics, thermochemistry, equilibrium, liquids, so- lutions, electrochemistry, and kinetics. Wave mechanics, molecular structure, spectroscopy, solid state, colloids, and nu- clear chemistry are covered in the last third of the text. The treatment of the material is, however, very contemporary, yet written with the undergraduate stu- dent in mind.

Each chapter is divided into three see- tians. The first represents essential mate- rial that forms the basis for the subject. In the second, entitled, "Commentary and Nates," this material is expanded, ea- plained, and criticized. The third section, "Special Topics," consists of more special- ized subject matter treated in the same detail as that of the first section hut not essential to a further reading. A sampling of sub-topics discussed under this heading includes: heat capacity of an Einstein solid, partial molal quantities, complex ionic equilibria, the rate law for isotopic exchange, first-order perturbation theory, Huekel wave functions, and radiological dating. The subdivision of the material in this way seems educationally to be very worthwhile. The student will especially appreciate the "Commentary and Notes" sections. In many of these, the author is simply lecturing his class on the limita- tions, assumptions, and approximations of the preceding week's work.

Problems at the end of each chapter are also divided into three sections. The first set, to which answers are included, involves straightforward applications of the text material; the second set requires more thought and initiative on the part of the student; the third set is based upon the special topics section of the chapter. Often, the problems require the student's consulting other sources for the necessary data. While this is goad experience, i t is inconvenient and can he time consuming. A number of problems are included that are intended to be solved with the aid of a cal- culator or use of a computer terminal. These are so designated. Typical problems in this category include: a calculation of the relative intensities of scattered X-rays as a result of specific reflections from crys- talline NaCI, determination of the param- eters of a linear expression from a least- squares treatment, and a calculation of the activity of water vapor as a function of pressure a t 20WC assuming a van der Waal's behavior.

The author has freely interspersed clas- sical with statistical thermodynamics and has done so in a smooth and natural fash- ion. The Boltzmann distribution law is de- veloped in the second chapter ("Kinetic Molecular Theory of Gases") and is sp- plied there to the treatment of molecular

velocity distribution. The partition func- tion is introduced during the discussion of the first law and is used for the evaluation of energies and heat capacities. The re- sults of wave mechanics are assumed but should not come as a great shock to the better student a t this level. A parallel ap- proach is continued throughout the chap- ters on the second and third laws and on chemical equilibrium. This reviewer feels the student gains more from this approach than from a strict separation of the two points of view.

Surface chemistry is not presented as a separate chapter but is spread out among chapters dealing with thermodynamics, phase equilibria, solutions, catalysis, and macromolecules.

The author placates both old teachers and modern students by listing simulta- neously thermodynamic quantities both in calories and joules.

The hook is a pleasure to read and is pedagogically well designed. I think that it will be well received by students. It should take its place among the most widely ae- cepted teats in current use.

Francis Johnston University 01 Georgia

Athens. Georgia 30601

Statistical Mechanics

Donald Rapp, The University of Texas a t Dallas. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., New York, 1972. x + 325 pp. Figs. and tables. 23.5 x 16 cm. $15.50.

The link between the phenomenological theories of thermodynamics and the spe- cific information provided by quantum mechanics is an important one to both the chemist and the physicist. This text is in- tended for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in both fields and is clearly oriented toward the interests of the chemist. Unlike several texts in this area, this book is not voluminous with detail. Part of this arises from the absence of ex- tensive tables of numerical data and part from the absence of introductory discus- sions of thermodynamics and quantum mechanics. Thus other sources will he im- portant for those who desire specific data, and students will have to turn elsewhere to refresh themselves an elementary ther- modynamic and quantum concepts.

This text begins with a consideration of simple Boltzmann statistics, with perticu- lar application to the model of systems with two quantum states, and the Ein- stein and Debye treatments of the specific heats of a metal. After discussion of the Darwin-Fowler calculation of average dis- tributions, the discussion moves on to the Bme-Einstein and Fermi-Dirac statistics of nonloealized particles, and then to the classical limit approached by quantized systems in situations such as gas behavior and distributions of electric dipoles. This initial development occupies about the first third of the hook.

The text next takes up partition and thermodynamic functions of an ideal gas, with discussions of electronic, vibrational, and rotational (including internal rota- tion) contributions in atomic, diatomic,

and polyatomie gases. A separate chapter is devoted to symmetry effects on wave functions and states, and the use of sym- metry "ambers in evaluating partition functions. This is a topic often glossed over, and frequently mystifying, to stu- dents. Chemical equilibrium is next con- sidered, followed by chapters on the per- fect quantum gas and imperfect gases where various intermolecular potentials are compared. The treatment of polyatom- ic molecules in terms of rigid rotations and small bond vibrations is developed, fol- lowed bv a consideration of the transition srnte theory of chemical kinetrcs. The fmal chapter cmsderr models ui the l~quid statr nnd liquid-vapor equilihria

Despite its conciseness, this text covers a great deal of interesting ground. The he- ginner is likely to have difficulty with fun- damental ideas of probability, or with thermodynamic and quantum mechanical details, that are assumed as background here. Any student who has had exposure to the fundamental concepts should, how- ever, find that the author takes care to progress logically and carefully. From the student's point of view more problems would he highly desirable. Thus the text should he most advantageous in a class situation in which an instructor can sup- plement n r e d ~ d introd.lrton topws and pmblem-sol\,inp: m a r e r d B d h students and teachers .huuld tmd the rxvlurntinn of this text a rewarding challenge

Jeff C. Davis. Jr. University of South Florida

Tampa Florida 33620

Transition Metal Chemistry. Volume One

ACS Reprint from Volumes 1-4 of Ae- counts of Chemical Research. Edited hy Fred Basola, Northwestern University. J. F. Bunnett, University of California, Santa Cruz, and Jack Holpern, Univer- sity of Chicago. American Chemical So- ciety, Washington, D.C. 20036, 1973. v + 250 pp. 25.5 X 18 cm. Cloth 56.95, Paper $3.95.

A collection of selected survey articles originally published from 1968 to 1971. Mast are accompanied by author's adden- dum prepared in 1972. Twenty-nine pa- pers deal with the themes: Structure and Bonding, Inorganic Reaction Mechanisms, Organometallic Compounds and Reae- tions, and Transition Metal Chemistry of Biological Interest.

W. F. K.

MARCEL DEKKER, INC., reports that they have moved to a new tem- porary address; 270 Madison Ave- nue, New York, N.Y. 10016. They were forced to move due to the well publicized freak blast that rendered their new quarters a t 305 East 45th Street untenable for the next six months to a year. Their telephone number; 212-679-7000 remains the earno

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