Chemical Education Today
edited by
Book & Media Reviews
Environmental Chemistry, 3rd Edition
by Colin Baird and Michael Cann
W. H. Freeman, New York, 2005. 650 pp.
ISBN 0716748770 (cloth). $96.95
reviewed by Richard Pagni
Even though I have published a modest number of re-
search and review articles in environmental chemistry in the
See https://pubs.acs.org/sharingguidelines for options on how to legitimately share published articles.
last two and a half decades, until now I have not had occasion
to read any of the dozens of books on environmental chemis-
try. The book in question is the third edition of Environmen-
tal Chemistry by Colin Baird and Michael Cann.
Writing a book on this topic must be a daunting task be-
Downloaded via 49.36.202.22 on July 14, 2023 at 11:48:13 (UTC).
cause the subject is extraordinarily complicated and involves
every facet of chemistry and many other areas of science and
human behavior. I had imagined that at least a bachelor’s de-
gree in chemistry was needed before a person is prepared to
understand and appreciate the subject. I was wrong. This
book—actually a textbook—surprisingly is geared to an au-
dience that has only completed general chemistry. (Because
organic chemicals play a prominent role in environmental
chemistry, there is a short primer on organic chemistry in an
appendix.) I was pleasantly surprised by how well the authors
carry off this seemingly impossible job. Take for instance their
discussion of the chemicals involved in the greenhouse effect.
They nicely explain why monatomic species such as the rare
gases and homonuclear diatomic molecules such as N2 and O2
do not absorb infrared radiation, whereas CO2 (through its
bending and antisymmetric stretching modes) and H2O do.
These are subjects ordinarily covered in physical chemistry. The
authors also show how the intricate interplay between mol-
ecules emitting infrared radiation at certain frequencies, whose
spread of wavelengths is dictated by the molecules’ rotational
states (another topic usually discussed in physical chemistry)
and molecules absorbing infrared radiation at other wavelengths
leads to the greenhouse effect. There is also an interesting dis-
cussion on the pros and cons of the so-called hydrogen
economy. Burning hydrogen, which will have to be synthe-
sized in energy-intense processes and is difficult to store, pro-
duces polluting nitrogen oxides. Some hydrogen will
inevitably escape into the atmosphere. Even though the
homonuclear H2 is not a greenhouse gas, it will react in the
upper atmosphere with the hydroxyl radical to produce H2O,
www.JCE.DivCHED.org • Vol. 83 No. 2 February 2006
Jeffrey Kovac
University of Tennessee
Knoxville, TN 37996-1600
which is a potent greenhouse gas. Many other examples of
complicated material, explained in easy-to-understand lan-
guage, are sprinkled throughout the book.
Perhaps the word anthropomorphic should be added to
the title of any book dealing with environmental chemistry,
because human behavior is at the heart of virtually every as-
pect of the subject. Not only do people cause environmental
degradation but they are also the recipients of its adverse ef-
fects. It is not pleasant to read about these issues, but environ-
mental problems will not go away by ignoring them. The
authors do a thorough, nonjudgmental job of explaining how
humans impact the environment and what steps if any have
been taken to remedy problems. People have by and large un-
consciously been the cause of a great many environmental prob-
lems that science has the potential to alleviate. One outgrowth
has been the development of the new discipline called green
chemistry, which attempts to find environmentally friendly
ways to carry out chemical processes. The authors present about
a dozen examples of exciting and often ingenious ways of mak-
ing current chemical practice more environmentally friendly.
The book, not surprisingly, has lots of figures, tables, and
text printed in green. The symbolism may be appropriate but
unfortunately the color appears rather wan.
As I noted earlier, this is a textbook geared to lower di-
vision college students. The authors have included review and
additional problems at the end of each of the book’s 13 chap-
ters in addition to having lists of articles and books for fur-
ther reading to aid the student in learning the material. A
solutions manual and Web site are also available to assist the
student. When completing what I assume to be a one-year
course, the student should be conversant in every significant
environmental issue. I do wonder, however, why the authors
did not discuss what the average citizen can do to make the
environment better—for example, use less, recycle more. Per-
haps this is because environmental improvement is not a
chemical issue per se, but one of self-interest, self-indulgence,
and cost. Science can help alleviate environmental problems
but changes in people’s behavior are also needed.
In conclusion I found the book to be thorough, well
written, easy to comprehend, especially important for sec-
ond-year college students, and free of mistakes. If I were to
teach a course on environmental chemistry, I would consider
its adoption.
Richard Pagni is in the Department of Chemistry, Univer-
sity of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996-1600; rpagni@utk.edu
• Journal of Chemical Education 217