problems.
Then there follow two essen-
See https://pubs.acs.org/sharingguidelines for options on how to legitimately share published articles.
Downloaded via 105.113.28.84 on July 29, 2023 at 08:46:56 (UTC).
mer Institute coursewhere the instructor perhaps a few too many pictures of
tially identical groups of problems or
exercises. Answers for one set are in the
back of the book.
Explanations are given in a clear orderly
fashion. Errors frequently made by
beginning students are pointed out.
Reason in solving problems is stressed
rather than the use of mathematical
formulas. There is considerable emphasis
on the correct use of dimensional units
and significant numbers in chemical com-
putations.
Whereas the original edition explained
weight relations in chemical change by
both proportion and molar methods, the
new edition has deleted the former.
Oxidation-reduction equations are dis-
cussed from the viewpoint of oxidation
numbers and half-reactions. The empha-
sis is on the writing of ionic equations.
The second edition contains some new
problems, but many are in the original
work. All problems seem to be well
thought out and cledrly stated. Prac-
tical applications and new chemical proc-
esses make many problems of far greater
interest than those generally found in the
average textbook.
This book should be very useful as a
supplementary workbook for the first
year course in college chemistry.
E. F. Furtsch
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Blacksburg
An Introduction to Electronic Theories
of Organic Chemistry
G. I. Brown, Assistant Master, Eton
College, England. Longmans, Green
& Co,, Inc., New York, 1958. v +209
pp, 13.5 X 19 cm. $3.
Brown wrote this little book for “ad-
vanced sixth-form" and “first-year univer-
sity" students as a means of expanding
their knowledge of the theories of organic
chemistry after they know a reasonable
body of facts. This appears insufficient
reason for its distribution in this country
since here beginning textbooks of organic
chemistry in recent years are given over to
theories of organic reactions and have sim-
ply grown larger by virtue of the dual
presentation of facts with theories. Fewer
and fewer teachers of organic chemistry
are forcing students to learn reactions
first and theories later.
The topics discussed in some detail on a
non-mathematieal basis are molecular or-
bitals, resonance and inductive effects (in
the language of the English school), con-
jugation, hyperconjugation, structure of
and substitution in benzene, hydrogen
bridging, and reaction mechanisms (the
last 48 pages). The discussion of indi-
vidual topics in the chapter on mechanisms
is all too brief for understanding except to
the person already familiar with the ideas
since the treatment is condensed to say the
least.
The discussion on any one subject is too
skimpy to satisfy a graduate student in or-
ganic chemistry, but it may serve as a re-
fresher for students in other fields of chem-
istry. It may well serve as a reference for
retreading high school teachers in a Sum-
420 Journal of Chemical Education
wishes to give a modern view of theoreti-
cal organic chemistry in a week or two
without forcing anyone to learn a single
reaction. Students who feel lost in read-
ing Ingold or Hine might first want to delve
into this book.
In a sense it is a companion to Brown's
“A Simple Guide to Modern Valency
Theory."
Leallyn B. Clapp
Brown University
Providence, Rhode Island
Science
A courseof selected reading. Revised
edition. International University So-
ciety, Edinburgh, 1957. xxiii + 322
pp.' 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $4.50. Sole
distributors: Codings, Inc., 507 Fifth
Ave., New York.
The usual book on the philosophy of
science is frequently more “of" than
“science." In contrast, this collection
of readings (entirely in English) allows
the reader to build his own philosophy
by listening to the words of 43 great men
of science. It has been selected imagina-
tively, edited carefully, and presented
attractively. All who stop to ask the
reflective and far-reaching questions about,
the role of science in our culture will find
this volume rewarding. Those who want
to use the apt quotation to help establish
a historical perspective may find just the
item here. Dalton, Lavoisier, Faraday,
Thompson, Aston, Rutherford, and other
giants are included.
W. F. K.
A Short Text
Organic Chemistry.
K. Estok, Texas Technological
George
College, Lubbock. W. B. Saunders Co.,
Philadelphia, 1959. ix + 275 pp.
73 figs. 31 tables. 16.5 X 24.5 cm.
$5.50.
This text is designed for quarter or
one
one semester of organic chemistry and
will be a welcome addition to this field,
where concise treatment of organic
a rizing the synthesis precede each descrip-
chemistry is necessary. It is confined to
14 chapters totalling 275 pages, including
the index.
On the inside covers are schematic
diagrams relating, respectively, to various
classes of aliphatic compounds and of
aromatic compounds. At the beginning
of many chapters are a few well-chosen,
enlarged, boldly-printed, typical class
compounds. A very few mechanisms of
reactions are given, which will be satisfying
to most teachers of these short organic
courses. Although highly restricted, the
student must appreciate the meaning of a
reaction mechanism. The tables are clear
and concise. Study questions and exer-
cises are excellent and neither too
burdensome nor trivial. Aliphatic and
aromatic compounds are developed to-
gether, which has many advantages over
a separate treatment. The photographs
are well done, especially those of personali-
ties of historic interest. There are
industrial plants, which do not have much
teaching value. Two of these, at most,
would suffice to inform the student that
industrial operations are feats of engineer-
ing genius. At the close of many chapters
are summaries of important reaction types
in precise, tabular form. Many of the
more important newer developments in
organic chemistry are given. Some errors
are found, as is true of all texts. One
might wish to see the terms arenesulfonate
used in place of aryl sulfonate and alkane-
sulfonate instead of alkyl sulfonate, for
example, and the word glyceryl should be
employed for the acyl radical of glyceric
acid, rather than for the radical derived
from glycerol.
Electronic structure, hydrogen bonding,
resonance, and molecular models are
included in a sensible way. The author
tends toward a scientific approach rather
than a popular one, which is in keeping
with the present trend in this direction
across the nation. Practical applications
are emphasized with significant descriptive
materials to make them understandable.
This text will be very useful in the short
course of organic chemistry and will
provide the essentials very adequately
and attractively.
John Leo Abernethy
Fresno State College
*
Fresno, California
Organic Syntheses with Isotopes.
Part 2
Arthur Murray III and D, Lloyd Wil-
liams, University of California, Los
Angeles Scientific Laboratory. Inter-
science Publishers, Inc., New York,
1958. ix + 947 pp. Figs, and tables.
16 X 23.5 cm. $25.
Part 2 of “Organic Syntheses with
Isotopes" contains chapters 15 through
20, which are devoted to syntheses of com-
pounds of the isotopic halogens, isotopic
hydrogen, nitrogen-15, oxygen-18,
phosphorous-32 and sulfur-35. Each
chapter is further subdivided into classes
of compounds appropriate to the isotopic
element. Chemical equations summa-
tion of procedure. The index for both
volumes is included at the end of Part 2.
The present volume is in the same form,
style, and clarity as Part 1. As with the
first volume, there is little to criticize and
much to praise. Murray and Williams
appear to have given us a truly exhaustive
survey of the field of isotopic syntheses;
in fact, so exhaustive, and so complete,
that it is difficult to see how it could have
been accomplished in the present decade.
In addition to such data as the results of
infrared and mass-spectrographic analyses,
which relate to the purity or to the iso-
topic content of the compounds prepared,
the notes following each procedure often
contain information of mechanistic im-
portance, or information relating to deg-
radative techniques by which positions
of the labels were determined. Further,
the book contains tables summarizing
vast amounts of data. Table XV (1),
for example, is eleven pages in length and