Organlc Chemistry Marc G.Loudon, Addison-Wesley Publish1499 ing Co., Reading, MA. 1984. xxvi pp. Figs. and tables. 18 X 26 cm.
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This is a well-written, easy t o read book which requires more than a casual observation to appreciate. For example, three of the first five chapters (l,3, and 5) aredevoted t o a thorough discussion of t h e structure, bonding, thermodynamic, and kinetic concepts needed to begin a fruitful study of organic chemistry while the second chapter introduces carbon chemistry with alkanes. Only then in chapter 4 (and later in chapter 6) are mechanistic, reaction concepts introduced using polar addition to alkenes as the "mechanistic centerpiece" as opposed to the traditional more common homolytic freeradical halogenation of alkanes. T h i s "mechanistic centerpiece" theme is used again in the second of two early chapters (7 and 8) on stereochemistry to illustrate the role of stereochemistry in chemical reactions. The mechanistic approach is strong in this book and is used consistently within a functional group framework. A particularly strong point of this text is the emphasis given to the mechanistie relationship among different reactions. Some readers will find the treatment of spectroscopy ineonvenient-i.e., NMR is introduced in chapter 11, IR in chapter 13, UV in chapter 16, and MS in chapter 22. However, each treatment is done in an excellent fashion with the emphasis on structure determination; if one desires, the essential aspects of various chapters could be easily combined (except for perhaps the UV treatment) early in the course into an integrated approach. The experimental aspects of each technique are well described and each chapter contains an ample supply of related problems.
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While synthetic concepts and emphasis are not lacking, one does not detect a major thrust until about the middle of the book. Again, this may he due to a somewhat different from traditional organization of material. For examole. alcohols are not discussed untilseversl;ha~tersattrrolkd halidrsand t h m three chapter* briore corbonsi compoundr. H<mcvt.r,the emphasis on aynrhesis is strong beginning with the chapter on aldehydes and ketones, continues in the chapters on earhoxylic acids and their derivatives and culminates in a chapter on n,8unsaturated carhonyl compounds with an exceptionally fine overview of organic synthesis. Overall, this text is well written and well illustrated and contains a significant number of problems (over 1550 original ones). Thistext is worthy ofconsideration by those looking for a change. John P. ldoux Lamar University Beaumom. TX
T h e Perlodlc Table Primo Levi, (translated by Raymond Rosenthal). Schocken Books Inc., New York. NJ, 1984. 233 pp. $16.95. "The Periodic Table" is not a text. Its teachings include, but also far outreach, those of chemistry books, lectures, and lab exoeriments. In this book. chemistrv is more thana practwal, uicfultool: i t isa IiteTheir essay,, w r h t h e ~ rv i k w of the forces, both ror~trullnhleandunlurrserable, that makt a career, are therefore especially appropriate far discussion by students who are ahout t o embark upon their own lives in chemistry. In fact, everyone, regardless of profession, should read "The Periodic Table." But
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among chemists and students of chemistry, especially a n y who appreciate fine literature, it will strike special chords; for chemistry permeates all of Levi's being, not merely his work. First, chemistry is his profession. He took his chemical education in Fascist Italy, under the darkening skies of approaching war and the even darker clouds of prejudice against his race. Although anti-Semitism deflected him into professional byways, be became a loving practitioner of chemistry, finding in it the mystery, challenge, and fruitful struggle that he, unfortunately in common with so many students of all periods, failed to find in his chemical education: Quantitative analysis, so devoid of emotion, heavy ss granite, came alive, true, useful, when part of serious and concrete work. . .To make a mistake was no longer a vaguely comic accident that spoils an exam or affects your marks: to make a mistake was similar to when you go elimbing-a contest, an act of attention, a step up that makes you more worthy and fit (p. 71). Second, chemistry is Levi's intellectual island in an ocean of chaos and unreason. Against the tissue of lies in the Fascist news reports, chemistry was something solid, founded on alert observation, developed by careful experiment and logical argument, ~ r a c t i c e dwith open-mindedness and wary respect for its complexity. Here one could prevail by care and correct reasoning, a sensible harbor in a sea where one might he right, and still not prevail. Chemistry even helped keep Levi afloat in this sea where many Jews were drowned: he was valuable enough to be slave labor for the German industrial giant IG-Farben during World War 11.
(Continued on page A3021
In This Issue Reviewer
Marc G. Loudon, Organic Chemistry Primo Levi, The Periodic Table Jack A. Gerlovich, (Editor). Timothy F. Gerard, Gary E. Downs, Paul H. Joslin, and L. C. Flinn, Jr., School S c i e n c e Safety: Elementary J a c k A. Gerlovich, (Editor), Timothy F. Gerard, Burgess Shriver, Gary E. Downs, and L. C. Flinn, Jr., School S c i e n c e Safety: Secondary Margaret-Ann Armour, Lois M. Browne, and Gordon L. Weir, Hazardous Chemicals, Information and Disposal Guide, Second Edition D. Stanley Tarbell, and Ann Tracy Tarbell, Roger Adams, Scientist and Statesman
Volume 6 2
John P. ldoux Gale Rhodes Malcolm M. Renfrew
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Malcolm M.
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Blaine C. McKusick
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0. Bertrand Ramsay
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November 1 9 6 5
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Finally, in its most exquisite role in this hook, chemistry is Levi's metaphor. The elements that name Levi's chapters took their names from their properties, their origins, or from the mythological gods who shared their traits. Levi gives these traits t o the people and events in his life: his Jewish famdy, unyielding, unchanged hy infusion into other cultures, unreactlve, like argon; his friends. for instance Sandro Delmastro. later todie for the Rcsmarlre,teatin~hisphysiral and mental wdurancr with lung t'oodless treks in the mountains, rlimhing ruck, with primnivr e ~ u i p m c n t as , 11' preparmg hnn41,tamperiny. himself,likernm. On the surfwe, this book coilccts reflertnm ofa lilr in chemistry: It is-or would have liked to be-a micro history, the history of a trade and its defeats. victories, and miseries, such as everyone wants to tell when he feels closeto concluding the are of his career, and art ceases to be long. Having reached this point in life, what ehemist, facing the Periodic Table, or the monumental indices of Beilstein or Landolt, does not perceive among them the sad tatters, or trophies, of his own professional past? (pp. 22G225). But beyond these reflections, in Levi's sensitive metaphor, lies insight into how our training and its accompanying language shapes our view-indeed, shapes the world. As Jacob Bronowski asserted, language is not merely a tool for describing the world, hut rather a means of exploring and organizing it. Amone these chaoten..we also find chemistry as n suhiert, pure, practical, and p117zlmg. Levi's rewllcrtiuns of dilfirult projects such as his etfurls to rcrover "livered" paints-draw us in, make us scratch our heads, test our powers of deduction. He gives us all the facts that were a t his disposal, and shows us the joy of finding that hidden connection, that final clue that unifies all the evidence. Teacher and student will find familiar reactions, a bit of stoichiometry, lab safety notes, but here endowed with literature's immediacy, which approaches that of experience itself. The student who knows that AgCl is not a green gas knows it not from the text or from our mouths, hut from seeing it, white and heavy, in the tube. But the student who reads about Levi's encounter with potassium will know the hazard as if firsthand and will feel with literature's directness the power end the breadth of Levi's advice:
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Levi shapes these chemical reflections beautifully, tastefully, sensitively. He amalgamates chemistry as subiect and chemistry as metaphor without artifice, without pretense. The chemist who reads this book will see the Periodic Table in an entirely new light. The elements who me Levi's characters will henceforth emit a glow from their intersections of family and period, a glow that textbooks never prcduee, that illuminates the human plight as only the experience of our own lives and the experiment of literature can do. Gale Rhodes University of SoMhern Maine Poniand. ME 04103
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School S c l e n c e Safety:Elementary Jack A Gerlovich, (Editor). Timothy F. Gerard, Gary E. Downs, Paul H Joslin, and L. C. Flinn, Jr.. Flinn Scientific. Inc., Batavia, IL. 1984. ix 129 pp. Tables. 22 X 28 cm.
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This hook aimed a t elementary school teachers is similar in structure to the book for teachers in the secondary school reviewed below. The opening chapter is concerned with legal liability. Subsequent chapters deal with laboratory practices in the life sciences and the physical sciences. There is also a good section on classroom facilities and on safety planning. There has been less agreement as to what should be taught in elementary school seience classes, and the hook in same measure will serve as a guide for subject matter as well as safety in presentation. In the reviewer's opinion the text will increase the confidence of teachers through its suggestion of appropriate experiments and projeds in addition to the general instructions on how t o conduct classes with minimum hazards. Teachers who use this hook will benefit nlzo from rending as a compmion the hmk for sercmdary schod reachers. Whenever opportunity offers, we will urge school systems to provide their teachers with both. Malcolm M. Renfrew Un~vers~ty of Idaho Moscow. ID 83843
School S c l e n c e Safety: S e c o n d a r y Jack A. Gerlovich.. IEd~torl. Tmothv F. Ge. rard. Burgess Shrwer. Gary E. Downs, and L. C. Flinn. Jr.. Flmn Scientific. inc.. Balavia. iL. 1984. xl 179 pp. Figs, and tables. 22 X 28 cm.
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This book effectively will motivate science teachers to include good safety practices in their preparation for laboratory classes; it provides reference materials helpful in determining what are good practices. Chapter 1 deals with legal questions which
While Levi knew the holocaust firsthand. this book is not holocaust eore. .(Nor are his other hooks, which deal more direetly with those darker chapters in his life.)
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Hazardous Chemicals, lnformatlon a n d Dlsposal Gulde, S e c o n d Edition Margaret-Ann Armour, Lois M Browne,
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um, but withsodium nothing would have happened), the practically identical, the appronimate, the or-even, all surrogates, and all patchwork. The differences can he small, but they can lead to radically different consequences, like a railroad's switch points, the
chemist's trade (p. 60)
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and Gordon L. Weir, Lab Store, Milwaukee. WI, 1984. xii 287 pp. 15.2 X 22.8 cm. $20.00 PB.
. . . that
one must distruit the almost-thesame (sodium is almost the same as potassi-
will be raised if there is an accident in the laboratory and warns the teacher about prospective penalties if there has been negligence (and even if there has not). Subsequent chapters are devoted to the specific problems met in handling chemistry, physics, and hiolagy courses. The hook inevitably will he compared with the "Manual of Safety and Health Hazards in the School Science Laboratory" (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 1980) and its supplement, "School Science Laboratories, A Guide t o Some Hazardous Suhstanees" ( U S . Consumer Product Safety Commission, 1984). In the opinion of this reviewer the hook by Gerlovich et al. will he the first choice of teachers: it benefit* from the hnnds-on erperlcnce 01 Flinn Scirntific. Ine.. in conducting rafety ir~specrionsand [raining programs in secondary schools. All three hooks deriraldg should br coailv arrepsihlp tu the HS science teacher. Photoreproduction of the typed manuscript has limited the extent t o which the more important materials could he visually emphasized, and there are some typographical errors (obvious errors which will not lead t o misunderstanding). There are useful check lists for safety inspections s t the close of each chapter. Good counsel is offered on the choice and handling of chemicals. The information on eye protection is reasonably mod hut tolerates the use of ohotochromic " lenses, and the authors stop short of requiring eye protection in the laboratory a t all times. This reviewer was startled by the omission from the listed references of "Safety in Academic Chemistry Laboratories" (ACS, 1979), and he was disappointed that readers are not encouraged to follow the safety columns in THIS JOURNAL. Overall. however. the h w k w~llmakeadt.finitecontrib111ionto impnwement in the safetv of lahurntori~rin schools uhercver it ia a w : i a h l ~and 15 used. Malcolm M. Renfrew University of ldaho MOSCOW. ID 83843
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This book is a handy source of physical and chemical properties, health hazards, and handling advice for 220 common laboratory chemicals. Its chief change since the first edition (reviewed in THIS JOURNAL, 60,A-26 (1983)) is the inclusion of laboratory waste disposal procedures that have been tested in the University of Alberta laboratories. For several chemicals new procedures have been developed. An example is destruction of picric acid through reduction to the triamine by tin and hydrochloric acid. This is aneminently practical book for laboratory chemists. Blaine C. McKusick Wilmington. DE