CHEMISTRY: An Introduction t o General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry

Joanne M. Widom and Stuari J. Edelstein, W. H. Freeman & Co., San Francisco. 1981. xiv + 800 pp. Figs. and tables. 21 X 24 cm. $22.95.

Study Guide lor CHEMISTRY: An Introduction to General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry

Saundra Y. McGoire, W. H. Freeman & Co.. San Francisco. 1981. ix + 307 pp. Figs. and tables. 21.5 X 28 cm. $7.95.

The Preface states that this text is appro- priate for those "in biological and health- related fields of study (nutrition, nursing, ecology, and agriculture) who may take ad- ditional courses in chemistry, as well as for those students who do not plan to take other courses in science." The book is organized into four distinct sections: Properties of Matter, Chemical Reactions, Organic Chemistry, and Biochemistry.

The first two sections cover material usu- ally included in a two-semester freshman chemistry course. Though the treatment of the subject area is, of necessity, brief, the coverage is comprehensive. In addition to well worked-out examples of problems and self- testing eiercises within each chapter, a gen- erous selection of problems is included at the end of eaeh chapter. No mathematics beyond algebra is required.

The section on organic chemistry is pre- sented according to the traditional function group approach. Some of the functional groups with similar chemical properties are combined and discussed together under the same chapter heading. The comhination of amines and amides is somewhat puzzling

since most organic chemists place amides in the earhoxylic acid family rather than with amines. Elementary mechanistic theory is interwoven throughout the discussion of functional erouo reactions. Industrial and - . biomedical compounds are often used to il- lustrate the correlation of structure and chemical reactivity.

The fourth part of the hook introduces not only the structural features of carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, hut also it includes an elementary discussion of their metabolic reactions. The fundamentals of enzyme catalysis and kinetics are presented in a separate chapter. The material included in this section is as current as could he ex- pected for a rapidly expanding discipline.

The hwk is written in a very readahle style. Many outstanding photographs and drawings are used to illustrate the concepts presented in the text. Reaction equations are eolor- coded to identify key atoms and functional groups. A Study Guide, Instructor's Manual, and a set of Transparency Masters are available to accompany the text.

The level of treatment of the material is similar to that found in most of the popular first-year texts designed for those who will he taking advanced courses in chemistry. Whether this level may he too difficult for those who will be takine thiscourse as their terminal cuurst. in chemistry will need to be drtrrrn~ned by each instrxtur. It i~ doubrful that the text will frnd read, acccprnnrr i n first-year courses that precede second- and third-year courses in organic chemistry and biochemistry. In this reviewer's opinion, most instructors will prefer to treat the three subject areas separately, and in greater depth than that found in this text. Nevertheless, the authors have succeeded remarkably well in condensing an incredible amount of chemis-

try into a text with less than 800 pages with- out sacrificing the integrity of eaeh subject area.

Paul L. Cook Albion College

Albion. MI

Concepts of General, Organic, and Biological Chemistry

Roberi D. Whitaker, Jack E. Fernandez, and Janice 0. Tsokos. Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston, 1981. xxvii + 850 pp. Figs. and tables. 19.5 X 24 cm. $24.95.

The author's intent as stated in the Pref- ace of the text is ta provide students who desire to study for careers in nursing, allied health sciences, nutrition, physical education, agriculture, home economics, or the envi- ronmental and hiological sciences with a one-year course in general, organic, and hio- logical chemistry that presents the chemistry they will need in an understandable manner. The authors'goal of presenting the topics in chemistry needed by the students has been achieved. In the limited space of 739 pages, the authors have included many of the topics covered in a one-year general course, have described from a functional group standpoint the area of organic chemistry, have included appropriate stereochemistry, and have pre- sented material on biological macromolecules including their part in cell structure and function. The material is presented in a very readable manner, and numerous "everyday" examples of use are given which should stimulate the student and hold hisher at- tention. The problems at the end of each chapter and the self-tests st the hack of the

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