At the pmposed level of stt~dent. t,raining, this preciorts space might bc d o t t e d to ot,her chemical topics such as chemical equilihl.iwn ns a ~peeinl topic.

The mviewer tl.ensures this book as a refel.ence work and priaes especially t,he exercises contained in it.

B. A. F ~ l i ~ ~ : n s College of the Holy Cross

I170rces/er, Mass. 01610

inorganic Qualitalive Analysis

Kichald N. Hahn, Wayne State Univer- sity, and Prank J . Weleher, Indiana University. 2nd ed. 1). Van Nostrand Company, Inc., Princeton, New Jersey. viii + 326 pp. Figs. and tables. 15 X 22 cm. 86.40.

This second edition is s, considerable improvement of the fimt edition (see J. CHEM. EDUC., 40,442 (1063)). I t is now si quite satisfactory text and manna1 for qr~alit,ative analysis as it is taught in many fl.eshmnn chemistry conrses.

The treatment of the calcrdation of the hydrogen ion eoncentralion of sodium hicarbonate solutions is still not correct,. In fact, following the instructicns an the bot,tam of page 8: and top of page 86 would lend one to pH of 10.3 for a 1 M NaHCO. snlntion, while it is well known to be 8.33, and nearly as well known that t,he hydlogeu ion molarity of an amphi- protic ion sol~ttion, snch as bicarbonate, is given by klkr for carbonic acid, rmless the concentration is very small.

This is the only f a d t I e m find in the present edition, and it does not serionsly mar the total effect of the book.

College of SI. Thomas St. P a d , Alinnesola

Modern Methods of Chemical Analysis

R. I,. Pecsok, University of California, Las Angeles, and I,. Donald Shields, Ca1ifonli.z State College, Fullert,on. John Wiley & Sons, IIIC., New York, 1968. xvi + 480 pp. Figs. and tables. 17 X 24.5 em. $O.0>.

The appearance of this book as rs %xt . . . a t the sophomore level" cmsos mixed feelin@. The study, if not the practice, of modern analytical chemistry seema to be left by defar~lt to the chemistry majors who constitute a minority of sophomore chemistry students. Scientists in other fields, more than many chemist*, have considerable rue for "modern methods of chemical snalysis." The present text attempts to meet this need, particularly for the biochemically inclined. The at- tempt is not entirely snccessful.

Topics covered include such strangers to "quant!' as ext,raet,ian and chromato- graphy (3 chapt,ers), spectroscopy, in- cluding nmr (5 chapters), mass speetro- metry, and radiochemistry, in addition to the more traditional olectrochcmistry and acid-base equilibria. (aqueous and non-aqneous). Fnturc earth and marine seienl.istx, as well ax future biochemists,

would have been well served by the inclu- sion of atomic absorption spectrophoto- metry and electron probe mieroanalysir. There is no other volumetric chemistry than Briinsted acid-b~qe; and no diucus- sion of membrane ("specific-ion") elec- trodes other than glass.

This book may be attacked by some with orthodox viewpoints. I t omits gravimetry and the techniques of voht- metry on the theory that a modern fresh- man laboratory provides sufficient groond- ing in these. I t is not a typical instru- mental analysis text (nothing on statistical design of experiments, on electronics, or on principles of instrumentation). The level of presentrttion is low considering the sophisticated aibject matter. Taken on its own terms, the text is innocent of the first two charges. I t is intended neither cu a tradit,ional "quant!' text nor as a traditional instrumental analysis text, but a? a sui generis re-thinking of the needs of mkdergraduste chemists for analytical chemistry. The reviewer is in sympathy with this approach.

However, given the goal of making truly modern instrumental techniques comprehensible to tmly typical sopha- mores, a much mare careful job than thik book is required. In an undergraduate text, whet you say is not much more important than how you nay it. My complaints fall into two categories: (1) outright errors, which may he inevita- ble in s first edition; and (2) aversimpli- fications and careless writing.

Considering the rango and complexity of the topics treated, this reviewer was not able to find a large number of substantive errors. A modest collection includes the %sert,ion that one cannot mecuure thefuga- city of a real ga?; the definition of the chemical potential as the free energy per mole (Gln); and the inevitable use of the HrI. reaction as an example of one wibh a simple mechanism, despite evidence to the contrary.

Much more serious than the above rather minor mistakes is a chronic un- willingness to face the difficult problem of truly simplifying or summarizing cam- plex ideas. The tone of too many of the summaries in this book i hasty ("the most efficient boner for any system eon- sistr of 8. 1: 1 ratio of a weak acid or base to it,% conjugate base.") and opaque. Fur example, in a two-page explication uf thel.modynamics, tho (2ibb.i free energy is introduced and "explained" w a. com- bination oi the (i~ndefined) enthalpy and entropy, (Il-'1's). The next sentence brings in the activity. I t is hard to con- ceive of a student who is familiar with If and S, but not with G ; or of one unfamiliar with any of those who could make moch of the presentztion given. The magnetic moment, p, appears in the sectibn before the one in which i t is identified; the Boltzmsnn distribution is invoked with- out comment or explanation; the eon- cepts "ligand field strength" and "con- centration of electrons" are used, in quotation marks, without any comment a t d l . I t is not a legitimate simplification that hits only the high spots of a complex concept, but retains in its 1ctngun.g~ such loaded terms ss ligrtnd field strength, Entropy, or the Bolt,smann distribution when these are not relat,ed by the author.

particular course with a particular leba- ratory text (the authors' companion vohlme, "Experiments In Modern Meth- ods Of Chemical Analysis"). For example, Chapter 18 is a wholly orthodox, low-level treatment of chemical kinetics, with only the barest clues to its relevance to the rest of the text. However, in the labora- tory text this material is applied to an enzyme kinetics experiment. The chapter in the text is there to ilhminate the labo- ratory, and is not really meant to sband on its own. Otherwise, i t would be difficult to justify its inclusion in a text on chemical analysis.

This book, one hopes, begins a new departure in undergraduate texts in analysis; much important infarmstion is correctly presented; but the authors have forfeited the opportunity to write e classic text by their proneness to careless writing.

T H O M . ~ R. BLACKBURN Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Gaeua, New York 14466

Kinetics in Analylical Chemirlry

Hamy l3. Mark, 57.) University of Michigan, Ann Arbor., and Carr.?, A . Rechnitr, State University of New York, Buffalo, with the assistance of Ronald A . Creinke, Universit,y oi Michigan. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Now York, 1068. x + 339 pp. Figs. and tahleq. 16 X 23 cm. 816.!1;.

This book deals primarily wibh t,he principles underlying the utilization rrf kinetic informat,ian far the solution of analyt.ical problems. Two points of view are emphasized. The first is bhnt kinetic ur reaction-rate meaxnroments can be wed

or new equilibrium methods. The fil.st two chapters in the book are

brief and inl,~.oductory in natrwe. The first presents a one sided view of the ad- vantages of kinetic methods relative to equilibrium melhods, while the necand pvewnts a brief disewsion of t,he more common met,hods f o ~ measuring reaction rates. Chapter three presents a cursory t,reabment of t,he applicalion of catalytic react,ions for ynxntitative analyses. Ex- amples discnssed include inorganic oxida- tion-reduction reactions, enzymatic re- actions, and ligand exchange reactions. Chapters four and five contain an exten- sive listing and discussion of methods developed over the I& two decades for single and multiple component analyses nsing slow organic functional-group reac- tions. The chapters deal primarily with the mathematical and graphical manipuln- tion of common rate expressions to yield forms explicit in concentration. The relative merits of bhe different approaches are compared. Chapter six contains a brief discussion of facbors affeet,ing the kinetics of organic reactions along with an extensive tabulation of rate constants for a wide variety of reactions. This

(Cmtinued on page A.374)

332 / Jovrnol of Chemical Education