Physical Chemistry - American Chemical Society

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reviews Principles o f Instrumental Analysis. 4th Edltion D. A. Skwgand J. J. Leary. Saunders College Publishing, Philadelphia, PA,1992. 700 pp. text + 81 pp. appendices. 26.0 x 20.8 cm.

This textbook was last reviewed in this Journal in 1981 (A.314). Since then a number of chanxes have been made to reflect a changing emphasis i n the pedagogy of analytical chemistry, though fewer than might be expected in a leadingtextbmk. There is also an attemot to include uodated tidbits on the ever-emanding smorgasbord of instrument$ available, though this text is less encvclooedic than some of its comoetitors have been. l;he iext is clearly written, ~fsdmewhat verbose, while worked exarnplcs are epawe. The apparent reduction in the number of pages in this text over the previous two editions ,769 and 879 pp, respedively) was accomplishedlargely through a denser print format so that it will not actually take less time for a student to read the material. However, some of the reduction was achieved by combining a couple of chapters. The authors also have wisely dropped chapters on condudometric methods and miscellaneaus ontical methods such as neohelometrv and added or imoraved chapters on surface analysla, Reparatton methods such as super. cntral f l u ~ dchromatography and cnp~llaryelectrophnresm, and signals and noise. A brief introduction to electronics and computers (which will need to be supplemented by many users) and a good discussion of signal-to-noise ratio considerations are contained in separate chapters early in the book This arrangement keeps them from beine reallv inteerated with the other material. but it mav be an advantagelor th&e who must asaign only sele&d portions of the text due to time constraints or who wish to stay with a more traditional approach in which these topics are not treated. A larger problem appears due to a lack of coverage of chemometric approaches used to design optimized experiments, operate modem instruments, and analyze the data obtained. Only a redundant and low-level basic statistics appendix appears. The principles behind multiple regression, generalized standard additions, and optimized experimental design need to be introduced in this context in order to avoid misuse of the instruments and the data they pmduce. These topica are pmbably more relevant and fundamental than chemiluminescence, Raman, X-ray, or nuclear spectroscopy to the students' futures. In summary, the rcn's major errcngth is the uniform and lucid pre~entationof the traditional inntrumental methods in a manner approachable by studcnts firm encounter in^ this material. The improvements made since the last review have been significant, and it should be availahle for student use even if it is not used a s the primary text. It pmvides a good gmunding in the state of analytical chemistry a t the end of the 20th century, though it does little to pull the student into the 21st. Nathan W. Bower Colorado College Colorado Springs. CO 80903

Physlcal Chemistry RobertA. Albertyand Robert J. Silbey. Wiiey: New Yo*, NY, 1992. xiii + 898 pp. Figs. and tables. 21 x 26 cm. $54.95.

?he eighth edition of Alberty and Silbey's Physicol Chemistry is the latest m a lineofteatbooks that traces its origin back 78 years! The eiphth edition of Alberty and Silbev contains an increase in the num6er of examples (34%more) and the number of figures has been increased a s well, a 30% increase. The problems have been revised to the extent that 26% are new. Anew and welcome f e a t m is the addition of soecial tonics at the end of each chanter. I will comment on only two specific area.-group theory and statistical mechanics. The moup theory chapter receiver kudos for not eying to teach and prove all of theorems in 20 pages; however, I believe that rt rhould be placed before the quantum theory chap ter so that the molecular orbitals could have received irreducible representation labels. It is not a good idea to use the same symbol for a symmetry operation and a symmetry element, ie., instead of i for both the inversion element and operation use i and 2 (for the operator). One gauge of the author's treatment of physical chemistryis the derivation of the Boltzmann Distribution Law using Lagrangian undetermined multipliers. If the total number of distributions is counted over all i's, i.e.,

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then the most probable distribution is found by differentiating ( The authow make the eom. n,. This leads to an extra 1 in the result that is unaccounted for. Overall, I found the book much improved (particularly over edition one!) and would reeommend that it be considered for an intmductory physical chemistry course. to maximize) by one of then's, say n mon error of differentraonp- the n's

Frank G. Baalin University of Nevada. &no Reno, NV 89557

My 132 Semesters of Chemistry S t u d i e s Vladmir Prelog. American Chemical Society: Washington. DC, 1991. Figs. & illustrations. u i v + 120 pp. 15.0 x 22.6 cm. $24.95. With characteristic, self-deprecating humor, Vladimir &log has chosen the title of his book to reflect his post-1976 "retirement" position of "postdoctoral student" a t Ziirich's Eidgenbaaische Technische Hochschule (ETH). The Latin subtitle, "Studium chymiae nee nisi cum morte finitur" (The study of ehemistry is concluded only with death) underscores his lifelong commitment to chemistry.

Reviewed in This Issue

Reviewer D. A. Skoogand J. J. Leafy, Principles of Instrumental Analysis, 4th Edition RobettA. A l b e w a n d Robeti J. Sibley, Physical Chemistry Vladimir Prelog, My 132 Semesters of Chemistry Studies Titles of Interest New Volumes in Continuing Series

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Journal of Chemical Education

Nathan W.

Bower

Frank G. Bagley George B. Kauffman

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