Ralph A. Burns, with contributions by John W. Hill. Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1995; xx + 743 pp. Figs., tables, and photos. 21.1 x 26.2 cm.

Essentials of Chemistry, Second Edition

Ralph A. Burns, with contributions by John W. Hill. Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1995; xviii + 608 pp. Figs., tables, and photos. 20.1 x 25.3 cm. PB.

The two texts reviewed are identical except that the Essentials text has a soft cover while the Fundamentals text has a hard cover and three additional chapters at the end, covering nuclear, organic, and biochemistry. The texts are nicely laid out and beautifully illustrated with full-color illustrations and photographs like most modern general chemistry texts and are written in a clear, nonintimidating style. Science-phobic students will probably appreciate comments like: "Just for kicks, lets try another conversion factor . . . the answer is Absurd! How can a bed be 860 in²/ft long"?

Thus, on the surface, these texts appear to be attractive candidates for the less intimidating reduced-length texts sought by many instructors today. However, I am not sure if there is an appropriate audience for these texts.

The reduction in length compared to today's mainstream college texts has been achieved in two ways. First, it completely leaves out the three traditional chapters on descriptive main group and transition metal chemistry and chapters on free energy and electrochemistry; and kinetics and equilibrium are combined into a single chapter. The result is that there is virtually no discussion of the fascinating variety of chemical reactions and chemical properties that originally turned most professional chemists on to chemistry, and there is no discussion of the principles of thermodynamics, which attempt to explain why chemical reactions proceed. The word "entropy" does not appear in either text. I often judge the level of mathematics required for a general chemistry text from the equilibrium chapter. Are equilibrium problems solved using the quadratic equation, by successive approximation, or by computer, or are second order equations avoided altogether? In this text, discussion of the "equilibrium constant expression" takes up only two pages, including one trivial example, and so my test fails for lack of data. With the exception of one page, the acid-base chapter treats only integer pH values; thus, facility with high school algebra is not required for this text.

The second way that the reduction in length has been achieved is by shortening the discussion of every remaining topic to the bare essentials. For example, coverage of the colligative properties of solutions (freezing point depression, boiling point elevation, colloids, and osmotic pressure) is present, but takes up only four pages. I am afraid the result will be that students of this text may do well on standardized tests because of the comprehensive coverage of elementary topics, but they will carry nothing of value away from the course because they have studied nothing in depth.

College students with no prior knowledge of chemistry may find this text a useful preparation for a standard college level general chemistry course, but they would not be prepared for second-year chemistry courses at my university after completing only this text. Students using this text as their only exposure to chemistry would also be poorly served because it focuses on the mechanics of elementary chemistrymoles, limiting reagents, balancing equations, etc.while neglecting the big picture issues (like what forces drive chemical reactions) that such students might carry over to their eventual major field of study.