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This edition of The History and Use of Our Earth’s Chemical Elements: A Reference Guide expands and updates the first edition (1), which was reviewed in this Journal (2). Krebs purports that his book was written as “a reference for students and other readers interested in chemistry as well as for school and public library use”. Unfortunately this 2nd edition is still riddled with inconsistencies, misunderstandings, and errors and, therefore, is all but useless as a reference guide. Before I delineate some of the more egregious errors, I will give a basic overview of the book. The book begins with short sections that provide introductory information on the history of chemistry, atomic structure, and the periodic table. The material in these sections is presented at a very basic level that could be understood by readers with a minimum of scientific background. After the introduction, Krebs gives details about each element in the periodic table. The elements are presented by group, except for the transition metals, which are presented by period. Each chapter begins with a very brief overview of the group and then each element is discussed individually. The properties, characteristics, abundance, source, history, common uses and compounds, and hazards of each element are covered. The details provided for the elements can be very informative for non-chemists and even most chemists will learn something new from this book. For instance, I was surprised to learn that chlorine forms a +6 oxide, Cl2O6. I had never heard of this compound before. However, as I mentioned above, this book has way too many errors for me to recommend it to anyone. The first thing I noticed as I began reading was the inordinate number of typographical errors for a book in its second edition. I started to keep track of the number of typos, but I stopped counting when I reached 50. Many of these errors are small and inconsequential. The atomic symbol for chlorine seems to be written CL as often as it is written Cl. Many numbers or symbols are subscripted or superscripted when they should not be (or not subscripted or superscripted when they should be). In addition to these innocuous errors, the book contains information that is just wrong. Wolfgang Pauli is identified as an American physicist. Ethanol, halogenation, and polymerization are discussed in the hydrogen section. In the sodium section, Krebs states that ammonia reacts with carbon dioxide to form sodium chloride and water. There are multiple instances of the author describing the formation of metal oxides by the reaction of the metal ion with the oxide ion (O2−). And in perhaps the most baffling of errors, Krebs describes a compound of iodine(VII), potassium metaperiodate (KIO4) by saying that it is formed by the reaction: K1+ + I7− → 4O2− + KIO4. In fact, many of the chemical equations shown in the book often do not accurately represent the known chemistry of the reaction. The phase of the reactants and products are never shown in the equations and many nonsensical compounds are listed (e.g. Nd(OHO)3). Because of the vast number of errors in this book, I cannot recommend that any person or library purchase it. However, if this book makes it to a 3rd edition and the author and editors correct the typos and mistakes, then it would have potential as a basic introduction to the chemistry of the elements. In the meantime, those interested in learning about the chemistry of the elements would be much better served by Greenwood and Earnshaw’s classic text, The Chemistry of the Elements (3).
Literature Cited
- Krebs, R. E. The History and Use of Our Earth’s Chemical Elements: A Reference Guide; Greenwood Press: Westport, CT, 1998.
- Bracken, J. D. J. Chem. Educ. 1999, 76, 475.
- Greenwood, N. N.; Earnshaw, A. The Chemistry of the Elements, 2nd ed.; Butterworth-Heinemann: Oxford, UK, 1997.
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