Chemistry and Chemical Reactivity. By John C. Kotz

This is a textbook for an introductory university courses in chemistry for students of subjects such as biology, engineering, geology, physics, agriculture, etc. The authors have two major goals in writing this book. The first is to present interesting material that students can enjoy and still grasp the difficult concepts of chemistry. The second is to show useful applications of chemical compounds. Both goals have been achieved by presenting color photographs of chemical reactions, common laboratory operations as well as industrial processes throughout the book. The interest of reader is kept alive by the discussion of ‘Current Issues in Chemistry’ at the end of several chapters as are the ‘Interviews with Chemists’. Some of the current issues described in the book are: the effect of chlorine compounds on the environment, disposal of industrial wastes, use of hydrogen as fuel, surviving at sea, the destruction of ozone layer and buckyballs to cure AIDS, etc.

Now that university students have access to computers, it is good that his book has been presented on a CD-ROM with a workbook. It is in fact the first chemistry textbook available on a CD. Keeping in mind the needs and the availability of computer facilities, this book can be purchased alone, or both the textbook and the CD-ROM. The price of the textbook is indicated above and the CD-ROM with workbook costs $ 62.95. The CD-ROM is not provided with the text book for reviewing purpose. It is not possible to assess its full potential without using the CD-ROM. However, it is claimed that the CD-ROM displays a series of screens. Each screen presents a concept and allows the user to interact with the material presented. Thus, for example, the user can watch a reaction in progress or by changing a variable in an experiment to see what happens. There are other features to explore in the CD. This might be regarded as a chemistry textbook of the next century.

The book consists of five parts with a total of 24 chapters. Each part contains a group of chapters with a common theme. The difficult concepts in chemistry are explained by well illustrated colourful material presented as :A closer look” towards the end of some chapters. In reviewers’ opinion, it is worth spending $242.90 to purchase both the textbook and CD-ROM in order to get the full benefit of this novel type of textbook and CD-ROM.