PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY FOR PREMEDICAL STUDENTS

by John Page Amsden'20. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1946, 298 pages.$3.50.

This textbook evolved out of the excellent and popular course in Physical Chemistry which the author has taught to Dartmouth premedical students for the last dozen years.

In the preface the author states that: "One of the important factors making possible the tremendous advances in medical practice during the last century has been the application of chemistry to the understanding and control of the reactions taking place in the human body. In recent years the application of the principles of physical chemistry has been of great value in forwarding the work of the physician."

The laws and theories of physical chemistry have been presented clearly, and also the applications to physiology and medicine have been included in each chapter. Subjects such as surface tension, viscosity, solubility of gases, osmosis, ions, buffer solutions, reaction rates, catalysis, colloids, and the Donnan equilibrium are followed by interesting applications of these topics to the study of the human body, particularly as they apply to the blood. The chapter on acidity is prefaced by the statement that: "If physiologists were asked to name the most important single ion encountered in their work, it is probable that most of them would select the hydronium ion."

Although the author has omitted thermodynamics and other more difficult parts of physical chemistry, he has used mathematical derivations for all important laws; and the numerous problems at the end of each chapter give the student an opportunity to understand the use of these principles. A novel feature is the inclusion of a list of visual aids, motion pictures which supplement the material in the text. The book is planned for aone one-semester course; the treatment is concise but adequate. It should be widely adopted, and will be very useful to medical men who wish to acquaint themselves with this field.