NEW BOOKS representative European instruments are generally used for examples. The coverage of variations and sources of instruments is generally inadequate and the section of each chapter devoted to future developments is not informative. References are totally inadequate and average five per chapter, almost entire ly to books published 1959-1963 rather than current papers and reviews. Atomic absorption flame photometry, fluorescence methods, and ESR are con spicuous omissions. Instruments con sidered are described in terms of their general capabilities so that one cannot evaluate the potential of the method for other than a few specific cases. In view of the superficial coverage, omissions of several important instru ments and inadequate references, it would appear that the book has very limited value except to an individual with some scientific curiosity who would like to know a little bit about in struments in current use. A student or prospective customer could find more current useful information about more instruments by reading pertinent pa pers in recent issues of ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY and inspecting the adver tisements for recent innovations. The current activity in chemical instrumen tation development is so great that
without the fundamental principles and performance details, the book gives lit tle insight into the present status of any of the instruments discussed. The pre face advises that no attempt is made to give the reader a "profound fundamen tal insight" into the various methods. Application of instrumental analysis in process analysis is covered in a sixpage chapter that outlines three specific determinations without evalua tion or comparison with other methods and of the five references cited one is a private communication! Applications in clinical chemistry are superficially described in seven pages. The appendix gives step by step laboratory procedures for performing the analysis of an aspirin-phenacetincaffeine tablet by absorption spectrom etry, the determination of IR spectrum of an unknown distillate and the deter mination of absolute configuration by spectropolarimetry, procedures that are ludicrous in the light of the content and depth of presentation of the rest of the text. Die Komplexometrische Titrations. Gerold Schwarzenbach, Hermann Flaschka. xvi + 839 pages. Ferdi nand Enke Verlag, Hasenbergsteige S, 7000 Stuttgart 1, Germany. 1965. Paper DM 48; cloth DM 53.
SEE US IN BOOTH C-25 AT THE PITTSBURGH CONFERENCE
FAR INFRARED SPECTROMETER FIR 6 4 Functions in range from 40 microns, 250 cm.-', down to very long wavelengths of 600 microns, 16.7 cm.-'. Particularly applicable in low frequency vibration analyses for structure determinations; computation of force constants; chemical analyses and differentiations of similar substances; gas and vapor molecular studies; semi-conductor and mineral examinations; short path, low scatter, ultrahigh sensitive optical system. Compact size. WRITE FOR COMPLETE DESCRIPTIVE LITERATURE.
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ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Reviewed by Henry Preiser, De partment of Chemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. This volume is an appropriate com memoration of the twentieth anniver sary of the first publication of the use of alkali salts of NTA and EDTA as ti trants for metal cations, The develop ment of complexometric titrations, which has proven to be one of the most dramatic developments in analytical chemistry, is described by Professor Schwarzenbach as a byproduct ("Unerwartete Frucht") of his systematic study of the metal complex formation of amino acids. The entire develop ment of complexometric titrations af fords an excellent illustration of the vi tality of the interaction between theo retical and practical aspects of analyti cal chemistry. Although the first titra tions depended on the pH-effect (change in pH accompanying chela tion), the development of metallochromic indicators followed soon after the accidental discovery of the color change in murexide induced by calcium ions. The determination of water hard ness with EDTA using Eriochrome Black Τ was first reported in 1948. Ten years after the development of this exciting new field, Professor Schwarzenbach published the first edi tion of "Complexometric Titrations," a book of about one hundred pages and 181 references. Three further editions of the book were published in rapid succession in response to its great popu lar acceptance. For this fifth edition, Professor Schwarzenbach is joined by Professor Hermann Flaschka, who has contributed in a productive and inge nious way to the development of com plexometric titrations, in a happy col laboration. This book belongs in the hands of all analytical chemists. The volume is divided in two parts: The first deals with general principles of complexometric titrations and in cludes chapters on titration with complexing agents, aminopolycarboxylic acids, complex formation and stability, complexometric titration curves, color and fluorescence indicators in complexometry, color changes of metallochromic indicators, instrumental end point de tections, types of titration and their precision and selectivity. In these 24 pages is presented a clear as well as thorough discussion of all phases of complexometric titrations. The second part of the book, com prising another 124 pages, deals with the practical application of complexo metric titrations to the determination of nearly all of the metallic as well as to some of the nonmetallic elements. In addition to clear and detailed proce dures, there is a wealth of discussion of
