BOOKS
An Introduction to Electrochemistry Principles of Electrochemistry. Jiri Koryta and Jiri Dvorak, xi + 447 pp. John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016.1987. $95 Reviewed by Dennis H. Evans, De partment of Chemistry and Biochem istry, University of Delaware, Newark, Del. 19716 Modem aspects of electrochemistry are not adequately presented in most physical chemistry textbooks. Ac counts of recent advances in the acqui sition of new data and the understand ing of electrochemical phenomena have largely been confined to special mono graphs and reviews. Therefore, a need exists for a textbook that will provide an entry into the field of electrochemis try for advanced undergraduate stu dents and beginning graduate stu dents. The objective of the authors of
. the authors have made it a point to broaden the reader's perspective· A % Principles of Electrochemistry was to write such a book, and I think they have succeeded. The level of the presentation is ap propriate for a reader who has a firm grasp of elementary physical chemis try, particularly thermodynamics. The scope of the book is vast, comparable to the field itself. Topics include classical electrochemistry (equilibrium and transport in electrolyte systems; interfacial equilibrium) as well as areas in which there has been intense activity only in the past few decades (e.g., elec trode kinetics, the electric double lay er, semiconductor electrodes, electrodeposition, membrane potentials, and bioelectrochemical phenomena); The authors demonstrate an impressive ability to write with a compact style and still provide the reader with suffi-
cient substance. I enjoyed this book. The technique used by the authors is to present the fundamental concepts in a rigorous manner and then to follow with qualitative descriptions of exten sions and applications. Because the book deals with so many subjects, the reader gets a little taste of everything. Topics are well integrated, and the au thors have made it a point to broaden the reader's perspective. For example, discussions of electrolytes are not re stricted to aqueous solutions; nonaque ous solvents and ionic melts are treated as well. The familiar case of interfacial potential differences at metal-electro lyte interfaces is presented, and semi conductor-electrolyte interfaces be tween two electrolytes are also dis cussed. Of course, it is difficult to compress so much material into a small textbook, and there are a few places where little more than a list of subjects is presented. An example is the section on nonelectrochemical methods for the study of electrode surfaces and elec trode processes. Typographical errors are not entirely absent but are rare. The translation from the original manuscript has re sulted in a flowing and accurate En glish version with only a few awkward phrasings. Although intended as a text book for the novice, this book also pro vides some fun for the experienced electrochemist. Each chapter begins with a salient quotation from a famous electrochemical forefather and, as the concepts and equations are presented, the authors constantly remind the reader of the names of those who have built the foundations of electrochemis try. There are some gems for the ex pert, including an elegantly concise de velopment of the Ilkovic differential equation for mass transport to the ex panding plane electrode. The tone of Principles of Electro chemistry is serious except for one de lightful quotation from John Albery concerning the relative advantages of the rotating disk and dropping mercu ry electrodes (page 308). In short, this is a good text for introducing the fun damentals of electrochemistry.
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Chemical Analysis. Kenneth Rubinson, xvii + 923 pp. Scott Foresman & Co., 1900 Lake Ave., Glenview, 111. 60025.1987. $40.95 Reviewed by E. L. Wehry, Department of Chemistry, University of Tennes see, Knoxville, Tenn. 37996 Chemical Analysis is a comprehensive text comprising detailed treatments of both "wet" and "instrumental" analyt ical chemistry. It is a lavishly and gen erally well-illustrated book intended for a rigorous, full-year undergraduate course. The coverage of topics is both broad and deep; the text makes few concessions to students who have short attention spans or low levels of interest in the subject matter. Features of this text that I particu larly liked include the following. Pour useful chapters dealing with statistics, sampling, calibration techniques, and interferences are probably the best general treatments of these vital topics available in any textbook (oddly enough, though, the term detection limit does not receive a good definition until page 645, in a chapter dealing
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with spectroscopy). Coverage of mass spectrometry is not bogged down by excessively detailed discussions of spectral interpretation or instrumenta tion. A discussion of atomic spectro metry techniques establishes their in terrelationships more successfully than do many other texts. Less successful characteristics of the book, in my view, include the following. There is a tendency to relegate impor tant material to supplements placed at the ends of chapters. For example, the introductory chapter on spectroscopy
BOOKS contains eight such supplements cover ing such vital topics as the functioning of detectors and monochromators, the assumptions implicit in Beer's law, and the nature of molecular electronic en ergy levels. The need to jump back and forth repeatedly between the bodies of chapters and supplements is annoying and disruptive. A 71-page chapter on the fundamentals of "simple and com petitive chemical equilibria" (acidbase, redox, complexation) is followed 138 pages later by chapters on gravi metric and titrimetric analysis. It is not obvious that separating the "funda mentals" and "analytical applications" of chemical equilibria is pedagogically sound. Finally, a short chapter on clas sical "freshman physics" electronics seems misplaced and irrelevant. There are some organizational oddi ties in the book; for example, the basic chapter dealing with equilibria does not mention the concept of buffer ac tion. There are infelicities in the writ ing, presumably resulting from con flicting desires to provide exhaustive coverage while maintaining a text of finite size. There are a number of po tentially misleading statements, such as the implication that a double monochromator inherently exhibits much higher dispersion than does a single monochromator. There are also a few outright errors: " . . . the lower limits of detection are inherently higher in lu minescence spectrometry than in ab sorption." I suspect that somewhat less encyclopedic coverage might have been preferable, particularly in the chapters on electroanalytical chemistry and op tical spectroscopy. This text deserves serious consider ation for use in a full-year undergradu ate course populated primarily by chemistry majors. Graduate students seeking a source for review of basic principles are also likely to find this text helpful.
Books Received Reactions of Acids and Bases in Ana lytical Chemistry. A. Hulanicki. 308 pp. John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10158. 1987 Advances in Chromatography. Vol. 27. J. C. Giddings, E. Grushka, and P . R. Brown, Eds. xviii + 359 pp. Marcel Dekker, 270 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016.1987. $95.75 Biological Magnetic Resonance. Vol. 7. L. J. Berliner and J. Reuben, Eds. xix + 313 pp. Plenum Press, 233 Spring St., New York, N.Y. 10013. 1987. $55
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