cal insight. Criteria for choosing one technique over another are extremely vague. The classification section is useful, if only to help newcomers work through the extensive jargon of the field. The historical section has numerous minor errors and omissions. Some of the nomenclature is nonstandard, which should be unacceptable in an introductory text. The theory section offers little insight into the processes involved in separation and includes many incorrect or misleading statements. The strongest parts of the book are the chapters on LC. Chapter 5 is profusely illustrated with drawings that show how different pieces of hardware function. Chapter 6 details the appropriate subspecialties used to separate different classes of compounds; numerous applications are used as examples. (This contrasts with the GC and SFC sections which contain almost no illustrations and slim-to-nonexistent applications sections.) However, information about phases including mobile-phase solvent strength in the chapter on planar chromatography. The GC section is surprisingly weak. Only 6 or 7 references (out of 180) were published after 1988, and 3 of those cite chromatograms from column manufacturers' catalogs. Inappropriate or misleading comparisons abound, including the suggestion that capillaries are faster than packed columns based on comparisons of a temperature-programmed run on a high-efficiency capillary column with an isothermal run on a low-efficiency packed column. Such comparisons of apples with oranges cannot offer much insight to a novice and obscures the fact that the optimum linear velocity and the efficiency unit time should be higher in the packed column Contrary to the statements made in the book GC/MS is far more widely used than all other selective detectors put together
The section on SFC, containing only 20 a diskette containing spreadsheets for a pages, is clearly an afterthought. The refvariety of computer systems. Principles of erences cited are, again, curiously old; all Fourier transformation, advanced data but two are from the 1980s or earlier. Much processing, mathematical basics, FT-IR of the discussion does not reflect current spectroscopy, FT-NMR spectroscopy, and thought, and the description of the instruFT-MS are among the topics featured. mentation is vague to the point of being almost useless. There is virtually nothing Electrochemistry for about applications, and anyone interested Chemists, 2nd e d . in learning about SFC should look else- Donald T. Sawyer, Andrzej Sobkowiak, and where. Julian L. Roberts, Jr. Reviewed by Terry A. Bergerg Berger John Wiley and Sons Instruments, Newark, DE 605 Third Ave. New York, NY 10158 1995, 505 pp., $64.95
BOOKS RECEIVED Quality Assurance and TQM for Analytical Laboratories M. Parkany, Ed. Royal Society of Chemistry Blackhorse Road, Letchworth Herts SG6 1HN, United Kingdom 1995, 288 pp., £47.50
This volume contains the proceedings of the Sixth International Symposium on the Harmonization of the Role of Laboratory Quality Assurance in Relation to Total Quality Management, held in Melbourne, Australia, in December 1995. Topics include sampling, method validation, certification, and customer relations. Spectroscopy and t h e Fourier Transform: An Interactive Tutorial Ron Williams VCH 220 East 23rd St. New York, NY 10010-4606 1995, 102 pp., $69.95
This book emphasizes the pictorial aspects and hands-on manipulation of spreadsheets rather than the mathematical presentation of information. It includes
This book, an updated edition of a text originally published in 1974, is intended to give chemists, biologists, and material scientists a firm understanding of basic electrochemical principles and methodologies. The authors use a variety of sample systems from biological and organometallic chemistry to demonstrate the use of electrochemistry as a molecular characterization technique. Analytical Techniques for Food and Agricultural Products G. Linden, Ed. VCH 220 East 23rd St. New York, NY 10010 1995, 578 pp.. $145
Although this book is intended to be a comprehensive guide to all the analytical techniques used in the food industry, it is also meant to serve as a reference for the broader analytical community. The book is divided into four sections: physical techniques, biochemical techniques, sensory evaluation, and nutritional and toxicological analysis techniques. Each section is subdivided into several contributed chapters. A subject index is included.
Analytical Chemistry News & Features, April 1, 1996 2 6 3 A
