Books
Analytical methods versus product quality ness testing for product quality and analytical methods, respectively. Each of these chapters presents a good description of factorial analysis for experimental design, describing various approaches to factorial analysis with the advantages and limitations of each approach. However, these chapters also highlight the major difficulty of this book—they are essentially redundant except for the examples used. Chapter 2 describes the methods with respect to Robustness of Analytical tablet crushing strength; Chapter 3 uses an Chemical Methods and HPLC method as the example. Much of the Pharmaceutical discussion and several of the tables are Technological Products repeated in both chapters and often again Margriet M.W.B. Hendriks, Jan H. de Boer, in later chapters. For example tables illusand Age K. Smilde, Eds. tra.ti.nsf a Plackett-Burman design Elsevier Science found in Chapters 2 3 and 5 P.O. Box 945 This alternation between product quality New York, NY 10159-0945 and analytical methodology continues 1996, 345pp,, $243.75 throughout the book. Chapters 2,4, and 8 deal explicitly with product quality or use This is the 19th volume in the serres Data Handling iincience and Technology. The tablet crushing as the only example. Chapeditors' purported aim "is to help those who ters 3,5,6, and 7 deal with the robustness of are working in the area of analytical chemis- analytical methods. In all of these chapters the editors have done a poor job of eliminattry and pharmaceutical technology to deing redundant material. There are even velop robust analysis methods and pharmaceutical technological products." The editors cases of apparently conflicting material. For include discussions of the robustness of both example, in Chapter 3 the author states that analytical methods and pharmaceutical prod- the use of "the type of acid to control the pH of the mobile phase... does not make ucts in the same volume, arguing that "the sense" as an experimental factor. Then in methodology to serve these purposes is essentially the same". Although this statement Chapter 5 the identity of the buffer compO" factor in Table 5.2. may be true, this volume unfortunately does nents is included This inconsistency is of course 3. danger not make the connection clear. The same with an edited volume in which each chapter methodology may apply; however, the people doing the two types of studies are not the is written by different authors; however the same. This dichotomy is evident even in this editors have not done a sufficiently careful job of ensuring that the individual chapters volume as each chapter specifically deals are consistent in style level and focus and with either analytical methods or product that the amount of redundant and conflicting quality This book would have been more material is kept to a minimum useful if the editors had chosen only one of these areas to address and described the The level of the individual chapters is methods and applications in a coherent also very uneven. Although the editors manner state in the introduction the intended audiAt the heart of this book are Chapters 2 ence is those working in the areas of analytical method development and product and 3, which present overviews of robust406 A
Analytical Chemistry News & Features, June 1, 1998
quality, some of the chapters require a significant background in chemometrics. Chapters 2 and 4 are particularly theoretical and require a rather sophisticated background in experimental design. These chapters are likely to be too dense (i.e., the discussion is theoretical rather than example driven) for someone wanting to learn the basics of experimental design and how to apply it. The last three chapters provide a nice conclusion by showing the direct application of the statistical methods described in the previous chapters to TLC, solvent-solvent extraction and tabletcrushing strength. More "real" examples in the earlier chapters would have significantly improved the readability and understandability of this book Reviewed by Craig E. Lunte, University of Kansas
All about electrospray
Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry: Fundamentals, Instrumentation, and Applications Richard B. Cole, Ed. John Wiley & Sons 605 Third Ave. New York, NY 10158 1997, 577 pp., $89.95
This book comprises review articles of studies published up to 1995, wrrtten by experts
