Books
New Edition of a Classic Text Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry. 4th ed. Douglas Skoog, Donald West, xiv + 859 pp. W.B. Saunders Co., West Washington Square, Philadelphia, Pa. 19105. 1982. $29.95
Reviewed by Richard Yost, Department of Chemistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla. 32611 This new edition of a classic will serve as an excellent text for an introductory analytical chemistry course for chemistry majors. The text complements two other Skoog and West texts: "Analytical Chemistry" (3rd éd., 1979), a simplified version of this text for nonchemistry majors, and "Principles of Instrumental Analysis" (2nd éd., 1980), for a second-term majors course. The text is clearly written; its 31 chapters present a careful balance between theory and practice. An excellent discussion of stoichiometric and equilibrium calculations is now condensed into a single chapter. The authors have added new material throughout the text, detailing methods for problem solving. The reliance on fundamental concepts such as charge and mass balance and the clear handling of simplifying assumptions hopefully will influence other textbook authors. The chapter on data analysis includes new material on linear regression, as well as a section on significant figures, which is particularly welcome to those of us faced with calculator-wielding students who favor 10-digit answers. The electrochemistry chapters provide a comfortable transition from classical techniques to modern instrumental methods. These chapters have been trimmed to make room for more material on spectroscopy and chromatography. This includes discussion of ICP and molecular fluorescence, as well as a new chapter on HPLC. Following the coverage of spectroscopy are chapters on the analysis of "real" substances, preliminary steps of analysis, and sample preparation. These provide an unusually logical lead-in to the chapters on analytical separations. The book ends with chapters on laboratory techniques and experiments. This edition contains a number of improvements. I applaud (as will those users of the third edition who
suggested it) the abandonment of formal concentration and the introduction instead of the concept of molar analytical concentration. The oftenconfusing concepts of normality, equivalents, and titer are defined, but their use is minimized throughout the text. Similarly, activity coefficients are introduced in the discussion of solubility equilibria, and generally neglected thereafter. The new introductory chapters on electrochemistry, spectroscopy, and separations are a welcome addition. Finally, there are numerous worked-out examples throughout the text and a good selection of problems at the end of each chapter, half with numerical answers included. This reviewer finds only a few faults with the text. I dislike the term "neutralization titrations," which is used interchangeably with "acid-base titrations." I prefer use of the symbol e~ rather than e for the electron as an aid to students in balancing reactions. The new chapter on HPLC claims that most separations employ silica gel rather than the far more common bonded reversed-phase columns. I also dislike use of the term "sensitivity" to describe limits of detection (g/mL) for HPLC detectors. I was surprised to see UV and NMR spectrometers classed with MS and IR spectrometers as common GC detectors. Overall, this is an excellent text, well suited for an introductory analytical chemistry course for majors. This edition covers this rapidly expanding field extremely well and contains significant improvements over previous editions. Separation and Preconcentratlon Methods In Inorganic Trace Analysis. J. Minczewski, J. Chwastowska, R. Dybczynski, Eds. xi + 543 pp. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1982. $85
Reviewed by Quintus Fernando, Department of Chemistry, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz. 85721 Analytical chemists involved in inorganic trace analysis will find this a useful and thoroughly documented reference work. In an excellent introductory chapter on working techniques, the authors deal effectively
with many of the experimental difficulties encountered in trace analysis. Many authors in this field have either ignored problems associated with sample handling and contamination or have been unaware of the importance of such mundane topics in the analysis of ppm or ppb levels. The bulk of the book is devoted to the theory and practice of liquid-liquid extraction and ion exchange chromatography. Reversed-phase chromatography, volatilization, precipitation, and coprecipitation are treated briefly. Although this book is not a comprehensive text that deals with all separation and preconcentration techniques in inorganic trace analysis, it is a valuable source of information for all chemists. The optimum conditions for numerous solvent extractions and ion exchange separations are listed in tabular form. These tables, together with the extensive and carefully compiled bibliography at the end of each chapter, are a lasting contribution to the literature in the field of trace analysis. Despite the absence of detailed experimental procedures, the information condensed in these tables will continue to be helpful in developing suitable separation schemes for specific inorganic determinations. The translation of the text from Polish to English has resulted in awk-
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Books ward phraseology in a few instances, but this does not detract from the book's scientific merit. This versatile reference work is a worthwhile addition to any library. Electroanalytical Chemistry, Basic Principles and Applications. James Plambeck. xix + 404 pp. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1982. $35
Reviewed by R. Mark Wighlman, Department ofChemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind. 47405 This book is written as a textbook for advanced undergraduates or beginning graduate students. The author's goal is to provide a text that is also useful for those students who may have had only one year of general chemistry. The book is divided into three parts. The first concerns "basic information" and covers topics such as Si units, operational amplifiers, computer interfacing, measurement of electrical quantities, electrochemical cells, conductance, and interphases. The second part primarily concerns potentiometric measurements; the third part deals with coulometry, voltammetry, polarography, and amperometric titrations. Because of the broad range of topics this book tries to encompass and because of its goal of serving a wide audience, many of the topics in the book are treated superficially, while others receive unnecessarily detailed treatment. For example, computers are discussed for nine pages, but four of these are devoted to details of the S100 bus, including pin connections. This discussion is in the first part of the book; unfortunately, none of the other sections point out the usefulness of computers in electrochemistry. It is distracting that many techniques are introduced only to be immediately characterized as archaic (e.g., electromechanical integrators and power supplies, metal-metal oxide electrodes and the quinhydrone electrode for the determination of pH, and high-frequency conductometric techniques). The wide scope of topics covered means that chemical examples had to be kept to a minimum. However, the author cites the important and relevant works, so this book can be used as an introduction to the electrochemical literature. Useful discussions on SI units (which, unfortunately, are ignored by many electrochemists) and laboratory standards for electrical measurements are included. The concepts behind the rates of electrochemical reactions and the thermodynamics of electrochemical processes arc both
discussed; however, the two fundamental concepts are not tied together. Double-layer concepts are introduced at a level appropriate to this type of text; however, figures 5-3 and 5-4, models of the double layer, contain errors. The principles behind the functioning of ion-selective electrodes are presented in a somewhat elementary fashion; however, practical aspects of their use are described well. The section on "nonequilibrium electroanalytical techniques" is not particularly well organized. Chronoamperometry, the simplest electrochemical technique with respect to understanding diffusion processes, is introduced after polarography and rapid-sweep techniques. The nomenclature used in this section of the book is somewhat unusual. What is commonly known as linear-sweep voltammetry is referred to as "chronoamperometry with linear sweep," and double potential step chronoamperometry is referred to as cyclic chronoamperometry. Although alternate names for these techniques are given, the ones that the author has suggested are certainly not the most common and will probably confuse beginning students. I would not recommend this book for a graduate course in electroanalytical chemistry, unless the majority of students had never had freshman physics or undergraduate analytical chemistry. The author seems to have addressed this book to this rather unusual audience. Even for this audience, problems may occur with the use of this text because of its unique use of electrochemical nomenclature. Principles of Infrared Quantitative Analysis. Program IR-101. 41 mln. Savant, Sloane Audio Visuals for Analysis and Training, P.O. Box 3670, Fullerton, Calif. 92634. 1982. $220, slide/tape; $490, video.
Reviewed by Jack Koenig, Department of Macromolecular Science and Physical Chemistry, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106 This audiovisual course is an excellent general introduction to quantitative IR analysis. The quality of the narration and slides is very high. The approach is limited to dispersive instruments with computers; FTIR is not mentioned. The facile interchange between transmission and absorbance spectra would lead one to believe that they are the simple inversions of each other and the significance of the baseline correction is lost. The method used to correct for the baselines is
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oversimplified. Recommendations for digital smoothing of data should be ignored. A straightforward approach to multicomponent analysis is well presented, but no caution about the problems of interaction of the components is given. Overall, for an elementary course, I thought it was well done and very informative. I recommend its use as an educational tool in this important area.
Books Received Wilson & Wilson's Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry. Vol. 15 and Vol. 16. G. Svehla, Ed. 585 and 513 pp., respectively. Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017. 1982. $127.75 and $151, respectively Evaluation of Analytical Methods in Biological Systems. Part A. Glen Baker, Ronald Courts, Eds. xvi + 308 pp. Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017. 1982. $76.75 Methods for Analysis and Testing. Vol. 2. 41st annual ed. Pt. 1. xxviii + 313 pp. John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1982. $145 Introduction to Safety in the Chemical Laboratory. N. T. Freeman, J. Whitehead, ix + 244 pp. Academic Press, 111 Fifth Ave., New York, N.Y. 10003. 1982. $29 Correlation Analysis of Organic Reactivity. John Shorter, xi + 235 pp. John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1982. $41.95 Stereochemical Applications of NMR Studies in Rigid Bicyclic Systems. Alan Marchand. 231 pp. Verlag Chemie International Inc., 1020 N.W. 6th St., Deerfield Beach, Fla. 33441. 1982. $92.50 Developments in Atomic Plasma Spectrochemical Analysis. Ramon Barnes, Ed. xvii + 751 pp. John Wiley & Sons, 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1982. $21.95 Industrial Chemical Exposure: Guidelines for Biological Monitoring. Robert Lauwerys. 150 pp. Biomedical Publications, P.O. Box 495, Davis, Calif. 95616. 1983. $16.50 Electrophoresis. Z. Deyl, Ed. xiv + 462 pp. Elsevier Science Publishing Co., Inc., 52 Vanderbilt Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017. 1982. $104.75
