Books
Three Aids for Practical Spectroscopists Laboratory Methods in Infrared Spectroscopy. Second edition. R. G. J. Miller and B. C. Stace, Eds. xxi + 375 pages. Heyden & Son Inc., 225 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. 10017. 1972. $18
Reviewed by Jeanette G. Grasselli, Molecular Spectroscopy Section, R&E Department, The Standard Oil Co. (Ohio), Cleveland, Ohio44128 The working laboratory chemist is constantly seeking handy reference books which will quickly lead him to a specific piece of practical information or to a source of more detailed descriptive material. This greatly expanded second edition of "Laboratory Methods in Infrared Spectroscopy" provides the practical spectroscopist with just such a useful aid. The book covers a wide range of topics, primarily concerned with basic descriptions of instruments, cell materials, or sample handling techniques for not only routine but difficult samples, as well. The individual authors are knowledgeable authorities in their fields. They describe generally useful practices or helpful hints within their experiences and are concise, yet fairly thorough in reviewing their subjects. No attempts are made to critically review or evaluate. The comprehensive bibliographies accompanying most of the chapters are particularly useful and are a strong feature of the book. The excellent monograph on tracking down spurious bands in infrared analysis is retained in its opening position of the book from the first edition. A novel addition to the second edition is a brief description of handling corrosive, unstable, and explosive samples. A good discussion of industrial plant analysis covers process instruments, an often overlooked application of infrared spectroscopy. Popular chapters on quantitative infrared analysis of polymeric materials, handling insoluble polymers and rubbers or natural and synthetic fibers, aqueous solutions and disper-
sions, and combined separation (chromatography) and infrared techniques have been expanded and updated from the first edition. For those who want an informed overview of the state-of-the-art in several specialized applications of infrared spectroscopy, the chapters on obtaining spectra at high and low temperatures or under high pressure, polarized spectra of single crystals, surface adsorbed species, or matrix isolation techniques will be useful. Three especially welcome additions are the timely and valuable discussions of Fourier transform spectroscopy, Raman instrumentation & sampling, and internal reflection spectroscopy, each written by an expert. Although generally free of errors, the misspelling of adsorbed as absorbed in the title of the chapter on surface species is glaringly obvious. This misleading error is also present in the Table of Contents. Microns has crept in a few times, instead of micrometers, in chapters on recording
fefcftMiMMMMH
LBBORflTORV mETHODS ΙΠ SPECTROSCOFV Editors: R.G.J.MillerS B.C.Stace
the spectrum and quantitative analysis of polymers. The overall quality of the book is above standard; it satisfies its purpose as a reference manual; and it can be recommended without qualification for inclusion in the working library of every practical spectroscopist. X-Rays, Electrons, and Analytical Chemistry: Spectrochemical Analysis with X-Rays. H. A. Liebhafsky et al. xii + 566 pages. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1972. $24.95
Reviewed by F. Claisse, Department of Mining and Metallurgy, Université Laval, Québec 10, P.Q. G1K 7P4, Canada For those readers already familiar with "X-Ray Absorption and Emission in Analytical Chemistry" by the same authors, this book will appear to be a revised edition with a considerable amount of added material representing an expansion of about 60%. This text deals with X-ray absorption, emission, and diffraction. Fundamentals of X-rays are well covered, since they are important to the analyst for selecting the most appropriate methods for the analysis of various materials. However, this information is distributed over several chapters, some dealing with applications, which is a minor inconvenience. Absorption of X-rays by materials is also well covered, and numerous applications are given, although these methods are not often use'd. The relative importance given to this chapter may invite some readers to try these methods on their own problems. The chapter on quantitative analysis adequately covers fundamentals and qualitative analysis but gives rather poor coverage of quantitative analysis. Quantitative analysis is sensitive to particle size, mineral composition, and crystal perfection; therefore, the analytical chemist needs a
A N A L Y T I C A L CHEMISTRY, VOL. 45, NO. 13, NOVEMBER
1973 · 1119 A
Books
Pye Unicam SP1800
The basic unit
Manual, double-beam UV-Vis. Range: 190700nmor190-850nm. Four absorbance scales & concentration presentation High resolution monochromator Automatic lamp change Double beam recording Second sample position forturbid solutions
better understanding of how these factors interfere with his work. X-ray spectrography is discussed in Chapter 9, but much information on this subject is contained in Chapters 7 and 8, whose titles are somewhat misleading. The analysis of trace elements is a particularly well-developed topic and illustrates well the versatility of X-ray spectrography. The various analytical methods are described in a satisfactory manner, and examples are sufficiently numerous. Two topics which deserved more attention are: the analysis of heterogeneous samples and the extent of deviations which can be expected from particle size; and the description and application of the numerical method of Lachance and Traill, which is a most promising method for the correction of interelement effects. Complete tables on emission lines, absorption edges, absorption coefficients, photon yields, and absorption jump ratios are given in the appendix. This book is intended for the analytical chemist who is interested in obtaining maximum information on the various X-ray techniques available. It covers all of the pertinent field from theory to applications, including instrumentation and statistics. In general, the average analysisoriented scientist will not find the book too difficult; no complicated mathematics are involved.
Base line compensation Resolution to 0.1 nm Asa system
(plug-in additions): Multiple sample handling Digital readout & printer Temperature programming Fluorescence Automation accessories
PHILIPS ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS 750 S. FULTON AVE., MT. VERNON, N.Y. 10550
Practical Fluorescence: Theory, Methods, and Techniques. George G. Guilbault. xi + 664 pages. Marcel Dekker, Inc., 95 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1973. $29.50
Reviewed by D. E. Ryan, Department of Chemistry, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S., Canada This book, with contributions from R. F. Chen; Govindjee, G. Papageorgiou, and E. Rabinowitch; and E. L. Wehry, is recommended. Despite the wide scope of the volume (to introduce the reader to the entire area of luminescence spectroscopy), the author is largely successful in presenting
an overall view of one of today's most active research fields. After an introduction to luminescence and a discussion of instrumentation, there are chapters on practical aspects of measurement, phosphorescence, and the use of luminescence in the determination of inorganic and organic compounds, in enzymology, in photosynthesis (Govindjee, Papageorgiou, and Rabinowitch), and for the assay of proteins (Chen). There are also special chapters on the effects of molecular structure and environment on fluorescence (Wehry), chemiluminescence, atomic fluorescence, solid state monitoring, fluorescence indicators, and forensic and environmental analysis. The book is pleasingly written and is directly reproduced from a typewritten manuscript. As a result, most of the chapters cite references to the 1970's; this contrasts with the chapter on forensic and environmental analysis in which the latest literature reference is 1965. References include recent monographs and book chapters which are especially valuable in a book of such breadth with imposed space limitations. In the author index the practice of giving both the page reference and the page upon which the complete reference is listed is helpful, and it is a practice which should be more widely adopted. The title of the book is particularly apt. Although there is some theoretical discussion, the emphasis is upon basic principles and practical applications of luminescence to analytical problems. This book should be very useful to the newcomer in the field, and because of its scope and abundance of practical comments, it should also prove valuable to the experienced worker.
Translated from the Hungarian Edition Kinetics of Electrode Processes. Tibor Erdey-Gruz. 482 pages. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 605 Third Ave., New York, N.Y. 10016. 1972. $27.50
Reviewed by L. R. Faulkner, Department of Chemistry, University of Illinois, Urbana, III. 61803 According to the author's preface, this book is essentially an English translation of the 1969 Hungarian edition, although the literature coverage for the present version has been extended through 1970. Professor Erdey-Gruz states his hope that the book will occupy an intermediate position between a monograph and textbook. Such a position is indeed realized, but one can certainly question its advantage because the volume offers neither the depth of a good
CIRCLE 165 ON READER SERVICE CARD ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 45, NO. 13, NOVEMBER 1973 · 1121 A
Analyzing water?
Put Hach reagents to the test. There are nearly 400 quality Hach reagents available to you. Everything from acetic acid to zinc test reagent. Most Hach formulations are based on Stand ard Methods. They're packaged in convenient premeasured powder pillows or bottles for maximum s t a b i l i t y and minimum dosage waste. Here are five of the most popular Hach reagents: • Formula 2533™ Nitrification Inhibitor powder for BOD testing. Gives more accu rate evaluation of the effectiveness of waste water treatment processes and a way of calculating potential nitrogenous oxygen demand in samples. • New FerroZine® iron analysis reagent. It's fast becoming the new standard in trace analysis for ultrahigh purity water. Ferro Zine® offers the highest test sensitivity available today. • PAO for dissolved oxygen testing. A time proven successor to sodium thiosulfate so lution. PAO gives same accuracy with maxi mum stability. Eliminates the nuisance of checking and restandardizing titrating solu tion or making adjustment calculations to compensate for thiosulfate deterioration. • New Formula 2589™ Fluoride Adjustment Buffer powder. Ideal for fluoride electrode determinations. One powder pillow dosage buffers samples, controls ionic strength and frees fluoride in solution from interfering substances without diluting the sample. • Dithizone powder pillows. A breakthrough in colorimetric lead analysis. Hach's new procedure provides a highly sensitive test with no common metal interferences. Write for more information today.
H A C H CHEMICAL COMPANY P.O. Box 907-Ames, Iowa 50010 U.S.A. Phone:515-232-2533 ' HACH CHEMCALCa TWX: 910-520-1158 MMVERSARY And: Hach Europe Namur, Belgium
Books
source book nor the progressive con struction of logical result featured in a valuable text. It approaches the for mer role more closely. About one third of the book is de voted to the theoretical fundamentals of electrode kinetics. This discussion deals almost entirely with the usual marriage between transition-state theory and mass-action dynamics. Except for a brief examination of electrode processes at semiconductor electrodes, more recent treatments, which relate electrodics to the struc tures of solids, are merely referenced. Almost half of the volume reviews the results of kinetic studies on real systems. Three gas electrodes—hy drogen, oxygen, and chlorine—are treated in detail, and there is an ex tensive discussion of metal deposi tion. These sections, which seem eas ily the best in the book, may be espe cially useful to Western scientists be cause of the fairly extensive coverage of Soviet and Eastern European liter ature. More cursory treatments of ki netics at redox electrodes and at elec trodes immersed in molten salts are also included, but there is no exami nation of organic systems. The very fundamentals of electrode interfaces are not covered in the text proper; instead they are reviewed briefly in an appendix. One, there fore, cannot expect to comprehend fully the material presented anywhere in the volume without considerable foreknowledge, and this arrangement most clearly precludes the book's use as a teaching text. Experimental techniques have been declared beyond the scope of the ef fort, but doing so has introduced a certain awkwardness into the review of specific electrochemical systems, because advance understanding is presumed only for the long-estab lished steady-state and slow-transient methods. To this reviewer, at least, results from more sophisticated (and more recent) experimentation, espe cially ac impedance measurements, seem to have been slighted. The style of presentation is accu rate in that only a few outright errors are apparent; yet, it is often impre
CIRCLE 9 3 O N READER SERVICE CARD
1122 A · ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 45, NO. 13, NOVEMBER
1973
cise in that what is written is not ex actly what is meant. A fairly repre sentative example appears on page 99, where the reader finds that, "Convection can be eliminated by stirring, which if strong enough, may lead to homogeneity of the solution up to the outer boundary of the diffu sion layer. " Much of this probably can be ascribed to the translation, but whatever the source, it renders comprehension quite formidable in places. Another criticism that ought to be made pertains to the author's treat ment of J. A. V. Butler's early contri butions to this field. Professor ErdeyGruz emphasizes correctly the impor tance of his 1930 paper with Volmer, which first fully formulated many still current kinetic ideas. Nevertheless, Butler introduced the kinetics of ac tivated processes to electrodics at least six years earlier; yet, his name has been omitted in the historical accounts contained here. Even though this book may provide useful reviews for specialists studying certain specific electrode processes, it will have a difficult time attaining full success. Serious shortcomings do not seem to compromise it nearly so much as the quality of the competi tion. Among monographs, Vetter's "Electrochemical Kinetics" is much deeper, more extensive, and even though it is now several years old, is more oriented toward contemporary experimental capabilities. Among textbooks, Volume II of Bockris and Reddy's "Electrochemistry" is vastly broader and clearer. This book offers very little that is not covered in ei ther of these alternatives; hence, nei ther individuals nor institutions will find its purchase easily justified.
New Books Environmental Chemistry. Stanley E. Manahan. ν + 393 pages. Willard Grant Press, Inc., 20 Newbury St., Boston, Mass. 02116. 1972. $10 (Paperbound, $6.95)
This book is based on an interme diate level environmental chemistry course taught by the author. There fore, it is primarily a textbook, but the author hopes that it will be useful as a general reference book in the area. A background in general, plus some analytical and organic, chemis try is assumed. Nitrogen NMR. M. Witanowski and G. A. Webb, Eds. ix + 403 pages. Plenum Publishing Corp., 227 West 17th St., New York, N.Y. 10011. 1973. $28
Theoretical and experimental as pects of nitrogen NMR, N-14 nuclear quadrupole effects, chemical shifts in
