NEWS opinion between experts about the name to be applied to these elements. In the body of this chapter an alternative nomenclature is enthusiastically urged. This minor skirmish adds to the interest of the book, if not to its scientific value. This work is a valuable addition to scientific literature because of its direct interest to workers in the heavy element field and because it has reviewed and correlated knowledge of one tenth of the known elements. Microwave
Spectroscopy.
M.
W.
P.
Strandberg. vii + 140 pages. Methuen and Co., Ltd., London; John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, Ν. Υ., 1954. $2.50. Reviewed by A. HABEY SHABBAUGH, General Electric Re search Laboratory, Schenectady, Ν. Υ. Spectroscopy in the microwave fre quency region has proved to be an ex tremely powerful tool in physical and chemical research. Since its inception in 1946 it has grown with nearly explo sive rapidity, and workers have been so engrossed in exploring this new field that only recently has time been spent to write an organized and much needed account of the relevant theory and tech niques. Strandberg, having contrib uted heavily in both theoretical and ex perimental phases of this field from its
beginning, is in an excellent position to discuss the subject. This book is of the handy pocket size and might be described as the "short course" in microwave spectroscopy. It deals exclusively with rotating mole cules having absorptions in the range from a few millimeters to a few tens of centimeters in wave length, and begins with the first principles of quantum energy levels of rotating molecules. The author then logically proceeds to discuss the various perturbations which are necessary for the interpretation of spectra provided by the extremely high resolution afforded by the method dis cussed. The various chapters deal with neces sary background material (generalized Hamiltonian and properties of mo mentum), characteristic energies of free rotation, vibration-rotation inter action, nuclear quadrupole energy, Stark and Zeeman effects, interaction of rota tional and electronic states, line shapes and intensities, experimental consid erations, sources of radiation, sample cell and detectors, and electronic ap paratus. Each of these subjects is treated in the logical, rigorous, and complete manner characteristic of the earlier work published by Strandberg and his associates in this highly com
petitive field. An understanding of the theoretical treatment definitely presupposes a knowledge of quantum theory and matrix methods and the book would serve admirably as a text book for an advanced course to illus trate beautifully the use of the quan tum mechanical principles in inter preting spectra. Three quarters of the book is de voted to the theoretical aspects of the subject, while the remainder treats the instrumentation problems. In a book of this size, the latter subject is necessarily treated in an abbreviated fashion. The indispensable tables of reduced energy and line strengths by authors Hainer, Cross, and King are conven iently included in the appendix of the book. In the process of reduction to this page size, some of the subscripts appear small but fortunately are still legible. An adequate bibliography of the theoretical chapters and brief index are included at the end of the book. This book should prove very useful to those who have some knowledge of quantum mechanics and electronic cir cuits and wish to become acquainted with the fundamentals of the field of microwave spectroscopy.
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