book reviews
Mossbauer Spectroscopy: An Introduction for Inorganic Chemists and Geochemists
C. M. Roncraft, University of Western Ontario. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 1913. xii 251 pp. 15.5 X 23.5cm. $21.50.
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The technique of nuclear gamma ray resonance spectroscopy (the Mossbauer effect) has become an important tool in the study of a very wide variety of chemical, physical, and technological problems, and the literature in this field has grown phenominally in the 16 years since the first demonstration of the effect by the German physicist Rudolf L. Mossbauer. It is well known that this literature is among the most extensively reviewed, summarized, catalogued, collected, and otherwise anthologized in the whole realm of physicochemical methods. One might thus ask: Is i t really neccessary to have yet another treatment of the fundamentals and of some applications of Mossbauer spectroscopy for a specialized group of readers? One can answer this question in the affirmative only after a careful reading of the Preface of this volume in which the author-who is not only Associate Professor of Chemistry a t the University of Western
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Ontario, but an Honorary Lecturer in the Department of Geology as well-points out that as yet, no book has been written which is intended for the inorganic chemist or geochemist (italics mine). Keeping this goal in mind, the reader will find the present volume an interesting contribution to the spectroscopic literature, with numerous examples of applications from the fields of inorganic, metal-organic, and mineralogical chemistry. {Vhat will be of particular interest to readers of this Journo1 is the copious inclusion of thought provoking problems intended for students a t the advanced undergraduate or graduate level in chemistry and geology. As has became customary for hooks of this genre, an extensive first section is devoted to an overview of the fundamental theory and physics underlying the Mosshauer effect, as well as a discussion of experimental aspects of this technique, a l ~ though neither treatment has been intended by the author to be either rigorous or exhaustive. This introductory material is followed by chapters devoted primarily to inorganic chemical applications, including "Mhssbsuer spectroscopy as a Fingerprint Technique in Inorganic Chemistry," and a discussion of the isomer shift and quadrupole splitting parameters, and their relation t o questions of chemical structure and bonding in compounds of interest to the prospective readership. The last two ehapters in the book address themselves mare specifically to the mineralogist and geochemist, again discussing the "Fingerprint" approach to these areas of application, as well as the quantitative estima-
tion of site populations in silicate minerals and the interpretation of spectra of multiphase assemblages (this latter term presumably refers to bulk mineralogical specimens which are not separated into their components, but are examined as is, au nature). As can he inferred from the above enumeration of the topics discussed in this book, the author has indeed addressed himself primarily to the interface between the nuclear gamma resonance spectroscopy technique on the one hand, and the fields of inorganic chemistry and geochemistry an the other, and anyone either teaching or doing research in these fields will find much of interest and usefulness in the present volume. It is clear from the treatment of the topics selected-as well as from the references to his own considerable contributions-that the author is well qualified to cover this subject, and a rather pronounced overemphasis on his awn areas of interest (for example the treatment of "partial quadrupole splitting parameters" based an the paint charge model of electric field gradient calculations) may be balanced against the evident enthusiasm of the author for the subject, which comes across very clearly in a reading of this material. The format of this book is such as to present the subject in a very readable manner and, with some exceptions, the figures (which in most cases are intended to be schematic and qualitative, rather than amenable to a quantitative extrac-
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book reviews tion of data) are satisfactory. Unfortunately, there are a rather large number of errors which have slipped by the proofreading stage, ranging all the way from the trivial (Clehsch-Gordan is consistently mispelled), to the not-so-trivial (e.g. the characteristic time scale of the Auger cascade is given as 10 * 8 ; a factor of 'h is missing from the equation for the rootmean-square velocity; the discussion of the f-factor variation with temperature and its significance in chemistry, as well as the related Gol'danskii-Karyagin asymmetry, is rather less than satisfactory, etc.) However, these oversights are not crucial, and will be corrected by the perceptive reader who pursues the introductory material given by the author, in greater depth. Finally, the ultimate usefulness of this book to the readers of this Journal will have to be judged on the basis of the interests of the reader in terms of Bancroft's treatment of the topics included, and a comparison of this treatment with that in the extensive review literature available in this field. To anyone whose major interests lie in inorganic or geochemistry-either in teaching or researeh-a careful perusal of Prof. Bancroft's contribution can he enthusiastically recommended. Rdfe H. Herber Rutgers. The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick. NewJersey 08903
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General Chemistry. Readings from Scientific American
With introductions by James B. Ifft, University of Redlands, and John E. Hearst, University of California, Berkeley. W. H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco, California, 1974. 434 pp. Figs. and tables. 22 X 29 cm. Cloth $12.00; paper $6.50. Here are 36 Scientific American-type reviews, most by authors whose names are immediately associated with their subjects. Several articles, especially those relating to the chemistry of life are repeats from other collections. Titles are organized under the themes: Chemistry, A Perspeetive In Time (21, Atoms and the Chemical Bond (3), Molecular Structure and Biological Specificity (4), Gases, Liquids, and Solids (3), Dynamics of Chemical Systems ( I ) , Instrumental Methods of Analysis (4), Organic Chemistry (41, and The Chemistry of Life (9). The preponderance of papers dealing with biochemical topics in a collection called "General" chemistry is interesting. It may he because of the predilections of the compilers, the kind of material available already screened by Scientific American editors, or because living systems offer the mast interesting contemporary chemical applications. Bihliographies and a good index make the hook useful. All that is lacking is time in the course for either professor or students to do this type of supplementary reading. WFK
