indicating the influence of man's ac tivities on the environment."
-ftetto"-
References
See Us At Booth 810 "Pittsburgh 79"
NEC EXAC™5000 Compuier-Based Energy Dispersive XRF Systems
(1) "Cleaning Our Environment: A Chemi cal Perspective," Second Edition, Ameri can Chemical Society, Washington, D.C., 1978. (2) Minoru Koide, Edward D. Goldberg, Michael M. Herron, Chester C. Langway, Jr., Nature. 269,137-39 (1977).
5th Australian Symposium on Analytical Chemistry T h e 5th Australian Symposium on Analytical Chemistry (5 AC) was held in P e r t h from Aug. 20-29, 1979. T h e setting of this conference was especial ly appropriate, since this year marks the sesquicentennial of the establish ment of Western Australia. From the start, this meeting was clearly the product of extraordinarily good plan ning. T h e 350 participants from Aus tralia and overseas gathered for a se ries of seven plenary lectures, 17 invit ed review papers, and 85 shorter pre sentations. T h e latter category includ ed workshop and poster sessions as well as conventional lectures. T h e theme of the conference, "Setting the Standard," addressed the concern for accuracy, simplification, and innova tion in analytical chemistry. Although submitted papers covered a range of topics, most plenary and invited re view lectures appropriately revolved about this theme.
Buili to perform reliably in the toughest industrial environments ... and to salisf γ demanding research requirements • Unique, down-looking, detector — x-ray tube geometry — analyze fragile briquettes, powders, and liquids conveniently, precisely, and without danger of system contamination — high-angle, detector x-ray tube geometry maximizes analytical sensitivity • Uniquely flexible, computer-based system — complete library of qualitative (QUALEXTM ) and quantitative (EXAC) analysis programs — the system can be programmed to suit individual user requirements in NEC BASIC II (The Spectroscopy Language of Today) • Computer controlled "Intelligent" sample changer maximizes throughput
Nuclear Equipment Corporation 9 6 3 Industrial Road San Carlos, California 9 4 0 7 0 Phone:(415)591-8203 79/04
(3) John W. Finney, New York Times, 24 May 1964,1. (4) G. A. Cutter, K. W. Bruland, R. W. Risebrough, Nature. 279, 628-29 (1979). (5) Robert W. Risebrough, Antarct. J. U.S. 12,131-32 (1977). (6) Minoru Koide, Robert Michel, Edward D. Goldberg, Michael M. Herron, Ches ter C. Langway, Jr., Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 44, 205 (1979).
Plenary lectures were presented by a number of overseas individuals and covered a range of scientific topics. These papers included a discussion of standardization and data substantia tion in water quality assessment by M. W. Skougstad of the U.S. Geological Survey; an examination of plasma sources for analytical atomic emission spectroscopy by G. F. Kirkbright of Imperial College, London; a tutorially oriented exposition of laboratory com puter systems by R. E. Dessy of Vir ginia Polytechnic Institute and State University; recent advances in liquid chromatography by D. H. Freeman of the University of Maryland; an evalu ation of improved instrumentation for multielement atomic spectroscopy by G. M. Hieftje of Indiana University; and new developments in forensic chemistry by R. L. Williams of the Metropolitan Police Forensic Science Laboratory in London. In addition to the plenary lectures, interesting lectures were presented by P. L. Boar of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, who evalu ated present standards for safety in the analytical laboratory; Alan Bond
CIRCLE 150 ON READER SERVICE CARD 1422 A • ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 5 1 , NO. 14, DECEMBER
1979
of Deakin University, Australia, who provided present and futuristic glimpses of electroanalytical chemis try's role in the surgical theatre; Doris Gardner of CSIRO-Cronulla, Austra lia, who discussed trace metal analysis by anodic stripping voltammetry and atomic emission spectroscopy within a modern clean-room facility; and B u r t Halpern of the University of Wollongong, Australia, on a $20 000 com puterized mass spectrometer to be marketed in Australia in the near fu ture. T h e conference was well organized; the lecture theatres were of high acoustic quality and were equipped with excellent audio-visual facilities. Plenary lectures were videotaped for later use. Individuals wishing to exam ine them should contact Dr. H. C. Hughes, the conference chairman, for further details. Dr. Hughes can be reached at the Government Chemical Laboratories, 30 Plain Street, Perth, W.A. 6000. Following the conference, each of the plenary lecturers had the opportu nity to visit other parts of Australia. In the case of these two writers, fasci nating visits were made to several gov ernment-operated CSIRO laborato ries, the University of Melbourne, the new Deakin University at Geelong, the beautiful national capitol at Canberra, the marine research laboratory at Cronulla, the School of Chemistry a t the University of New South Wales, and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Tasmania. It is worthy of note t h a t the next Australian Symposium on Analytical Chemistry (6 AC) will be held in Can berra in 1981. Based on our experi ences, overseas visitors who are able to attend t h a t conference are encouraged to do so. Further details can be ob tained from Joyce Fildes, Department of Chemistry, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Cap itol Territory, Australia. David H. Freeman Gary M. Hieftje
