Principles of lnslrumenbl Analysis
Douglas A. Skoog, Stanford University, and Donald M . West, San Jose State College. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 710 pp. Inc., New York, 1971. x Figs. and tables. 17 X 24 cm. $13.95.
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This textbook for use in a course in instrumental andysis is organized by methods in a. conventional manner into two major sections and several minor sections. Each section is sufficiently independent of the other sections to provide the instructor with flexibility in selecting an order of presentation. As the title implies, principles are stressed throughout the hook. Fourteen of the twenty-four ohapters include prohlems (with answers given in the hack of the hook). With the exception of prohlems on infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, the prohlems require numerical answers. No laboratory experiments are included. This hook is a 2.ii-times expansion of the instnlmentd analysis section of the authors' "Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry," 2nd ed., 1969. The sixchapter section on electroanalytical chemistry is essentially s. duplication of the section an this topic in the previous texthook with much of the material and problems taken directly fromit. However, the thirteen-chapter section an major analytical methods based on the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with matter is extensively expanded over the previous three-chapter section and includes many additional topics. The one chapter on separations in the previous textbook has been expanded into two chapters primarily by making the discussion on gas chrome tography into a. separate chapter. In addition, chapters on mass spectrometry and radiochemical methods are included in this book. A point in favor of the use of this hook by students is the fact that it is well written. The material is clearly presented with chapter suhdivisions flowing logica.lly from one to the next. Each chapter and some chapter suhdivisions begin with concise introductions that set the stage for the material which follows. The major section on the interactions of electromagnetic radiation with matter is especidly well done and includes an excellent introductory chapter. The authors state that a major goal of this book is to develop the knowledge of the basic principles underlying the various methods so that the chemist will he able to choose the proper analytical methods for solving chemical problems. The student should he able to easily develop the knowledge of the basic principles. However, in this reviewer's opinion several things are lacking which make the attainment of the goal of being able to choose the proper method difficult for the student to achieve. First, discussions on applications of the methods me limited and in most cases fairly general. Second, in some cases the use of the more "classical" methods of instrumental analysis are over-emphasized with respect to related more modern methods. Third, no doubt partly because of the aim to keep each section independent of the others, there is very little dis-
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Journal o f Chemical Educofion
cussion on the comparison of methods with respect to their applicability to solve a. given type of analytical problem. A summary chapter at the end of the hook discussing the comparison of methods and their applications would have helped to overcome this deficiency. Fourth, the inclusion of brief discussions on other methods such as Mossbauer sDedroscoov.
analysis, would have given the student a more complete picture of the modern tools which currently are available to solve chemical problems. Unfortunately a textbook on instrumental analysis is out-of-date as soon as it is written. This book is no exception. Several places this reviewer read statements which were no doubt true at the time of writing hut which are no longer completely true. For probably the same reason, recent advances in areas such as liquid chromatography are lacking. For the instructor who is looking for a textbook with a new and different a p proach for use in an advanced analytical chemistry course, this book will not provide the answer. However, for the instructor who wants s,textbook covering the principles of the established methods traditionally included in an instrumental analysis course and who is not using the authors' "Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry" in an introductory analytical chemistry course, this textbook is well worth considering. ALVINL. BEILBY Pomona College Clwemont, California 91711
Thr' following l i l h arc lhose of vola,nrs in conlinuing 8rI'irs. Jfany of ihcsr scrim aw jamillor lo rcodrrs who arr brsl scrvd bg pranrpl annoancrrrrnl of lhc oppcarancc ql fhc Thr. policy oj THIS nrw fillm. JOUlLVAI, will be lo pt~blish full reviews on/!, oj inar~gsralvolunrrs in nrw scrics. Proceedings of the Second Lunar Science Conference, Houston, Texas, January 11-14, 1971. Sponsored by The Lunar Science Institute. Volume 1: Mineralogy and Petrology. Volume 2: Chemical and Isotope Analyses. Volume 3: Physical Properties/Surveyor Ill
Edited by A. A. Levinson, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Massechusetts, 1971. 2818 DO. Fies. and tables. 24 X 17 em. Single volmne $25. Three-volume set $70.
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The Chemistry of Heterocyclic Compounds. A kries of Monographs. Fused Pyrimidines. Part 11: Purines
Edited by D . J. Brown. Part I1 by J . If. Lister, Chester Beatty Research Institute, London. Wiley-Interscience, 655 pp. New York, 1971. xxiv Figs. and tables. 23.5 X 15.5 cm. 549.50.
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Surface and Colloid Science. Volume 4
Dimensions of the Environmental Crisis
Edited by E g a Matijeuic, Clarkson College of Technology, Potsdam, New York. Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1971. vii 445 pp. Figs. and tables. 23.5 X 15.5 cm. 524.95.
John A . Day and Frederic F. Fost, both of Linfield College, and Peler Rose. John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1971. viii 212 pp. 21.5 X 14 cm.
Contn'butors: Avrom I . Medalia; R. A. Pierotti; H. E. Thomas; William N. Gill; Lewis J. Derzansky; Mahendra R. Doshi; H. Ti Tien.
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$5.95.
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Recycling of articles about environmental prohlems seems to he one way puhlishers are trying to combst the problem of educational lag. Usually, the balance between rosy optimism and dire prediction is absent in such collections. Not so with this small volume. I t is a aood collection, aptly chosen to reinforce the "dimensions" concept implied in the title. The sections on Cultural Background and Global Aspect are best. Particularly revealing is the analysis of prohlems in China and the USSR. The least perceptive is the section on Energy. Science professors and their students should welcome the perspective provided by "From Conservation to Environmental Law" in the section on Basic Approaches to the Solution. Lists of supplementary readings for students in courses emphasizing what man has, is, and may do to his environment can include this title with benefit.
Absorption Spectra in the Ultraviolet and Visible Region. Cumulative Index (XI-XV)
Edited by L. Lang. Academic Press, Inc., New York, 1971. 103 pp. 24.5 x 17 om. $9.50. Rodd's Chemistry of Carbon Compounds. 2nd Ed. Volume Ill: Aromatic Compounds. Part A: General Introduction; Mononuclear Hydrocarbons and their Halogeno Derivative*; Derivatives with Nuclear Subrtituents attached through Nonmetallic Elements from Group VI of the Periodic Table
Edited by S . Coffey, Elsevier Puhlishing Co., New York, 1971. xx 559 pp. Figs. and tablea. 23.2 X 16 cm. $33.75.
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Con~nbutom: N . Campbell; G. S. Chandler; N. B. Chapman; D. P. Craig; A. G. Davies; P. D. B. de la Mare;