Books
Progress in DLS Dynamic light Scattering
Dynamic Light Scattering: The Method and Some Applications Wyn Brown, Ed. Oxford University Press 200 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10016 1993, 735 pp., $165
Dynamic light scattering (DLS) has be come a commonly used experimental tech nique because it is noninvasive and rela tively inexpensive, requires only small fluid samples, and can provide results rap idly. This volume illustrates the exten sive scope of the method and highlights some of the major advances in DLS, but is not intended as a comprehensive review. Great progress has been made during the past 20 years in the theory and practice of DLS, and Brown has assembled an impres sive list of authors to cover the important aspects of the field. The book is written primarily for scien tists who have a strong background in physics; it can be divided into two sec tions: methods and applications. Methods chapters include those on single-photon correlation techniques, noise in photon correlation functions, and data analysis; the rest of the chapters are devoted to var ious applications, including theory of multicomponent polymer mixtures, linear viscoelasticity, polymer solutions, polyelectrolytes, polymer structure analysis, dense polymer systems, depolarized DLS and Brillouin spectroscopy, polymer gels, (nearly) rigid rods, micellar systems, criti cal phenomena, and biological systems. Chapter 16 introduces a new development that extends DLS to the study of opaque systems with a high degree of multiple 182 A
scattering, known as diffusing-wave spec troscopy. The chapters on theory of DLS are gen erally good. Schatzel has thought deeply about high-speed digital processing of sto chastic optical signals and has provided an excellent treatment of photon statistics and digital signal processing. Stepanek also has provided a very good description of most of the current methods of data analysis; his comparison of general in verse Laplace transformation methods, including non-negative least squares, con strained regularization, maximum en tropy, and nonlinear regularization, is par ticularly interesting. The chapter on the
Great progress has been made during the past 20 years in the theory and practice ofDLS.
BOOKS RECEIVED Laser Spectroscopy: Techniques and Applications E. Roland Menzel Marcel Dekker 270 Madison Ave. New York, NY 10016 1994, 320 pp., $135
This volume provides an overview of laser spectroscopy, with an emphasis on realworld applications from a variety of fields, including engineering, chemistry, medi cine, and bioscience. Although mathemati cal and instrumental details are not stressed, references are included to lead the reader to the original literature or spe cialized monographs. Chapter topics in clude an overview of laser spectroscopy basics, components of spectroscopic in strumentation, absorption-based laser spectroscopy, photoluminescence-based laser spectroscopy, photoluminescence lifetime-based laser spectroscopy, laser Raman spectroscopy, selected applica tions, selected spectroscopic techniques, and lasers and emerging spectroscopies. Introductory Raman Spectroscopy John R. Ferraro and Kazuo Nakamoto
analysis of noise in photon correlation Academic Press functions is, unfortunately, biased toward 525 Β St., Suite 1900 the author's own correlators; a compari San Diego, CA 92101 son of correlators made in different coun 1994, 370 pp., $70 tries would have been more informative. The overall quality of the book is high, This is an introductory text that explains although the level is uneven because so basic theory, instrumentation, and experi many authors are involved. The author in mental techniques, along with a wide va dex is comprehensive, although the sub riety of applications. Four chapters cover ject index is relatively sparse. There are basic theory of spectroscopy; instrumental about 1500 references with most current techniques; special techniques; and appli through 1990 or 1991. Brown has edited a cations in structural chemistry, biochemis useful book that competently fills two try, biology and medicine, solid-state roles: It serves as a reference volume and chemistry, and industry. Appendices cover it provides a thorough description of point groups and their character tables, photon correlation as used in DLS. It will general formulas for calculating the num certainly be on my bookshelf. ber of normal vibrations in each symme Reviewed by Benjamin Chu, State Unitry species, direct products of irreducible representations, site symmetries for the versity of New York at Stony Brook
Analytical Chemistry, Vol. 67, No. 5, March 1, 1995
