445
for a student to understand easiiy, but do perform very useful data reduction in the projects. Full instructions for the input data to these programs are given. This book is well written and well thought out as an integrated course, as would be expected since Dr. Hofacker is a leading expert in the field of chemical education. G. R. H..
Lasers
and their ~~~iicar~ons,
M.
3.
BEESLEY,Taylor and Francis Ltd., 1972,
pp. xii t234, price &5_ This book is intended to provide the scientist or engineer with the physical basis of the operation of lasers and a guide to their various applications. Thus the first half of the book deals with the theory of laser action and describes the construction of commercially available lasers. The second half gives a survey of the applications of lasers, including their use as spectral sources, as measuring devices, in communications, as heat sources and in holography_ The early part of the book shows considerable variations in the level of knowledge expected and suffers in places from over-simplification to the point of confusing the general reader. The second part of the book is more successful -the applications described are we&chosen and the descriptions written in an easy-toread style, although the treatment tends to be superficial. Bearing in mind the
rapid developments in laser technology, the book is reasonably up-to-date. it would be a useful introduction to the construction and uses of lasers if the basic principles had been presented
in a more precise and logical manner. A. B.
The ~~re~~~e~u~~on of Protopt Maperic
Resorzance Spectra: A Pr~gra~3~~ed lrztro-
ducfion, E. R. HAWS, R, R, pp. xii + 180, price ;62.50.
D. J. MO~THORPE,
HILL
AND
Heyden & Son, 1973,
This book seeks to provide individuals such as those isolated from conventional teaching methods, with the minimum knowledge necessary for the recognition and interpretation of NMR spectra by using a linear programmed style. It starts assuming only a knowledge of elementary atomic structure and the in a non-mathematicai quiz-like introduction meaning of the term “isotope” which enabfes the reader to assess his own state of knowledge_ It goes on to deal in turn with chemical shift and integration, spin-spin coupling complex (second order) spectra, temperature dependent spectra and geminal nonequivalence, terminating with a problems section. Comments passed by mature students at the University of Essex during the period of this review in&de: “ambiguity is