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Simulating the Earth: Experimental Geochemistry
3560
Book Reviews
is sparse, with page numbers referring only to the first page of the paper in which the item appears, so locating a topic can be slow. Some discussions are clearly at a primitive stage, but others, such as the history of Mars’ surface, are becoming more mature fields of research. However, because of the technical treatment of such a wide variety of topics, the book is much more suited as a reference for
Praktikum der analytischen Geochemie by H. Heinrichs and A. G. Herrmann. Springer-Verlag, 1990, 669p., DM 78.OO/US $50.00 (ISBN O-387-51874-6). LIKE MOST THINGSin life, this book has advantages and disadvantages. Most of its contents can be counted to its advantage, while the disadvantages are mainly in what it does not contain. This book is the new and expanded version of a 1975 paperback, Praktikum der Gesteinsanalyse, and has partly grown from experience with a lab course on rock and mineral analysis at the authors’ university. Much emphasis is placed on classical wet-chemical separation and determination methods. The authors state that only students who have dihgentiy worked with “classical” methods will later be able to evaluate instrumental methods (an approach that can be supported from my own experience). The book contains a wealth of practical information which shows the extensive experience of the authors. I especially enjoyed remarks like the one which relates that some earth scientists “order” elemental data from the analyst without really knowing why or what significance the results will have. ABer a number of introductory chapters on basic concepts and on the way the authors structure their own lab course, follows a section on units and (very useful) conversions and conversion tables. Chapters on sampling and sample preparation come next, but the problem of contamination is mentioned only briefly. A step in the right direction are tables showing possible sample contamination from steel jaw crushers, but I note the absence of data on trace element contamination from grinding in tungsten carbide and agate mills, heavy liquid separation, and similar procedures. A related section on contamination from lab materials (and dust) is placed at the end of the book and could benefit from incorporation of data on high purity reagents. A useful section on data treatment is next. It includes some appropriate remarks on the “problem” of the number of significant figures in analytical data-too many people use (and even believe) every number a computer puts out. In the following section on titrations in the chapter on lab methods and instrumentation, I miss references to more modem instrumentation such as motor burettes and automatic titrators. Surely, no modem lab uses the classical glass burettes any more! One of the main shortcomings of this book is the uneven treatment of instrumental methods. Thirty two pages are devoted to tlame-AAS alone, but often-used methods such as XRF, INAA, or electron pro& analysis are not mentioned at all, while 14 pages am used for a time-
Simulating the Earth: Experimental Geochemistry by J. R. Holloway and B. J. Wood. Unwin Hyman, 1988, 192p., US $19.95 (ISBN O04-445255-I). HERE ISTHE kind of book this reviewer wishes he had had some 45 years ago when he was an undergraduate witb a developing interest in experimental petrology. This book is an introduction to the philosophy of experimental geochemistry and petrology which should be required reading for every advanced undergraduate and first-year graduate student of petrology and geochemistry regardless of whether
those papers relevant to ones own research than as a general review of lunar and planetary research. Department of Astronomy The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 43210
Gerald H. Newsom
consuming and specialized volatilization technique. Most of the remainder of the book is taken up by detailed “recipes” of classical wet-chemical separation and determination procedures of the major elements, and by tables about ICP or AAS methods for the measurement of individual elements. There is much information in these. tables which is usually found in manuals supplied with the respective instruments (e.g., generator power, gas flow rates, photomuhiplier type). This spacemight have been better used for the description of other methods for the determination of these elements. The reference section is not as large as expected for such a book. The authors state that they rather give procedures based on their own experience than put in references to other published procedures. This, of course, reduces the source-book value of the book. It is not entirely clear to which audience this book is directed. For students beginning to learn about geochemical analyses or for use in a lab course, the book contains too much detailed information on individual elements. On the other hand, its use as a reference book or as text for a class on analytical geochemistry is impeded by the uneven treatment of instrumental methods. In modern geochemical analysis much emphasis is placed on rapid (usually instrumental) multi-element techniques. The time (and material)-consuming wetchemical methods and single element determinations, on which this book concentrates, will not be used routinely. With the exception of a short chapter on a separation procedure of the REEs for ICP-OES analysis, no group separation or determination schemes are given. The platinum group elements, for example, are not even mentioned. The book is certainly not a comprehensive treatment of analytical geochemistry and its methods. Only elemental analysis is treated, and isotope techniques are not discussed at all. Readers who look for a more complete textbook are. better off with Potts’ Handbook of Silicate Rock Analysis ( 1987). However, the present book is helpful as a collection of reliable and well-tested classical methods, and the experience of the authors is obvious from numerous practical hints and remarks, Analysts should read the book just to remind themselves of how accurate analyses should be done. The book is well produced and reasonably priced. Despite its shortcomings and omissions, I recommend this book as a valuable summary of one aspect of analytical geochemistry. Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna A-1010 Vienna, Austria
Christian Koeberl
he/she plans to be an experimentalist or a field-oriented geologist. The authors direct the book “at the non-experimentalist interested in learning why experiments are useful, what kind of experiments can be done, and what some of the major problems are and how they can best be avoided . . . The result of a journey through this book should be an ability to evaluate published experimental work criticaIly and a knowledge of the kinds of problems an experimental% might be able to help solve.” The authors succeed in these objectives. They place a strong emphasis on the concept that a good experiment must help solve some geological problem and that the design of an
Book Reviews experiment depends on geological and mineralogical constraints. Emphasis is also placed on thermodynamic modeling followed by the design of an experiment to test, extend, or replace the model. Lastly, emphasis is placed on how much precision and accuracy is necemary for a good experiment. There are discussions of (1) the machines (nuts and bolts) of experimental geochemistry and their relative capabilities in terms of pressure and temperature, (2) solidsolid reactions of metamorphism, (3) solid-fluid metamorphic reactions, (4) fluids in the crust and mantle of the earth, (5) melting experiments in igneous petrology including trace-element behavior and fluids in silicate melts, (6) viscosity, diffusion, and nucleation
Physics and Chemistry of the Upper Atmosphere by M. H. Rees. Cambridge Atmospheric and Space Science Series, Cambridge University Press, 1989, ix + 289p, US $27.95 (ISBN 0-521-36848-O). THIS BOOK was
not written with the intention of making it suitable for Ii@ reading, and it is particularly important to recognize that the author has restricted his subject matter to the thermosphere and ionosphere with the mesosphere and stratosphere largely left out. Atmospheric physics and chemistry are f;u from simple, and the details are dispersed over a very large volume of literature. The book serves an important function in condensing much of the available information into a concise volume which contains excellent biblt ograpbies at the end of each chapter. I found the discussion of energy exchan8e from incoming charged particles to be especially i&testing @ether with the review of the way in which it a&c& the thermal structure of the upper atmosphere. Discussions of the large changes in electron density proties that result from solar activity variations
Ice Time: Climate,science, and Life on Earth by T. Levenson. Harper and Row, 1989, xiv + 242p., US $9.95 (ISBN O-06-016063-2).
THISISA popular book about climate: how it develops, what changes it, how the change mechanisms work, and about some of the people actually involved in the research. The title tempted me to take it along on a recent trip to Thule, Greenland, became I was sure that I would $et stuck by weather and have plenty of time for reading. After a week of fine weather, it turned really bad and the book proved to have been an excellent choice. The early chapters deal with historical geology. The author details such events as the first ecological disaster to strike the Earth when p~~~~~ by early plants altered the or&inal anther to one conning large amounts of free oxygen. He continues with a discussion of early 8laciations and gets rapidly on to the last ice age. His discus&on of how, in 983, Greenland got its name in one of the earliest recorded real estate scams is quite accurate as is his comment that a changing climate was a major factor in driving the Norse out by 1500. Historical narrative records of El Niiio and some of the major hurricanes are also included, and
3561
and crystal growth in igneous melts. Lastly, there is a useml appendix on measuring temperature, measuring and generating pressure, controlling oxygen fugacity, and the selection of experimental reactants. There is also a useful bibliography of pertinent references to the literature and an index. This book is strongly recommended for all geoscience students who have the slightest interest in geochemistry and petrology. Department of GeologicalSciences Lehigh University 3~~ehem. PA ~~015-3188, USA
Charles B. S&r
through the normal sunspot cycle are also extremely useful. A chapter on airglow and dayglow has been included and is especially appropriate for this text because it provides important data on physical processes and the chemical species present in the upper atmosphere. The final chapter deals with the dynamics of the thermosphere and ionosphere and describes measurement techniques for neutral and ion winds. As the author points out, this subject matter is likely to undergo considerable revision as the data base is extended in future years The book is intended to serve as a text for a seminar on the basic subject matter, and I believe it is admirably suited to this purpose. My one complaint relates to what I can only describe as a skimpy index. In this day of computer sorting it seems inadequate for a volume of this nature. Department of Geology Universityof Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Edward J. Zeller
they help greatly in providing a connection between everyday human experience and these major weather events. About a quarter of the book is devoted to climate modeling studies and some of the machines and people involved. This section is also interesting and provides a fairly balanced view of this aspect of climatic research. It includes a review of some of the pleasures and frustrations of working with supercomputers as well as comments on the politics of science itself. The last chapters deal with forecastin the effects of acid rain, CFCs, rain forest destruction, greenhouse effects, and nuclear winter. I am happy to report that the author has not written a tract that supports every assertion of impending disaster. Here again a serious attempt has been made to maintain a balanced point of view. I can recommend this book to scientists whose primary work is peripheral to climatology and who might like to know what is happening in the field. It would make an excellent 8% for friends who might be interested in how weather and climate have and will continue to shape history. Depatiment of Geology Universityof Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Edward J. Zeller
Book Reviews
is sparse, with page numbers referring only to the first page of the paper in which the item appears, so locating a topic can be slow. Some discussions are clearly at a primitive stage, but others, such as the history of Mars’ surface, are becoming more mature fields of research. However, because of the technical treatment of such a wide variety of topics, the book is much more suited as a reference for
Praktikum der analytischen Geochemie by H. Heinrichs and A. G. Herrmann. Springer-Verlag, 1990, 669p., DM 78.OO/US $50.00 (ISBN O-387-51874-6). LIKE MOST THINGSin life, this book has advantages and disadvantages. Most of its contents can be counted to its advantage, while the disadvantages are mainly in what it does not contain. This book is the new and expanded version of a 1975 paperback, Praktikum der Gesteinsanalyse, and has partly grown from experience with a lab course on rock and mineral analysis at the authors’ university. Much emphasis is placed on classical wet-chemical separation and determination methods. The authors state that only students who have dihgentiy worked with “classical” methods will later be able to evaluate instrumental methods (an approach that can be supported from my own experience). The book contains a wealth of practical information which shows the extensive experience of the authors. I especially enjoyed remarks like the one which relates that some earth scientists “order” elemental data from the analyst without really knowing why or what significance the results will have. ABer a number of introductory chapters on basic concepts and on the way the authors structure their own lab course, follows a section on units and (very useful) conversions and conversion tables. Chapters on sampling and sample preparation come next, but the problem of contamination is mentioned only briefly. A step in the right direction are tables showing possible sample contamination from steel jaw crushers, but I note the absence of data on trace element contamination from grinding in tungsten carbide and agate mills, heavy liquid separation, and similar procedures. A related section on contamination from lab materials (and dust) is placed at the end of the book and could benefit from incorporation of data on high purity reagents. A useful section on data treatment is next. It includes some appropriate remarks on the “problem” of the number of significant figures in analytical data-too many people use (and even believe) every number a computer puts out. In the following section on titrations in the chapter on lab methods and instrumentation, I miss references to more modem instrumentation such as motor burettes and automatic titrators. Surely, no modem lab uses the classical glass burettes any more! One of the main shortcomings of this book is the uneven treatment of instrumental methods. Thirty two pages are devoted to tlame-AAS alone, but often-used methods such as XRF, INAA, or electron pro& analysis are not mentioned at all, while 14 pages am used for a time-
Simulating the Earth: Experimental Geochemistry by J. R. Holloway and B. J. Wood. Unwin Hyman, 1988, 192p., US $19.95 (ISBN O04-445255-I). HERE ISTHE kind of book this reviewer wishes he had had some 45 years ago when he was an undergraduate witb a developing interest in experimental petrology. This book is an introduction to the philosophy of experimental geochemistry and petrology which should be required reading for every advanced undergraduate and first-year graduate student of petrology and geochemistry regardless of whether
those papers relevant to ones own research than as a general review of lunar and planetary research. Department of Astronomy The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio 43210
Gerald H. Newsom
consuming and specialized volatilization technique. Most of the remainder of the book is taken up by detailed “recipes” of classical wet-chemical separation and determination procedures of the major elements, and by tables about ICP or AAS methods for the measurement of individual elements. There is much information in these. tables which is usually found in manuals supplied with the respective instruments (e.g., generator power, gas flow rates, photomuhiplier type). This spacemight have been better used for the description of other methods for the determination of these elements. The reference section is not as large as expected for such a book. The authors state that they rather give procedures based on their own experience than put in references to other published procedures. This, of course, reduces the source-book value of the book. It is not entirely clear to which audience this book is directed. For students beginning to learn about geochemical analyses or for use in a lab course, the book contains too much detailed information on individual elements. On the other hand, its use as a reference book or as text for a class on analytical geochemistry is impeded by the uneven treatment of instrumental methods. In modern geochemical analysis much emphasis is placed on rapid (usually instrumental) multi-element techniques. The time (and material)-consuming wetchemical methods and single element determinations, on which this book concentrates, will not be used routinely. With the exception of a short chapter on a separation procedure of the REEs for ICP-OES analysis, no group separation or determination schemes are given. The platinum group elements, for example, are not even mentioned. The book is certainly not a comprehensive treatment of analytical geochemistry and its methods. Only elemental analysis is treated, and isotope techniques are not discussed at all. Readers who look for a more complete textbook are. better off with Potts’ Handbook of Silicate Rock Analysis ( 1987). However, the present book is helpful as a collection of reliable and well-tested classical methods, and the experience of the authors is obvious from numerous practical hints and remarks, Analysts should read the book just to remind themselves of how accurate analyses should be done. The book is well produced and reasonably priced. Despite its shortcomings and omissions, I recommend this book as a valuable summary of one aspect of analytical geochemistry. Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna A-1010 Vienna, Austria
Christian Koeberl
he/she plans to be an experimentalist or a field-oriented geologist. The authors direct the book “at the non-experimentalist interested in learning why experiments are useful, what kind of experiments can be done, and what some of the major problems are and how they can best be avoided . . . The result of a journey through this book should be an ability to evaluate published experimental work criticaIly and a knowledge of the kinds of problems an experimental% might be able to help solve.” The authors succeed in these objectives. They place a strong emphasis on the concept that a good experiment must help solve some geological problem and that the design of an
Book Reviews experiment depends on geological and mineralogical constraints. Emphasis is also placed on thermodynamic modeling followed by the design of an experiment to test, extend, or replace the model. Lastly, emphasis is placed on how much precision and accuracy is necemary for a good experiment. There are discussions of (1) the machines (nuts and bolts) of experimental geochemistry and their relative capabilities in terms of pressure and temperature, (2) solidsolid reactions of metamorphism, (3) solid-fluid metamorphic reactions, (4) fluids in the crust and mantle of the earth, (5) melting experiments in igneous petrology including trace-element behavior and fluids in silicate melts, (6) viscosity, diffusion, and nucleation
Physics and Chemistry of the Upper Atmosphere by M. H. Rees. Cambridge Atmospheric and Space Science Series, Cambridge University Press, 1989, ix + 289p, US $27.95 (ISBN 0-521-36848-O). THIS BOOK was
not written with the intention of making it suitable for Ii@ reading, and it is particularly important to recognize that the author has restricted his subject matter to the thermosphere and ionosphere with the mesosphere and stratosphere largely left out. Atmospheric physics and chemistry are f;u from simple, and the details are dispersed over a very large volume of literature. The book serves an important function in condensing much of the available information into a concise volume which contains excellent biblt ograpbies at the end of each chapter. I found the discussion of energy exchan8e from incoming charged particles to be especially i&testing @ether with the review of the way in which it a&c& the thermal structure of the upper atmosphere. Discussions of the large changes in electron density proties that result from solar activity variations
Ice Time: Climate,science, and Life on Earth by T. Levenson. Harper and Row, 1989, xiv + 242p., US $9.95 (ISBN O-06-016063-2).
THISISA popular book about climate: how it develops, what changes it, how the change mechanisms work, and about some of the people actually involved in the research. The title tempted me to take it along on a recent trip to Thule, Greenland, became I was sure that I would $et stuck by weather and have plenty of time for reading. After a week of fine weather, it turned really bad and the book proved to have been an excellent choice. The early chapters deal with historical geology. The author details such events as the first ecological disaster to strike the Earth when p~~~~~ by early plants altered the or&inal anther to one conning large amounts of free oxygen. He continues with a discussion of early 8laciations and gets rapidly on to the last ice age. His discus&on of how, in 983, Greenland got its name in one of the earliest recorded real estate scams is quite accurate as is his comment that a changing climate was a major factor in driving the Norse out by 1500. Historical narrative records of El Niiio and some of the major hurricanes are also included, and
3561
and crystal growth in igneous melts. Lastly, there is a useml appendix on measuring temperature, measuring and generating pressure, controlling oxygen fugacity, and the selection of experimental reactants. There is also a useful bibliography of pertinent references to the literature and an index. This book is strongly recommended for all geoscience students who have the slightest interest in geochemistry and petrology. Department of GeologicalSciences Lehigh University 3~~ehem. PA ~~015-3188, USA
Charles B. S&r
through the normal sunspot cycle are also extremely useful. A chapter on airglow and dayglow has been included and is especially appropriate for this text because it provides important data on physical processes and the chemical species present in the upper atmosphere. The final chapter deals with the dynamics of the thermosphere and ionosphere and describes measurement techniques for neutral and ion winds. As the author points out, this subject matter is likely to undergo considerable revision as the data base is extended in future years The book is intended to serve as a text for a seminar on the basic subject matter, and I believe it is admirably suited to this purpose. My one complaint relates to what I can only describe as a skimpy index. In this day of computer sorting it seems inadequate for a volume of this nature. Department of Geology Universityof Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Edward J. Zeller
they help greatly in providing a connection between everyday human experience and these major weather events. About a quarter of the book is devoted to climate modeling studies and some of the machines and people involved. This section is also interesting and provides a fairly balanced view of this aspect of climatic research. It includes a review of some of the pleasures and frustrations of working with supercomputers as well as comments on the politics of science itself. The last chapters deal with forecastin the effects of acid rain, CFCs, rain forest destruction, greenhouse effects, and nuclear winter. I am happy to report that the author has not written a tract that supports every assertion of impending disaster. Here again a serious attempt has been made to maintain a balanced point of view. I can recommend this book to scientists whose primary work is peripheral to climatology and who might like to know what is happening in the field. It would make an excellent 8% for friends who might be interested in how weather and climate have and will continue to shape history. Depatiment of Geology Universityof Kansas Lawrence, KS 66045, USA
Edward J. Zeller