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Analysis of interplanetary dust
Book Reviews
5365
For a hardback book with quality paper and no color plates or color illustrations, the list price of US $75 is not excessive. However, the discounted rate of US $37 for members of The Geological Society of London and US $45 for members of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists is more reasonable. This volume is more than just a review and summary of documented case studies and pertinent literature. It is a treatise of the state of knowledge of coals and coal-bearing strata as oil-prone source rocks, with new information on worldwide Carboniferous to Tertiary
rock and oil samples examined using a multi-disciplinary approach. 1 hiahlv recommend this one-of-a-kind volume to netroleum explorationi&, organic petrologists, and organic geochemists working with coal and coal-bearing strata.
Analysis of Interplanetary Dust edited by M. E. Zolensky et al. AIP Conference Proceedings Vol. 3 10, American Institute of Physics, New York, 1994, 357 p. US $95.00 (ISBN l-56396-341-8).
proceedings volumes-and the current one is no exception-the quality ofthe contributions varies considerably. Some contributions are well written and the authors provide good overviews of their studies. There are no bad contributions, just some which one wishes that the authors could have pulled themselves together and done more than just warming over a few abstracts. I assume some authors question the value of such a proceedings volume, which is a pity, because it drags the efforts of others down. Only very few critical remarks need to be made. It is not clear to me whether all the papers in the book went through the customary peer-review process, or if only the editors looked at the papers. Maybe the papers were reviewed but this should be made clear. I found the reference lists to be rather inconsistent, and not following a uniform style. Some authors cite only the authors and the journal names, without giving the titles of the papers, which I find particularly annoying (even though this practice is followed in some journals). It is nice to be able to check immediately if a certain paper is interesting, without having to go to the library and waste a lot of time. Some typographical errors and omissions occur (rarely) throughout the book, but are quite prominent in the List of Participants. However, generally speaking, the book is well edited and produced, and provides a useful summary of current work on interplanetary dust particles and related subjects. One of its main advantages is the incorporation of a lot of recent material, and the rapid publication after the meeting. While I recommend it to every worker in the field of micrometeorites and interplanetary dust particles, the book should also be of value to most researchers and students interested in meteorites and other kinds of extraterrestrial material as well. It certainly belongs into most earth-science libraries.
This timely volume presents the proceedings of a NASA-Lunar and Planetary Institute Workshop on “The Analysis of Interplanetary Dust,” which was held in Houston in Mav 1993. The studv of interplanetary dust particles has reached a certain maturity, although it has been rather quiet in this field during the last years. Since NASA began a dedicated program to collect interplanetary dust from the stratosphere in the early 1980s the initial excitement about the availability of a new class of extraterrestrial matter seems to have subsided somewhat, and has given way to a thorough scientific study of these particles. A relatively large number of scientists is currently involved with the study of these particles, and many of them attended the workshop and contributed to the present proceedings volume. The author list reads almost like a Who’s Who in cosmic dust research. The volume is divided into four parts. After an “Introduction” (a short, but valuable summary by Don Brownlee), follow sections on “Remote Sensing and Dynamics of Interplanetary Dust” with three individual contributions, “Mineralogy and Composition of Interplanetary Dust” with fifteen contributions, and “Collection of Interplanetary Dust” with seven contributions. Every sections is preceded by a short summary, in which the editors give an overview of the contents and the most important contributions in the following section. A list of participants, as well as author and subject indeces are enclosed at the end of the volume. The subject index is relatively useful, which is surprising for a proceedings volume. The editors and the publisher can be commended for the fast and competent production of this multi-author volume. I am sure that it was not easy for everyone involved to push for, and stick to, a publication date of about one year after the conference. However, it is certainly worth it, because now we have an up-to-date volume, which summarizes our current knowledge in the field. As usual with
Oklahoma Geological Survey The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 73019-0628, USA
Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 1 A-1010 Vienna, Austria
Brian J. Cardott
Christian Koeberl
Defects and Processes in the Solid State: Geoscience Applications. The McLaren Volume, edited by J. N. Boland and J. D. I% Gerald. Elsevier Science Publishers B. V., 1993, xxiv + 470 p., Hardcover Dfl 280. (ISBN 0-444-81700-x), Softcover Dfl 140 (ISBN 0-44481701-8).
Alexander Clark McLaren, for some thirty years, has been one of the outstanding scientists in the fields of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM ) , Materials Science, and Mineral Deformation and Defects. As a fitting commemoration, on the occasion of Alexander McLaren’s sixty-fifth birthday and retirement, James Boland and John Fitz Gerald invited contributions to a special volume, as part of Elsevier’s Developments in Petrology series. In the words of the Editors, “the leitmotif of this volume is the role of defect structures in the processes of deformation, phase transformations and microstructural development in rocks and minerals.” Having been introduced to this book by a colleague who pointed out the existence of a specific contribution to this volume which was
of direct relevance to my own research interests, it came as a pleasant surprise that much more than just one contribution could find the interest and raise the curiosity of this mineralogist. In fact, I am now convinced that this series of papers should find a wide-ranging readership, including physicists, mineralogists, structural and metamorphic geologists, metallurgists, and yes-even geochronologists and workers in the field of impact cratering-just to mention a few obvious disciplines that are directly related to the topics dealt with here. And they are dealt with by experts in their fields, and this, together with the obvious care taken by the editors in the selection of high-calibre reviewers, assured that each individual contribution is of highest scientific quality. Another very positive aspect needs to be remarked upon: the numerous excellent microphotographs (especially the TEM images) and drawings have been reproduced in outstanding quality, certainly a factor that makes reading this book a pleasure. The only somewhat annoying finding concerns the frequent errors that have been permitted ” to slip into the reference lists of many of these papers. More caretul reviewmg and edmng would have been desirable, particulany,
5365
For a hardback book with quality paper and no color plates or color illustrations, the list price of US $75 is not excessive. However, the discounted rate of US $37 for members of The Geological Society of London and US $45 for members of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists is more reasonable. This volume is more than just a review and summary of documented case studies and pertinent literature. It is a treatise of the state of knowledge of coals and coal-bearing strata as oil-prone source rocks, with new information on worldwide Carboniferous to Tertiary
rock and oil samples examined using a multi-disciplinary approach. 1 hiahlv recommend this one-of-a-kind volume to netroleum explorationi&, organic petrologists, and organic geochemists working with coal and coal-bearing strata.
Analysis of Interplanetary Dust edited by M. E. Zolensky et al. AIP Conference Proceedings Vol. 3 10, American Institute of Physics, New York, 1994, 357 p. US $95.00 (ISBN l-56396-341-8).
proceedings volumes-and the current one is no exception-the quality ofthe contributions varies considerably. Some contributions are well written and the authors provide good overviews of their studies. There are no bad contributions, just some which one wishes that the authors could have pulled themselves together and done more than just warming over a few abstracts. I assume some authors question the value of such a proceedings volume, which is a pity, because it drags the efforts of others down. Only very few critical remarks need to be made. It is not clear to me whether all the papers in the book went through the customary peer-review process, or if only the editors looked at the papers. Maybe the papers were reviewed but this should be made clear. I found the reference lists to be rather inconsistent, and not following a uniform style. Some authors cite only the authors and the journal names, without giving the titles of the papers, which I find particularly annoying (even though this practice is followed in some journals). It is nice to be able to check immediately if a certain paper is interesting, without having to go to the library and waste a lot of time. Some typographical errors and omissions occur (rarely) throughout the book, but are quite prominent in the List of Participants. However, generally speaking, the book is well edited and produced, and provides a useful summary of current work on interplanetary dust particles and related subjects. One of its main advantages is the incorporation of a lot of recent material, and the rapid publication after the meeting. While I recommend it to every worker in the field of micrometeorites and interplanetary dust particles, the book should also be of value to most researchers and students interested in meteorites and other kinds of extraterrestrial material as well. It certainly belongs into most earth-science libraries.
This timely volume presents the proceedings of a NASA-Lunar and Planetary Institute Workshop on “The Analysis of Interplanetary Dust,” which was held in Houston in Mav 1993. The studv of interplanetary dust particles has reached a certain maturity, although it has been rather quiet in this field during the last years. Since NASA began a dedicated program to collect interplanetary dust from the stratosphere in the early 1980s the initial excitement about the availability of a new class of extraterrestrial matter seems to have subsided somewhat, and has given way to a thorough scientific study of these particles. A relatively large number of scientists is currently involved with the study of these particles, and many of them attended the workshop and contributed to the present proceedings volume. The author list reads almost like a Who’s Who in cosmic dust research. The volume is divided into four parts. After an “Introduction” (a short, but valuable summary by Don Brownlee), follow sections on “Remote Sensing and Dynamics of Interplanetary Dust” with three individual contributions, “Mineralogy and Composition of Interplanetary Dust” with fifteen contributions, and “Collection of Interplanetary Dust” with seven contributions. Every sections is preceded by a short summary, in which the editors give an overview of the contents and the most important contributions in the following section. A list of participants, as well as author and subject indeces are enclosed at the end of the volume. The subject index is relatively useful, which is surprising for a proceedings volume. The editors and the publisher can be commended for the fast and competent production of this multi-author volume. I am sure that it was not easy for everyone involved to push for, and stick to, a publication date of about one year after the conference. However, it is certainly worth it, because now we have an up-to-date volume, which summarizes our current knowledge in the field. As usual with
Oklahoma Geological Survey The University of Oklahoma Norman, OK 73019-0628, USA
Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna Dr.-Karl-Lueger-Ring 1 A-1010 Vienna, Austria
Brian J. Cardott
Christian Koeberl
Defects and Processes in the Solid State: Geoscience Applications. The McLaren Volume, edited by J. N. Boland and J. D. I% Gerald. Elsevier Science Publishers B. V., 1993, xxiv + 470 p., Hardcover Dfl 280. (ISBN 0-444-81700-x), Softcover Dfl 140 (ISBN 0-44481701-8).
Alexander Clark McLaren, for some thirty years, has been one of the outstanding scientists in the fields of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM ) , Materials Science, and Mineral Deformation and Defects. As a fitting commemoration, on the occasion of Alexander McLaren’s sixty-fifth birthday and retirement, James Boland and John Fitz Gerald invited contributions to a special volume, as part of Elsevier’s Developments in Petrology series. In the words of the Editors, “the leitmotif of this volume is the role of defect structures in the processes of deformation, phase transformations and microstructural development in rocks and minerals.” Having been introduced to this book by a colleague who pointed out the existence of a specific contribution to this volume which was
of direct relevance to my own research interests, it came as a pleasant surprise that much more than just one contribution could find the interest and raise the curiosity of this mineralogist. In fact, I am now convinced that this series of papers should find a wide-ranging readership, including physicists, mineralogists, structural and metamorphic geologists, metallurgists, and yes-even geochronologists and workers in the field of impact cratering-just to mention a few obvious disciplines that are directly related to the topics dealt with here. And they are dealt with by experts in their fields, and this, together with the obvious care taken by the editors in the selection of high-calibre reviewers, assured that each individual contribution is of highest scientific quality. Another very positive aspect needs to be remarked upon: the numerous excellent microphotographs (especially the TEM images) and drawings have been reproduced in outstanding quality, certainly a factor that makes reading this book a pleasure. The only somewhat annoying finding concerns the frequent errors that have been permitted ” to slip into the reference lists of many of these papers. More caretul reviewmg and edmng would have been desirable, particulany,