- Email: [email protected]
Comprehensive dictionary of physical chemistry
Tahta,
Vol. 40, No. 12, PP. 19954998, 1993 Great Britain. All rights reserved
0039-9140/93 s6.00 + 0.00 Pergamon Press Ltd
Printed in
BOOK REVIEWS
Comprehensive
Dictionary of Physical Chemistry: L. Pages 472. f49.95. ISBN O-13-151747-3.
ULICKY
and T. J.
KEMP
(editors), Ellis Honvood, Chichester, 1992.
Ellis Horwood and Prentice Hall have collaborated to produce this English edition in conjunction with ALFA publishers of Bratislava. Sixteen authors contributed to the dictionary and there were eight translators from the Slovak. The book was published in Czecho-Slovakia and I would describe the quality of priming and binding as ‘adequate’. On first perusal I was surprised to find apparent omissions such as chemometrics and chromatography but I then realized that this was the first of seven volumes in a range of comprehensive chemical dictionaries. The missing topics may appear in the other volumes which cover organic chemistry, biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, analytical chemistry, nuclear chemistry and various chemical technologies. The first volume deals with topics from the theory of the structure of matter, states of matter, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, chemical kinetics and colloid and surface chemistry. These are indeed covered very comprehensively. The editors state that special attention is devoted to theoretical and quantum chemistry, and to symmetry and crystallography so I was surprised not to find any mention of molecular mechanics (another volume perhaps?). Entries in the dictionary are extensively cross-referenced, for example, during the explanation of Donnan equilibrium the reader is cross-referenced to separate entries on ‘osmotic pressure of a colloid’, ‘colloidal electrolyte’, ‘membrane hydrolysis’ and ‘membrane potential’. Overall there are approximately 2000 entries, 200 figures and 42 tables. A bibliography mentions numerous textbooks that were used to aid the compilation of the dictionary. I did iind the contents useful for succinct definitions of topics within physical chemistry and the dictionary will be especially useful in those areas where the reader needs to discover, or be reminded of, definitions and techniques. It should attract a wide readership. P. J. Cox Ractkal Surface AnaI@a-!%comi EdItIna, Volume 2-Ion and Neutral Spe&oscopy: D. BRIGGSand M. P. &AH (editors), Wiley, Chichester, 1992. Pages xvii + 738. E90.00. ISBN O-471-92082-7. Practical Surface Analysis was originally published in 1983 and was devoted to the birth, growth, and diversification of Auger and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies in the period 1960-1983; it gained a high reputation among surface scientists world-wide. The Second Edition, Volume 1, was published in 1990 and is essentially a revision of the first edition. Volume 2 of the second edition is a new book dealing with the complementary topics of ion and neutral spectroscopy. The book opens with chapters on instrumentation, sputter depth profiling, and quantification, and this is followed by chapters on dynamic SIMS and its applications in microelectronics, and on the use of static SIMS in the surface analysis of inorganic and organic materials. Sputtered neutral spectrometry, which offers a better opportunity than SIMS for quantification, is the subject of another chapter. The remaining two chapters deal, respectively with low-energy and medium-energy ion scattering techniques. About one-sixth of the book is devoted to substantial appendices on angle-resolved electron-simulated ion desorption, the role standards in SIMS, computer codes and simulation, pure element sputtering yield data, masses and abundances of naturally-occurring isotopes, and fundamental physical constants and energy conversion factors. Volume 2 maintains the same format, quality, breadth and depth of coverage of its subject as did Volume 1. Each chapter is well written, well-illustrated, well-documented, and up-to-date (1992). For all surface scientists interested in the decyphering of the elemental composition and structural arrangement of atoms in the first few monolayers of a solid, this volume will also be essential reading. This book is relatively inexpensive and good value for its price, and I understand that Volumes 1 and 2 can be purchased as a set at a discount. J. B. CRAIG Concepts and CaknlatIons In A@tIcaI Chamkstry-A Pages 315. USS19.95. ISBN O-8493-4717-1.
Spread&et
Approachr H. FREISER,CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1992.
Professor Freiser has written this book in an attempt to convey to readers his enthusiasm for “the magic of spreadsheets”. He covers a wide range of topics related to Analytical Chemistry, including chemical equilibrium, the role of activity, acid-base, metal complex, precipitation and redox equilibria, titrations, statistical dam treatment, spectrometry, separation processes, kinetic methods, and the determination of equilibria, and also attempts to provide a tutor for the use of the spreadsheet QuattroPro. I found the book to be a valuable resource for teachers of analytical chemistry, but I fee.1that it is not all together successful as a text for students, possibly because the author is so much a master of the material he is presenting. My impression is that, in trying to show how elegant and easy this chemistry is when done by spreadsheet, he has sometimes lost sight of the student who is totally unfamiliar with the chemistry. 1995
Vol. 40, No. 12, PP. 19954998, 1993 Great Britain. All rights reserved
0039-9140/93 s6.00 + 0.00 Pergamon Press Ltd
Printed in
BOOK REVIEWS
Comprehensive
Dictionary of Physical Chemistry: L. Pages 472. f49.95. ISBN O-13-151747-3.
ULICKY
and T. J.
KEMP
(editors), Ellis Honvood, Chichester, 1992.
Ellis Horwood and Prentice Hall have collaborated to produce this English edition in conjunction with ALFA publishers of Bratislava. Sixteen authors contributed to the dictionary and there were eight translators from the Slovak. The book was published in Czecho-Slovakia and I would describe the quality of priming and binding as ‘adequate’. On first perusal I was surprised to find apparent omissions such as chemometrics and chromatography but I then realized that this was the first of seven volumes in a range of comprehensive chemical dictionaries. The missing topics may appear in the other volumes which cover organic chemistry, biochemistry, inorganic chemistry, analytical chemistry, nuclear chemistry and various chemical technologies. The first volume deals with topics from the theory of the structure of matter, states of matter, thermodynamics, electrochemistry, chemical kinetics and colloid and surface chemistry. These are indeed covered very comprehensively. The editors state that special attention is devoted to theoretical and quantum chemistry, and to symmetry and crystallography so I was surprised not to find any mention of molecular mechanics (another volume perhaps?). Entries in the dictionary are extensively cross-referenced, for example, during the explanation of Donnan equilibrium the reader is cross-referenced to separate entries on ‘osmotic pressure of a colloid’, ‘colloidal electrolyte’, ‘membrane hydrolysis’ and ‘membrane potential’. Overall there are approximately 2000 entries, 200 figures and 42 tables. A bibliography mentions numerous textbooks that were used to aid the compilation of the dictionary. I did iind the contents useful for succinct definitions of topics within physical chemistry and the dictionary will be especially useful in those areas where the reader needs to discover, or be reminded of, definitions and techniques. It should attract a wide readership. P. J. Cox Ractkal Surface AnaI@a-!%comi EdItIna, Volume 2-Ion and Neutral Spe&oscopy: D. BRIGGSand M. P. &AH (editors), Wiley, Chichester, 1992. Pages xvii + 738. E90.00. ISBN O-471-92082-7. Practical Surface Analysis was originally published in 1983 and was devoted to the birth, growth, and diversification of Auger and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies in the period 1960-1983; it gained a high reputation among surface scientists world-wide. The Second Edition, Volume 1, was published in 1990 and is essentially a revision of the first edition. Volume 2 of the second edition is a new book dealing with the complementary topics of ion and neutral spectroscopy. The book opens with chapters on instrumentation, sputter depth profiling, and quantification, and this is followed by chapters on dynamic SIMS and its applications in microelectronics, and on the use of static SIMS in the surface analysis of inorganic and organic materials. Sputtered neutral spectrometry, which offers a better opportunity than SIMS for quantification, is the subject of another chapter. The remaining two chapters deal, respectively with low-energy and medium-energy ion scattering techniques. About one-sixth of the book is devoted to substantial appendices on angle-resolved electron-simulated ion desorption, the role standards in SIMS, computer codes and simulation, pure element sputtering yield data, masses and abundances of naturally-occurring isotopes, and fundamental physical constants and energy conversion factors. Volume 2 maintains the same format, quality, breadth and depth of coverage of its subject as did Volume 1. Each chapter is well written, well-illustrated, well-documented, and up-to-date (1992). For all surface scientists interested in the decyphering of the elemental composition and structural arrangement of atoms in the first few monolayers of a solid, this volume will also be essential reading. This book is relatively inexpensive and good value for its price, and I understand that Volumes 1 and 2 can be purchased as a set at a discount. J. B. CRAIG Concepts and CaknlatIons In A@tIcaI Chamkstry-A Pages 315. USS19.95. ISBN O-8493-4717-1.
Spread&et
Approachr H. FREISER,CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1992.
Professor Freiser has written this book in an attempt to convey to readers his enthusiasm for “the magic of spreadsheets”. He covers a wide range of topics related to Analytical Chemistry, including chemical equilibrium, the role of activity, acid-base, metal complex, precipitation and redox equilibria, titrations, statistical dam treatment, spectrometry, separation processes, kinetic methods, and the determination of equilibria, and also attempts to provide a tutor for the use of the spreadsheet QuattroPro. I found the book to be a valuable resource for teachers of analytical chemistry, but I fee.1that it is not all together successful as a text for students, possibly because the author is so much a master of the material he is presenting. My impression is that, in trying to show how elegant and easy this chemistry is when done by spreadsheet, he has sometimes lost sight of the student who is totally unfamiliar with the chemistry. 1995