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Laser spectroscopy—Techniques and applications
Book reviews / Talanta 42 (1995) 2087-2091
Laser Spectroscopy--Techniques and Applications, by E.R. Menzel, Dekker, New York, 1995, xv + 298 pp., US$ 135.00. ISBN 0-82479265-3. This is perhaps the best text that I have read on the techniques and applications of laser spectroscopy. The author makes it clear that the book is intended for the non-specialist and achieves a admirable mixture of the basic essentials (with as little mathematics as possible) and a concise, comprehensive review of applications. Many researchers, especially those in bioscience and medicine to whom a deeper treatment of theoretical aspects is often inappropriate and usually off-putting, will welcome this book as an 'entry level' text. Laser spectroscopy is now a maturing technique that is ripe for exploitation in diverse fields of scientific endeavour. The book is divided into nine chapters and starts with an overview of the interactions between molecules and light and on the general principles of laser operation. Chapter 2 reviews spectroscopic instrumentation and includes sections on absorption spectrophotometers, spec-
2091
trofluorometers and synchronous luminescence spectroscopy. Chapters 3-6 are devoted to specific spectroscopic techniques (absorptionbased laser spectroscopy, photoluminescence intensity-based and lifetime-based laser spectroscopy, and laser Raman spectroscopy) and give a strong emphasis to recent developments and applications. The book concludes with three chapters on selected applications (including medicine, semiconductors and analytical chemistry), selected spectroscopic techniques (including multidimensional fluorescence, optically detected magnetic resonance, circular dichroism, etc.) and finally a very readable chapter on emerging spectroscopies. The latter covers such exciting techniques as tunable IR lasers, ring lasers and X-ray lasers. This book will be of great interest to those wanting a 'bird's eye view of laser spectroscopy'. The up-to-date references and comprehensive coverage of applications will be of use to the specialist and non-specialist alike. For those of us teaching applied spectroscopy this book will be an invaluable resource. B.A. McGaw
Laser Spectroscopy--Techniques and Applications, by E.R. Menzel, Dekker, New York, 1995, xv + 298 pp., US$ 135.00. ISBN 0-82479265-3. This is perhaps the best text that I have read on the techniques and applications of laser spectroscopy. The author makes it clear that the book is intended for the non-specialist and achieves a admirable mixture of the basic essentials (with as little mathematics as possible) and a concise, comprehensive review of applications. Many researchers, especially those in bioscience and medicine to whom a deeper treatment of theoretical aspects is often inappropriate and usually off-putting, will welcome this book as an 'entry level' text. Laser spectroscopy is now a maturing technique that is ripe for exploitation in diverse fields of scientific endeavour. The book is divided into nine chapters and starts with an overview of the interactions between molecules and light and on the general principles of laser operation. Chapter 2 reviews spectroscopic instrumentation and includes sections on absorption spectrophotometers, spec-
2091
trofluorometers and synchronous luminescence spectroscopy. Chapters 3-6 are devoted to specific spectroscopic techniques (absorptionbased laser spectroscopy, photoluminescence intensity-based and lifetime-based laser spectroscopy, and laser Raman spectroscopy) and give a strong emphasis to recent developments and applications. The book concludes with three chapters on selected applications (including medicine, semiconductors and analytical chemistry), selected spectroscopic techniques (including multidimensional fluorescence, optically detected magnetic resonance, circular dichroism, etc.) and finally a very readable chapter on emerging spectroscopies. The latter covers such exciting techniques as tunable IR lasers, ring lasers and X-ray lasers. This book will be of great interest to those wanting a 'bird's eye view of laser spectroscopy'. The up-to-date references and comprehensive coverage of applications will be of use to the specialist and non-specialist alike. For those of us teaching applied spectroscopy this book will be an invaluable resource. B.A. McGaw