Publication received

PUBLICATIONS

RECEIVED

Handbook of Enzymatic Methods of Analysis: GEORGEG. GUILBAULT.Dekker, New York, 1976. Pp. xi + 738. SFrs. 126. This book follows the author’s first book on the topic only six years later, which reflects interest and development in this field. The techniques for immobilizing enzymes and for using them electrodes have led to greatly extended use of enzyme methods in analysis and have completely in application. The possibilities for specific analysis by use of coupled enzymes seem very wide importance for biochemical, clinical and food analysis. This handbook, written by one of the in the field, gives an excellent survey of the whole field.

the rapid growth of to make ion-selective shifted the emphasis indeed, and of great leading practitioners

Reaction Mechanisms in Organic Chemistry: FLORIN BADEA.Abacus Press, Tunbridge Well, England, 1977. Pp. 701. f18.85. This English translation of the third edition of the Romanian text has been updated and revised, and though not of immediate interest to analysts in general, should be useful to those developing reactions for organic analysis and seeking explanations for them, and also to pol~ographers working on electrode reaction mechanisms. SZwrehydroiyseglykosidischer Bindungen: J~ZSEFSZEJTLI.Akademiai Kiado, Budapest, 1976. Pp. 399. ti14.40. For those working in the field of glycoside and carbohydrate chemistry, this monograph on the acid hydrolysis of glycosides will prove a very useful compendium of information and a guide to the literature and chemistry of the topic. The technical aspects are also covered, making the book useful to industrial chemists in this field. Chromato~phy

of steroids. E. HEFTMANN.Elsevier, Amsterdam, 1976. Pp. xiii + 203. D8.90, $34.75.

The many advances m steroid technology made since the publication of Naher’s classic “Steroid Chromatography” in 1974 are well documented in Erich Heftmann’s latest book on steroid analysis. This small but expensive volume, which is essentially a laboratory handbook, covers almost 1200 references, and consists of two main parts. The first five chapters deal with the chromatographic techniques+olumn chromatography (including high-speed liquid chromatography), paper and thin-layer chromatography (with details of methods of detection and derivatization), and gas chromatography (including the use of capillary columns), and concludes with a useful discussion of the relationships which have been established between steroid structure and mobility in these various systems. The remaining eleven short chapters cover individual classes of steroids; a separate chapter on steroid conjugates would have been valuable in this section. There are extensive tables of retention data, serviced by a thorough subject index. The references themselves, complete with titles, occupy fully one-third of the book. Much paper could have been saved, and the cost of the book correspondingly reduced, by including them, without titles, on the blank pages to be found at the end of almost every chapter. Tab& of Wavenumbers for the Calibration of Infrared S~c~omete~ 1977. Pp. ix + 219. f12.50.

(2nd Ed.): A. R. H. COLE (ed.), Pergamon, Oxford,

This is an internationally approved list of the frequencies of absorption bands in the infrared region for a series of known compounds. There are two separate sections, the first listing those compounds suitable for calibrating high resolution instruments and the second those compounds and mixtures suitable for the calibration of medium and low resolution instruments. In addition to the tables of wavenumbers there are illustrations of the infrared absorption spectra of the compounds in the appropriate frequency range. A feature of this second edition is that the coverage has been extended to include the far infrared region down to 1 cm- ‘. Full details are given for the determination of each of the absorption spectra, including references to the original literature. There are Appendices which contain a computer programme for a least-squares fitting of the calibration curve, tables and formulae for the refractive index, of air, and a list of calibration compounds. Electrochemical Studies of Biological Systems: D. T. SAWYER(ed.), American Chemical Society, Washington DC., 1977. Pp. viii + 216. $15.50. This is a collection of twelve papers delivered at a symposium sponsored by the Division of Analytical Chemistry at the 172nd meeting of the American Chemical Society, San Francisco, California, August 1976. There is however, little which will be of direct interest to the practising analytical chemist and the theme of the book is the parallel between electron-transfer processes in biological systems and electrochemistry. A notable exception is a paper describing the polarographic determination of ethylenediaminetetra-acetic acid and nitrilotriacetic acid. Among the newer techniques which are described are the use of rotating-disc enzyme electrodes, the simultaneous examination of absorption spectra and electrochemical behaviour using transparent electrodes and measurements of differential capacitance. The remainder of the text is concerned with the redox properies of the metal derivatives of macrocyclic pigments and the electrochemical behaviour of simple model compounds analogous to large biolo~cally-active molecules. Colloquium SpectroscopicurnIntematioaale-XVIII:

J. P. ROBIN(ed.), Pergamon, Oxford, 1976. Pp. 87. f4.45.

This is a collection of the seven plenary lectures delivered at the XVIII Colloquium Spectroscopicurn Internationale at Grenoble in September, 1975. The Conference was sponsored by IUPAC (Physical Chemistry Division) in conjunction with GAMS (France) and was devoted to physical methods of analysis. Three of the seven contributions are in French Ill

iv

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED

but are provided with short summaries in English. The topics dealt with include X-ray fluorescence, MGssbauer spectroscopy, fluorimetry, emission spectra, electron spectroscopy and magnetic resonance. The applications of these techniques are reviewed and in some cases predictions are made about their probable future development. Advances in Chromatography, Vols 14 and 15: J. C. GIDDINGS, G. GRUSHKA,J. CAZESand P. R. BROWN(eds.). Dekker, New York, 1976 and 1977. Vol. 14, pp. xiii + 4.59; SFrs. 114-. Vol. 15, pp. xv + 331, SFrs. 9%.

These volumes follow the pattern of the series. They contain diverse articles on all aspects of chromatography. The authors write well and are reasonably critical, but again they have been ill served by the publishing time lag. The balance of articles in Vol. 14 is towards the use of chromatography for making physicochemical measurements of activity coefficients, equilibrium and rate constants, etc. The most lengthy (111 pages) contribution is by David C. Locke, who surveys the field comprehensively and critically. There are also accounts of the application of HPLC to nutrients (Andrew J. Clifford) and GLC to drug analysis (W. J. A. Vanden Heuvel and A. G. Zacchei) but Vol. 15 is of more analytical interest. The majority of the contributors are concerned with the application of chromatography to biological problems. There is also an interesting account of signal and resolution enhancement by various computational procedures (R. Annino). Annual Reports on Atomic Spectroscopy,

Vol. 5: C. W. FULLER(ed.). The Chemical Society, London, 1976. Pp. viii + 267.

f15.00, $30.00. This fifth volume of ARAS covers the literature for 1975, a matter of 1573 references. The whole is arranged for the greatest convenience of the user. There are chapters on relevant aspects of fundamentals, instrumentation and applications and the text is admirably complemented by numerous tables, which provide thumbnail sketches of procedures and commercially available instrumentation. The group of enthusiasts who have now assembled five of these reviews with little in the way of recompense, and in the face of numerous obstacles can justly be proud of their success in providing an essential uade mecm for the analytical atomic spectroscopist. Using Computers: B. MEEK and S. FAIRTHORNE. Ellis Horwood, Chichester, 1977. Pp. 208. &7.50 (hard covers), f2.50 (paper). This book, as its title suggests. is written for computer users and not for computer experts (actual or potential). The typical computer user, for example, the analytical chemist when he makes use of a computer, learns how to write programs in high-level languages and how to make these programs run on a particular computer. However, with most large present-day computer systems, he is likely to know very little about other aspects of the computer, and he may never even see the machine he is using. The authors of this book attempt, in a very readable way, to give a great deal of background information which will be of interest to such a computer user. They begin by giving a brief history of the development of computers from the Babylonians, by way of Chades Babbage’s “Difference Engine” (1812), to the present day. In the section on “The Computer as a Machine”, they describe the structure and function of the many varied parts of a modern computing system, from central processors to line printers and incremental plotters. The diagrams and photographs included are most useful. This chapter should greatly assist the computer user to understand what actually happens when he submits his programs, and therefore, perhaps, to improve their efficiency. Other subjects discussed include assemblers and high-level languages, and applications of computers for number-crunching (scientific computing), data-handling (commercial computing), process-control (“real-time computing”), entertainment (computer games, music-production, etc.). The conclusion considers “The Computer as a Social Force”. Most computer users will find this an interesting, informative and enjoyable book, especially at such a modest price. and Phosphorescence Spectroscopy: S. SCHULMAN. Pergamon, Oxford, 1977. This book makes a most useful contribution to the literature as it brings together an understanding of theoretical prmciples and experimental applications. The book should be a good reference work and might well serve as a text-book for a short course in luminescence spectroscopy. One of the strongest points in the book is a discussion of the fate of the excited state, since the various photophysical processes that can take place have a profound influence on fluorescence and phosphorescence spectra and quantum yields. The book contains an ‘especially thorough discussion of the effect of pH on the excited state. The practising analyst will find the applications section useful, as it contains lists of suitable solvents and methods. Fluorescence

R. J. HAMILTON and P. A. SEWELL.Chapman & Hall, London, 1977. Pp. xii + 184. &8.00 This book shows signs of haste in production, and though useful as a general introduction to the field, is likely to irritate the reader and so lose some of its value to him. Thus on page 2 we are told there is only one competing phase in gas chromatography, and though we can see what the authors mean, it would be kinder to us if they phrased it better. On page 142 it is not clear whether some of the ultraviolet spectra published in the 1930s were of the authors, the journals, or something else unspecified. The last sentence on page 143 almost defies analysis. On page 159 the third reference has the year wrong, and the second cannot possibly be correct (Science has crept in somewhere). The bibliography referred to on page 142 proved elusive. These are all mmor criticisms, of course, but how is the uninformed reader to know which mistakes are serious and which are not, or indeed whether mistakes have been made or not? A useful book if read with care and attention.

Introduction to High Performance Liquid Chromatography:

Atomic Spectroscopy 1976, Vol. 6: C. W. FULLER(ed.). Chemical Society, London, 1977. Pp. viii + 282. f18.00, $36.00. Listing 1682 references and giving a brief indication of their contents, this volume continues the good work of its predecessors, supplying the reader with a handy guide to the major developments in the field during the past year, with the subject divided into various categories such as fundamentals, instrumentation and applications. Owners of the earlier volumes will want this one as well, but overseas buyers should note the dollar premium and take whatever action appeals to them. Annual Reports on Analytical

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED Chemical Equilibria in CarbowHydrogewOxygen Systems: ROBERTE. BARON,JAMESH. PORTERand MOND, JR. MIT Press, London, 1976. Pp. xii + 110. 57.50.

V OGDEN

H. H~hl-

A compilation of computer print-outs (tables and graphs) for the systems indicated by the title (nitrogen is included as well). SI addicts will need a set of conversion factors from temperatures in degrees Fahrenheit and enthalpy changes in BTU/scf. Strictly for chemical engineers. The Metallic Elements: R. V. PARISH.Longmans, London, 1977. Pp. xii + 274. f7.95. As a succinct guide to the sources, properties, uses and general chemistry of the metals and their compounds, this book should be available in every analytical laboratory dealing with- inorganic work. The only thing it lacks is analytical chemistry, but then it is not intended to have any, and in any case its value to the analyst is in providing the information and analytical texts so seldom have, although it is often wanted by the analyst. The text could be read profitably by chemists of all kinds, especially by those who do not normally see any chemistry beyond the bounds of their own little back-yard of specialization within a subsection of a single branch of chemistry. Aqnametry, Part 1, 2nd Ed.: JOHN MITCHELL,JR. and DONALDMILTONSMITH.Wiley-Interscience, Pp. xi + 632. E22.45, $38.00.

New York, 1977.

The new edition of the authors’ encyclopaedic work on the determination of water, published nearly thirty years after the first appearance of the book, has been divided into three parts, of which this is the first, dealing with all methods except those based on electrical measurement (Part II) and the Karl Fischer reagent (Part III). The need to do this reflects the enormous development of analytical chemistry during that time, and the importance of water as a ubiquitous component of materials. Mitchell and Smith have made this part of analysis particularly their own, and the second edition needs no recommendation beyond the authors’ names. For information on water and its determination, this book is an essential.