Book review

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Analytical Chemistry for Technicians (Third Edition). Search PubMedBy John Kenkel. Pp. 584. Lewis Publishing. 2002. Price: £66.99 (Hardcover). ISBN: 1566705193

The target audience for this book is laboratory technicians and students in analytical chemistry, scientists who are beginning analytical work, and anyone responsible for training analytical technicians.

The Third Edition of Analytical Chemistry for Technicians combines the contents of the previous version and also several NSF funded projects covering the fundamentals and skills needed by an analytical chemist in an industrial laboratory.

The high quality text uses clear examples that are easy to follow, while coverage of the topics is sufficient in depth so readers of varying experience will find it a useful source of information for many practical situations. This is especially helpful from the perspective of anyone who trains technician-level laboratory workers. The book is written in textbook style with exercises and experiments, and the readers have an opportunity to learn a LIMS system while performing some of the experiments. Also, over 50 “Workplace Scenes” have been added as text sideboxes with photographs of analysts working with equipment or performing analyses that correspond to the topic. A CD-ROM is included with the book and brings some humor as well as additional exercises and multimedia presentations.

The emphasis is on topics which encompass the most common analytical techniques based on extensive input from many laboratories, especially industrial settings where chemists and laboratory technicians are working routinely for small, medium, and large sized companies. The author was careful to cover the basics that an analytical scientist should know from this perspective. Techniques such as traditional gravimetric and titrimetric analysis are discussed along with UV-VIS and IR molecular spectroscopy, GC, HPLC, atomic spectroscopy and spectrochemical methods. The book also briefly introduces a few popular but slightly more advanced techniques, such as X-ray techniques, NMR, ICP-MS and LC-MS.

New chapters in this edition include one on the important topic of physical testing methods routinely used in industrial settings and also a more advanced chapter on bioanalysis, in both of which the author has recruited outside help from experts in those fields. The appendix contains sections on good laboratory practice, significant figures, helpful formulae and guidelines for the preparation of solutions and titrimetric analysis, and also the answers to questions and problems from the text.

Contents:

Introduction to Analytical Science

Sampling and Sample Preparations

Gravimetric Analysis

Introduction to Titrimetric Analysis

Applications of Titrimetric Analysis

Introduction to Instrumental Analysis

Introduction to Spectrochemical Methods

UV-VIS and IR Molecular Spectrometry

Atomic Spectroscopy

Other Spectroscopic Methods (X-Ray, NMR, and MS)

Analytical Separations

Gas Chromatography

High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Electroanalytical Methods

Physical Testing Methods

Bioanalysis

Appendices (GLP, Answers to Questions and Problems)

Index

Jason Day

Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, UK

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