Book review
Handbook of Spectroscopy Search PubMedEdited by Gunter Gauglitz and Tuan Vo-Dinh. Pp. 1168. Wiley-VCH. 2003. Price £280.00 (Hardcover). ISBN: 3527297820
The recently published (2003) Handbook of Spectroscopy sets a challenging goal for itself. According to the introductory remarks of the editors, the work is “intended to serve as an authoritative reference source for a broad audience”, and designed “to provide a straightforward introduction to spectroscopy, what this field can do, and how an investigator can use it effectively” in a “day-to-day laboratory guide”.
The two-volume set is a total of 1035 pages in length and comprised of 11 sections describing various analytical methods and applications. The six “methods” sections (Volume 1) cover topics across analytical chemistry: sample preparation, optical spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, elemental analysis and surface analysis. The remaining sections (in Volume 2) present applications of these methods in bioanalysis, environmental analysis, and process control, while hyphenated techniques and general data treatment are the subjects of two final sections. In all, the work contains 24 chapters that represent the contributions of 41 different authors.
Unfortunately, as is often the case with books assembled in this fashion, the diverse writing styles of the authors give the book a stilted, disjointed character. Although this is, perhaps, unavoidable in the absence of heavy-handed editing, more troubling is the lack of a coherent format or overarching theme. Individual authors have interpreted the aim and style in diverse ways. As one example, Section VI, covering surface-analysis methods, resembles a reference compilation, with a large number of techniques described in a terse, encyclopedic manner. Other sections cover fewer topics in detailed fashion but necessarily exclude important techniques altogether. Further, the book is mostly devoted to qualitative rather than quantitative aspects of spectroscopy. For example, tables showing detection limits for different techniques, which could be helpful in a day-to-day laboratory reference book, are absent.
Chapters also vary greatly in quality. While some provide a good, basic treatment of the topic at hand, others are rife with punctuation and spelling errors, misconceptions, incorrect references, and poor analysis style. An example can be found in the cited literature. Some chapters present many recent references, while others have very few. Because of these differences, we will describe each section individually.
The section on sample pretreatment covers various sampling techniques, cursory statistical considerations, and the means to accomplish the dissolution of solids. The section on optical spectroscopy provides a very brief introduction to electromagnetic radiation theory, then describes various instrument designs and means of probing molecules with light, and ends with selected applications. The section on NMR spectroscopy is among the best. The authors restrict discussion almost entirely to more intricate 2-D NMR techniques in liquids and solids, treating them at a moderately advanced level. Pulse sequences are illustrated, the chemical information obtained is considered, and an example provided. While not an exhaustive listing of NMR techniques, this section provides a useful “first-level” description. However, the reader must have a rudimentary foundation in NMR terminology and theory to gain value from the description, and would likely be required to examine other, more detailed references to gain a working understanding of the techniques covered here. A short chapter on mass spectrometry gives a partial list of ionization methods, instrumentation, and applications. Elemental analysis is segmented into X-ray fluorescence techniques and other atomic spectroscopies, the latter of which include atomic absorption and emission techniques and instrumentation. Unfortunately, some topics, such as flame and inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy, receive the same succinct treatment, thus distorting their relative importance. In general, chapters are written at a level comprehensible to an upper-level graduate student and often require some previous understanding of a topic.
The three application portions (bioanalysis, environmental analysis and process control) follow the same general outline. The bioanalysis section begins with the use of visible and near-infrared radiation for DNA sequencing and inmunoassay. Synthetic pathways of dyes are the main focus. The perspective then turns more analytical, and the basic aspects of evanescent-wave spectroscopy and practical features of the NMR spectroscopy of proteins are discussed. A brief discussion of mass spectrometry, Raman, and infrared spectroscopy in bioanalysis is also presented. The environmental analysis section deals with only two topics: liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and gas chromatography-ion trap mass spectrometry. In the first case, interfaces currently used are followed by a discussion of LC-MS applied to analytes of environmental relevance. Next, aspects of modern GC-ITMS are discussed, and some examples presented. The process control section is a concise summary of the application of spectroscopic methods in industry. The discussion is generally well focused, stressing relevant practical aspects, although occasionally neglecting to cover essential theoretical features. In the hyphenated techniques section, chromatographic detection employing UV-Vis, mass spectrometry and NMR detection is presented through examples, with a perspective that combines the chemical and spectroscopic properties of the compounds with practical instrumental aspects.
The final section is devoted to general data treatment. The first part deals with current chemometric techniques in optical spectroscopy, such as basic data treatment of spectra with principal-component analysis. The level of this section requires that the reader have a previous knowledge of the subject; however, it presents concepts in a concise manner and might be useful for refreshing earlier knowledge. This makes a contrast with the next chapter, devoted to NMR, where spectral-similarity searching techniques are discussed but in a purely qualitative manner. Finally, in a chapter devoted to mass spectrometry, spectral databases currently available are described and contrasted, and the capabilities of several software packages used for spectral deconvolution evaluated.
To some extent, weaknesses in this two-volume set are a result of the scope of material suggested by the title. Adding the term “applied” to the title would better indicate what the reader might expect. To cover mature fields in the space of several chapters in a manner that is of much value to a graduate-level audience is an extremely difficult task. On these grounds, Handbook of Spectroscopy does not succeed. Its heterogeneity limits its value as a source for a first, superficial understanding of spectroscopic techniques. While some sections are useful in this regard, others might give an unfamiliar reader an incomplete or incorrect understanding of a field. This last point makes it difficult to recommend as a reference source.
Francisco J. Andrade, Steven J. Ray and Gary M. Hieftje
Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
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