Anal Bioanal Chem (2006) 385: 1033–1034 DOI 10.1007/s00216-006-0518-y
BOOKS AN D SOFTWARE IN REV IEW
Martin Vogel
R. Kellner, J.-M. Mermet, M. Otto, M. Valcárcel, H.M. Widmer (Eds.): Analytical Chemistry. A Modern Approach to Analytical Science Published online: 13 June 2006 # Springer-Verlag 2006 Bibliography Analytical Chemistry. A Modern Approach to Analytical Science, 2nd Edn R. Kellner, J.-M. Mermet, M. Otto, M. Valcárcel, H.M. Widmer (Eds.) Wiley-VCH ISBN 3-527-30590-4 Hardcover, 1,209 pages, 2004, £55.00/€82.50
Book’s topic For students, teachers and lecturers in the rapidly developing field of analytical chemistry it is a never-ending challenge to find an adequate state-of-the-art textbook covering all relevant techniques within such different disciplines as for instance spectroscopy, chromatography, chemometrics or bioassays. The second edition of the multi-authored book Analytical Chemistry edited by R. Kellner, J.-M. Mermet, M. Otto, M. Valcárcel and H.M. Widmer wants to be a broad and solid platform for students entering the fascinating but seemingly infinite world of analytical chemistry. The selection of topics has—as already in the first edition—mainly been related to the so-called eurocurriculum analytical chemistry. Nevertheless, the second edition comprises a thoroughly revised content. Chapters have been restructured and new topics, M. Vogel (*) Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, University of Münster, Corrensstr. 30, 48149 Münster, Germany e-mail:
[email protected] Tel.: +49-251-8333160 Fax: +49-251-83336013
e.g. multidimensional chromatography (LC×LC, GC×GC, LC×GC), sample preparation or screening systems, have been added, thus enlarging the book from the first edition’s 920 pages or so to 1,180 pages. Each chapter starts with a short survey on the topics that shall be treated and is concluded by a “questions and problems” section allowing the student to control the learning process. Solutions to the questions are provided in the appendix section. Worked examples and recommended literature are part of each section to enable a deeper insight into the subject matter. Contents and critical assessment Although not covering the inaccessible “everything”, this textbook on analytical chemistry deals with the following eight major analytical issues: an introduction to analytical chemistry, basic statistics and chemometrics, methods based on chemical reactions, electroanalytical methods, separation methods, atomic and molecular spectroscopy, surface and structural analysis, and automation and miniaturization. In total, 36 chapters introduce fields such as traceability, error analysis, quality management, statistics, titrations, thermal analysis, extraction techniques, electroanalysis, separation techniques, atomic emission and absorption spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, NMR, hyphenated techniques, flowinjection analysis or sensor systems. Consciously, the editors have focussed on topics, such as quality assurance or chemometrics, which are often neglected in academic teaching. All chapters are written by experts to the field, thus making the book an up-to-date learning tool for students and a reference basis for teachers and lecturers. The pursuit of this book to cover a very broad range of analytical methods by using a multi-authored team, however, has led to the fact that in some cases the structure remains unclear. For example, the strict separation of inorganic and organic mass spectrometry does hardly help to understand the high capabilities inherent to this method. Also, the wide variety of extraction techniques described in Chap. 15 should have been combined with the chapter on sample preparation that is aligned to the separation section. The same counts for ICP,
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which has been described both in Chaps. 24.2 and 24.6. Although a more than satisfying number of methods that are currently important for a student in the field of analytical chemistry are explained, some of them, for instance MALDI or ICP, cannot be found when looking back into the book’s index. This is crucial for students using this book to achieve a fast orientation on a topic. In contrast, the very detailed appendix section provides additional information on abbreviations and acronyms, advanced literature, SI units, statistic tables and important physico-chemical data. Readership recommendation This textbook can be warmly recommended to students of analytical chemistry in both the bachelor and the master phase of their studies.
It should especially be used in addition to lectures and tutorials. For PhD students and university lecturers, it may serve as an analytical encyclopaedia as well as a reference book. Summary Analytical Chemistry edited by Kellner, Mermet, Otto, Valcárcel and Widmer is one of the broadest and most up-to-date text books in the field and can be recommended for students and lecturers. All chapters are clearly written and allow a self-evaluation by answering the questions at the end of the chapters. Owing to the multi-authored approach, it suffers from some overlaps that, on the whole, do not significantly reduce the value of this book.
