Resumen de Book Review of Surface Science: Foundations of Catalysis and Nanoscience, Second Edition
Surface Science: Foundations of Catalysis and Nanoscience is a comprehensive overview of modern surface science. It begins with a short essay about why one would study surface chemistry.
In doing so, it also covers some history, economics, key results, origins of words, and notes for students (and instructors) about how the book is organized. I was hooked after this chapter.
Kolasinski conveys his passion for the field as well as a sense of how interesting and far-reaching surface science is. After reading the introduction, I spent the rest of my weekend curled up on the couch with this book. Quite frankly, it was a great weekend read.
My three favorite things about the book are the writing style, the bibliography, and the “frontiers and challenges” sections near the end of each chapter. First, the writing: the author notes in the preface that he received feedback from students about how well written the book was. The best thing about Kolasinski's writing is that he simultaneously writes concisely and informatively. Surface Science is only eight chapters long, but these eight chapters take us from foundational material (structure, spectroscopic techniques, thermodynamics, kinetics, and adsorption processes) to real-world applications (liquid interfaces, heterogeneous catalysis, epitaxy, and laser and nonthermal chemistry) at a good pace and level of detail.
The section on electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), for example, is approximately two pages long, but after reading it and the preceding pages on vibrational spectroscopy, readers should have a good idea about what EELS is, its advantages and disadvantages, and what EELS spectra look like. In short, this text is like a really great talk at a conference: enough information is presented to give readers a good foundation for the subject without either overwhelming them with detail or leaving themfeeling deprived because the talk is too superficial.
The extensive bibliography is superb. Each chapter concludes with a section of further reading that lists key texts and papers, as well as a reference list that is more typically seen in review articles than in undergraduate textbooks. Students and readers new to the field of surface science should appreciate this comprehensive bibliography because they can readily find several articles or texts to read to learn more about a particular topic that catches their interest. The bibliography contains references to works both of historical importance as well as current literature.
Each chapter has a “frontiers and challenges” section near the end. Here Kolasinski provides his list of research questions and challenges that need to be addressed in order to make advances in a particular area. These sections provide students with direct evidence that surface science is a dynamic, still-developing field that needs their contributions. The challenges presented would also be a great resource for instructors looking for topics for research papers or discussion-based sessions.
As an example, there is a short (∼2.5 pages) section on the three-way automotive catalysts. Kolasinski takes us through the engineering concerns for this catalyst (including the costs of materials), why it is called such, the roles of each material in the catalyst, and known poisons for this catalyst. After reading this, I had a good feeling for this material and wanted to learn more. If students feel this after reading even a few sections of the text, the author has done great work. Finding more to read on the subject is facilitated by the in-text citations (three references) as well as the list of further reading materials (one specific reference about automotive catalysts and four others that are directly relevant).
The “frontiers and challenges” section and the problems contained discussion points and specific problems for this section.
This text is a second edition. As such, it has been revised and expanded to include two new chapters: one on liquid interfaces and another on laser and nonthermal chemistry. The author's Web site is a good accompaniment to the text (1); it contains a list of errata to the second edition (minor typos or figure orientation issues), figures in PDF format, and supplemental information for each chapter. Additionally, instructors can contact the author via this Web site to obtain a solutions manual for the end-of-chapter problems. These problems include both conceptual questions and calculate-derive types of exercises. Some problems are also drawn from the current literature, which reinforces the reader's impression that surface science is an evolving field.
I would happily adopt this text in a surface science course for advanced undergraduate students or beginning graduate students. In fact, this is a book that I look forward to having on my bookshelf soon.
