Book Review of Laser Chemistry: Spectroscopy, Dynamics and Applications

• Benjamin A. DeGraff ^[1]
  1. [1] James Madison University

     James Madison University

     Estados Unidos

     
• Localización: Journal of chemical education, ISSN 0021-9584, Vol. 87, Nº 5 (May), 2010, págs. 480-481
• Idioma: inglés

• Es reseña de:

  • Laser Chemistry: Spectroscopy, Dynamics and Applications

    Helmut H. Telle, A. González Ureña, Robert J. Donovan

    John Wiley & Sons (USA), 2007. ISBN 978-0-471-48571-1

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• Resumen

  • Laser Chemistry: Spectroscopy, Dynamics and Applications by Helmut H. Telle, Angel G. Ure~na, and Robert J. Donovan John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.: Chichester, West Sussex, England, 2007.

    516 pp. ISBN: 978- 0471485711 (paperback). $90.00 reviewed by Benjamin A. DeGraff There is little doubt that lasers have had a profound impact on the way we do science and medicine. No science undergraduate should escape the hallowed halls without some knowledge of how these devices work and what they are good for. If you want to expand beyond the eight pages provided in traditional textbooks, you have a number of good resources from which to choose. Your choice may be dictated by how much mathematical heavy lifting you are willing to inflict on your students. At one end of the rigor spectrum is the excellent text by Silfvast, which is a must for anyone who wants to design his or her own system or work seriously in the field (1). For those whose needs are more modest, this book is a worthy candidate.

    This text comes close to being the complete Wikipedia of lasers and their applications. Just like Ragu spaghetti sauce, it is all in there.

    The first 14 chapters deal with basics: how lasers and their requisite accessories work (Chapters 3 and 4), general aspects of spectroscopy (Chapters 1, 5-9), a bit about optics and the manipulation of light (Chapters 10-12), and some things about light detection and signal processing (Chapters 13 and 14). If you crave the math, it is often available in the grayed supplemental sections. The level of writing is reasonably consistent given the book's several authors. There are numerous helpful diagrams, and the tone is clearly conceptual.

    The remainder of the book takes a look at various applications of lasers to modern experimentation in a number of areas.

    The applications selected reflect the authors' research interests and emphasize gas-phase, small-molecule systems. Thus, LIBS (laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy) and MALDI (matrixassisted laser desorption ionization) techniques are covered in a few pages, while high-resolution, zero-kinetic energy photoelectron spectroscopy has more extensive coverage. That is OK, because the authors wrote the book and therefore got to choose which applications to present. While the hazards of any applications chapter is the obsolescence of the papers cited, most of the material is sufficiently basic that students can still get a good feel for the area even if the reference list ages.

    Specifically, Chapters 15-18 deal with small-molecule photochemistry as elucidated by laser techniques. The scene then shifts in Chapters 20-23 to various techniques to probe reacting systems, again gas phase. There are chapters on probing the adsorbed state and surface chemistry (Chapters 26 and 27), as well as studies on various complexes (Chapter 24). The last three chapters give a brief overview of some analytical, environmental, and medical applications.

    The book comes complete with warts, but none are deal breakers. The authors use two sets of references, a specific set and a general set, which can be a bit confusing. Apparently the publisher wanted to see whether the book would make The New York Times' bestseller list before investing in color, but that is not the authors' fault. The most significant problem is the promised Web site with supplemental material and problems to support the book (2). As of thiswriting, the site is not fully operational and only a limited amount of material is available. This is unfortunate for those like this reviewer who might like to use this book as the main text in a special topics class.

    Overall, this is a worthy addition to the laser literature and well suited for undergraduate use. At this point, I would give it a B, but that may well rise to an A- if the Web site finally comes online. The book sells for about $90, but is available for less from discount vendors. For students, this is a real bargain. I'm glad I have a copy, and I will make use of it in my laser course this semester.