Choice Review

This handbook is a combination of an analytical instrumentation textbook (without the student problem sets), a reference source for analytical applications, and a practical guide to currently available instruments (including information on vendors, level of operator training, service/maintenance, and background readings). Editor Settle (emeritus, Virginia Military Institute) has 28 years of experience teaching analytical chemistry and also coauthored an instrumental methods textbook. The handbook includes a section on sampling techniques and general analytical considerations and covers separation methods, spectroscopic methods, mass spectrometry, electroanalytical techniques, microscopic/surface analysis, and polymer analysis. It contains a substantial glossary and is well referenced throughout. Associated CD-ROM software allows one to efficiently go from either analytical sample parameters or a technique of interest to relevant material on-screen, including references to the appropriate sections of the handbook. The practical and comprehensive aspects of this handbook make it a useful library reference for upper-division undergraduates through postgraduates and faculty, and for private/government laboratories seeking to expand analytical capabilities. J. F. Belliveau; Providence College