Scientific Glass Engineering Pty. Ltd

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Books that, given the ambitious scope and unusual brevity, the treatment would necessarily be superficial. This admis­ sion is made by the author at the out­ set, and he suggests one of his goals is to persuade the reader to examine some of the four specialist books in­ cluded in a one-page list entitled " F u r t h e r Reading". Curiously, two of the four were published 10 years ago, and the others in 1973 and 1976. There seems to be no particular guid­ ing rationale in the selection offered. There is no question t h a t the goal of superficiality has been achieved. Unfortunately, the more important objective of giving an account of the development of modern mass spec­ trometry has not been accomplished (unless " m o d e r n " is defined for the present purpose as through the mid1970's). T h e extensive and exciting developments since t h a t time are es­ sentially ignored. For example, the topics of chemical ionization, field ion­ ization, and ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry are each allotted approximately one paragraph. Much of the second chapter, which is devoted to applications in organic and biochemistry, discusses the topics

of volatility (1 page), energetics of ion­ ization (3 pages), determination of ap­ pearance potentials (3.5 pages), and ms-chromatography combinations (7 pages). T h e remainder of the chapter is devoted to an elementary discussion of mass spectrum interpretation. Chapters 3 and 4 consider mass spectrometry applications in inorganic and physical chemistry and comprise about one-third of the book. Chapter 5, " F u r t h e r Applications", devotes most of its brief space to discussion of how isotopic abundances can be used for various purposes, such as dat­ ing and labeling. T h e final chapter (10 pages) suggests t h a t current trends in mass spectrometry are to employ labo­ ratory computers more and to a t t e m p t to extend mass spectrometric sensitiv­ ity, range, and resolution. There is es­ sentially no discussion of any of the major advances of the past 10 years; therefore, this chapter is probably the least useful in the book. Ten years ago, and at one fourth the price, it might have been possible to recommend " T h e Mass Spectrometer" as a useful text at the freshman chem­ istry level. Today, at $16.50, the antic­ ipated cost benefit ratio is such that

I cannot honestly recommend t h a t anyone purchase this book. Perhaps the paperback edition (which is said to be available) is enough less expen­ sive t h a t it might be worth consider­ ation by individuals interested in only the general, superficial, and relatively dated t r e a t m e n t presented. From my point of view, " T h e Mass Spectrome­ ter" is certainly far less useful as an introduction to the topic than Schrader's 1971 paperback ("Introductory Mass Spectrometry", Allyn and Bacon) and is certainly not much more up-to-date.

New Books Handbook of Derivatives for Chroma­ tography. Karl Blau and Graham King, Eds. xvi + 576 pages. Heyden & Son Inc., 247 South 41st St., Philadelphia, P a . 1 9 1 0 4 . 1977. $48

This handbook offers guidance on selection of derivatives and compares strategies of derivatization of common classes of compounds such as amino acids, steroids, and carbohydrates. Al­ ternative derivatization schemes, in-

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1138 A · ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, VOL. 50, NO. 12, OCTOBER 1978

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