ANALYST, MAY 1993, VOL. 118 53N Book Reviews Journal of Bioluminescence and C hemi luminescence : Studies and Applications in Biology and Medicine Vol- ume 4. Number 1. Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Bioluminescence and Chemilumines- cence, September 1988 Edited by M. Pazzagli, E. Cadenas, L. J. Kricka, A. Roda and P. E. Stanley. Pp. vi + 646. Wiley. 1989. Price f92.00. ISSN 0-884-3996. This immense volume (a special issue of the journal concer- ned) contains almost 80 papers, many by well-known authors, covering every major aspect of this rapidly growing field. The exceptional sensitivity of these methods, coupled with the relatively simple instrumentation used, makes them extremely attractive in many areas of biochemical analysis, and the growing diversity of luminescent reactions is another striking feature of the area, which is well covered in this volume.The currently fashionable dioxetane systems were only just appearing at the time of this conference, so this is one of the few areas that may now seem to be less than fully covered. The papers are sensibly divided into sections, the longest inevitably and rightly being that devoted to immunoassay applications (16 papers). This section also contains a paper on time-resolved fluorescence studies: interesting, but out of place in this volume. Much later in the volume there are two separate sections devoted entirely to particular commercial systems (11 papers in all). These sections also deal with immunoassays, but any possible confusion is alleviated by the provision of a good index, a rare and welcome feature in a volume of this kind, and one on which the editors are much to be congratulated.The growing application of CL and BL methods to the study of nucleic acids is also well featured (10 papers), and other sections to catch the eye are those dealing with HPLC detection (4 papers) and with instrumental developments including biosensors (8 papers). Contributions to a conference proceedings volume of this kind are inevitably a mixed bag. Their length varies con- siderably, and reviews and general interest articles are well mixed with specific research papers. However, the over-all level is very good indeed, and matched by high production standards with very few misprints. Whether to refer to or to dip into, this is an excellent volume, and well worth having as a companion to one of the most dynamic areas of modern analytical science.James N . Miller Radiochemistry and Nuclear Methods of Analysis By William D. Ehmann and Diane E. Vance. Volume 7 76in Chemical Analysis: A Series of Monographs on Analytical Chemistry and its Applications. Pp. xviii + 532. Wiley. 1991. Price f75.00. ISBN 0-471-600-76-8. This book is volume 116 in a series of well-respected books on chemical analysis and is a welcome addition to the rather sparse literature concerning radiochemistry. The target groups for this book are defined as those at undergraduate or beginning graduate level and, in the main, the book will satisfy most of the requirements of these groups. The authors' style and clarity of writing together with the excellent presentation of the book make for easy reading and understanding although the large number of topics covered in the book results in some of them being treated rather trivially.This criticism is somewhat overcome by the inclusion of a further reading list at the end of each chapter. Chapters 1-8 cover a general introduction to radio- and nuclear chemistry and Chapters 9-14 explain radioanalytical methods and applications of the use of radionuclides. Chapter 1 starts with a very readable account of the discovery of radioactivity and chronicles the discoveries of early workers. The chapter is enhanced by the inclusion of a number of interesting photographs. Chapters 2-6 explain the fundamentals of radio- and nuclear chemistry in a straightforward, clear and concise style.Derivatations of equations are fully explained and useful example calculations are included throughout the chapters. One criticism is the continual use of the curie, the'old unit of activity, instead of the SI unit, the becquerel. Chapter 7 describes aspects of health physics, an important topic, which clearly deserves attention. However, again the examples make use of old units (rad and rem) instead of the SI units, the gray and the sievert. Chapter 8 provides a useful explanation of instrumentation used in radiochemistry although measurement techniques such as liquid scintillation counting deserve a fuller explana- tion. Nuclear activation analysis is covered well in Chapter 9 as are radiotracer methods (Chapter lo), ion beam analysis, chemical applications of radioactivity (Chapter 11) and nuclear dating methods (Chapter 12).The book concludes with chapters on the origin of the chemical elements and on particle generators. The book is clearly a compilation of lectures and is written by experienced teachers. A valuable addition to any library but I fear that the cost of the book will prohibit its purchase by students. P. Warwick Multidimensional Chromatography: Techniques and Applications Edited by Hernan J. Cortes. Chromatographic Science Series. Volume 50. Pp. viii + 378. Marcel Dekker. 1990. Price US $99.75 (USA and Canada), US $1 19.50 (export). ISBN 0-8247-81 36-8. This volume, consisting of ten chapters, two of which are by the editor, covers the theoretical and practical aspects of performing multidimensional separations, using a variety of different chromatographic techniques. These are, in brief, gas chromatography (GC), thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), super- critical fluid chromatography (SFC) , supercritical fluid extrac- tion (SFE) on-line with SFC, and HPLC on-line with GC.Although covering a wide variety of topics, many of which warrant and indeed have constituted complete texts in their own right, the book succeeds in illustrating the power afforded by multidimensional means and the limitations of the single dimensional approach. The theoretical case for multidimensional separation as a whole is presented appropriately in the first chapter by Giddings whose work has been instrumental in the under- standing of the process involved.Whether they are performed off-line or on-line, this chapter presents the case that multidimensional strategies are essential to achieve the required analytical resolution, when dealing with many complex matrices. Three of the remaining chapters are devoted to GC. The first by Bertsch is a contemporary evaluation of multidimen- sional GC, focusing on recent advances using capillary columns. It concentrates on the practical issue of two-dimen- sional GC and is extensively referenced. The capillary theme is maintained in the next chapter on GC, which explains the considerations to be made when tuning a GC system for54N ANALYST, MAY 1993, VOL. 118 selectivity, illustrating the logic of phase selection, phase mixing and the importance of pressure drop , compressibility effects etc.Practical examples are described principally for mixed phase and tandem coupled columns, with true multi- dimensional systems addressed towards the end. The final chapter on GC concerns its use in process control and the practical considerations to be made , including valveless column switching using both the ‘Deans-type- and ‘live-type’ systems. A single, extensively referenced chapter provides an overview of what constitutes modern-day TLC, and indicates the recent revolution within the field including overpressure TLC and circular/anticircular TLC. Theoretical considera- tions of unidimensional development are presented, with explanations and examples of continuous and multiple devel- opment, as well as two-dimensional development and bimodal chromatography.Multidimensional HPLC and HPLC-GC are covered in two chapters by the editor. Both address the practical problems, solutions and instrumental requirements of the techniques , which are illustrated by a number of selected applications. The newer techniques of multidimensional SFC and SFE- SFC are covered in two separate chapters, although the SFC-SFC chapter also briefly includes SFC-GC, LC-SFC and SFE-chromatography . Examples are restricted mainly to fossil fuel analysis, as the associated industries have initiated the early developments of the technique. The SFE-SFC chapter concentrates on microscale SFE and its application to PAH analyses. Hardware considerations for the techniques presented throughout the text, are addressed in the final chapter. This book will be useful to chromatographers who have considered attempting multidimensional separation, but have been dissuaded by the apparent complexity of the techniques, as well as those familiar with multidimensional methods. The theoretical case, convincingly presented, along with numerous practical examples, demonstrate the advantages to be gained, at the cost of an increased, yet readily achieved complexity.Colin Chappell Surfactants in Solution. Volumes 7,8,9 and 10 Edited by K. L. Mittal. Plenum Press. 1989. Price US $1 15.00 ISBN 0-306-43332-X. (Vol 7); 0-306-43333-8 (Vol 8 ) ; 0-306-43334-6 (Vol 9); 0-306-43335-4 (VOI 10). These 4 volumes contain the proceedings of the 6th Inter- national Symposium on Surfactants in Solution (SIS) held in 1986 in New Delhi and published in 1989.The 6th Symposium represents the 10th anniversary of the start of the meetings in 1976. The previous 2 meetings were held in Lund (1982), producing volumes 1, 2 and 3 in the series, and in Bordeaux (1984) resulting in volumes 4, 5 and 6. Three other meetings have been held since the one in New Delhi, in 1988 in Ottawa, 1990 in Gainsville and 1992 in Varna (Bulgaria). Surfactant science, which is the essence of the SIS meetings, is an area of physical science not well-represented in the UK although worldwide it is very much alive and well, particularly in a number of other European countries as well as in the USA. Certainly surfactants are used very widely in many commercial processes and products and so industrial interest is predictably strong.Now, the old view that colloids, of which surfactant solutions are an important example, are ‘things indefinite in shape, indefinite in chemical composition and physical properties, fickle in chemical deportment, things unfilterable and unmanageable’ is no longer tenable. Indeed, the shape (and other properties) of surfactant aggregates is the subject of much of the material of the volumes under review. Physical properties of surfactant solutions are now being widely studied, as is the way in which ‘composition’ affects the properties of surfactant systems. It does have to be admitted that surfactants can be a little unmanageable at times. Nonetheless, the detergent industry for example, does an excellent job in surfactant management in the production of a range of products with reproducible properties.The contents of these 4 volumes are wide ranging (148 papers are included) and are organized into seven sections. Part I covers aggregation of surfactants and the structure, dynamics and characterization of micelles, and Part I1 deals with biological amphiphiles. The aggregation of surfactants in apolar media is the subject of Part 111, and Part IV contains papers on micellar catalysis and reactions in surfactant solutions. Monolayers and surfactant adsorption are discussed in Part V. Microemulsions and reactions in microemulsions are dealt with in Part VI and the final part (VIT) consists of a collection of general papers that do not readily fall into any of the above categories.Volume 7 contains some of Part I, the remainder appearing in Volume 8 together with Part 11. Volume 9 contains Parts 111, IV and V, and Parts VI and VII make up Volume 10. As can be expected, the quality, nature and size of the contributions vary, although the general standard is good; all the contributions have been refereed. It will have been noticed that there is an inordinately long gap between the conference and appearance of these proceedings. Nonetheless, the authors were all given the opportunity to revise and update their contributions in 1988. There are several useful review- type articles, including NMR self-diffusion and relaxation techniques for the study of structure and dynamics of surfactant solutions (Lindman et al. , Volume 7); interfacial chemistry of bilayer lipid membranes (Tien, Volume 8); developments in the study of insoluble monolayers (Voll- hardt , Volume 9) ; preparation of monodisperse colloidal metal particles (Nagy, Volume 10); and spectroscopic tools in the study of micelles and membranes, (Zachariasse, Volume 7). Otherwise the papers are mainly concerned with experimental work with relatively few theoretical contribu- tions. Each volume contains an index and some short notes about the contributors. Also, at the front of each volume there is a list of the contents of all 4 volumes, which is useful. The books are well produced from camera-ready copy. It is a pity that one of the contributions in Volume 9 contains a very large number of unsightly hand-written equations. Because these books report work presented in 1986 (and was possibly updated in 1988), they will now be of limited use for those seeking up-to-date information on their own research areas. Nonetheless, they can be recommended for browsing and for picking up references; they will also be of interest to those wishing to familiarize themselves with areas of surfactant science peripheral to their own. R. Aveyard