Analyst, January 1996, Vol. 121 5N Book Reviews Science and the Detective By Brian H. Kaye. Pp. xviii + 38. VCH. 1995. Price DM68.00. ISBN 3-527-29252-7. This is an interesting compilation of selected areas of the forensic sciences and is to be highly recommended to those with little scientific knowledge. The author clearly uses the public appeal of forensic science as a vehicle for spreading the scientific gospel to a wide audience and he demonstrates an easy reading style which most should find enjoyable. Professor Kaye has a clear interest in the derivation of words from the Greek and Latin and while the reviewer found this appealing some readers may see this as an irritation. Science students about to enter university, lawyers and perhaps even forensic scientists will find this volume partic- ularly enjoyable and informative, but anyone with an enquiring mind will find it enthralling.This does not mean that there are no faults; a little better proof-reading would not have gone amiss when correcting the names in some of the cases cited (e.g., Scoose, Skuse) as well as the many serious errors in chemical structures; the structures relating to explosives (p. 107) and odours (p. 166) are particularly poor. ‘Science students about to enter university, lawyers and perhaps even forensic scientists will find this volume particularly enjoyable and informative, but anyone with an enquiring mind will find it enthralling. ’ The application of modem technology and the fundamental principles underlying these technologies are well covered and lucidly explained.What is perhaps missing is an appraisal of the relative merits of individual techniques and an explanation of why a particular method was used in preference to others in specific cases. This is a book of 12 chapters taking the reader from the crime scene through the laboratory and into the courts. It is well referenced for further general reading and is a well presented volume with good layout and illustration. This is a book which will and should be read by many. It’s only major fault is its price. At &30 for a paperback this could be a serious disincentive to buy! Professor B. Caddy 51900401 University of Strathclyde, Glasgow Plants and the Chemical Elements-Biochemistry, Up- take, Tolerance and Toxicity. Edited by M. E. Farago. Pp.292. VCH. 1994. Price f79.50. ISBN 3-527-28269-6. The text consists of 10 chapters written by experts in their topic. The scope of the work is considerable and complex and covers many multidisciplinary areas. Chapter 1 by Brian E. Davies introduces the book with an overview of soil chemistry and bioavailability with special reference to trace elements. His account provides a concise description of rock and soil geochemistry, soil processes and bioavailability. In Chapter 2 Aradhana Mehra and Margaret Farago focus on metal ions and plant nutrition providing a thorough treatment of the role of macro- and micro-nutrients and a brief review of uptake processes. Mark Macnair and Alan Baker present a fascinating account of the evolutionary aspects of plant populations which can tolerate high concentrations of metal ions in chapter 3.The review, which concentrates on Cu, Zn and Cd, also provides an insight into various experimental approaches. Following on, Robert Brooks explores plants that hyperaccumulate the heavy metals Co, Cu, Ni (and Zn). Included are some useful and extensive tables of plant species with location and concentra- tion. Chapter 5 , written by Robert Hay from Massey University in New Zealand, contains detailed information on the chemistry and structure of enzymes and proteins which by its nature is the most difficult information to digest. ‘the text is a valuable forum for exchange of current thinking across a broad range of disciplines. ’ In the book reviewed, figure 5.22 on page 141 is blank! The main discussion in the following chapter is on the toxic effects of metals at the cellular level written by Jaco Vangronsveld and Herman Clijsters from Belgium.Inhibition and induction of enzymes are the main topics. The authors use conclusions for each subject to provide helpful summaries to guide the reader through the chapter. Chapter 7 provides a good general summary of plants and radionuclides. G. Shaw and J. N. B. Bell review aspects of environmental pollution and contamination from a mechanistic approach including discussion on atmos- pheric deposition. Margaret Farago considers plants as in- dicators of mineralization and pollution in chapter 7, briefly reviewing mineral exploration and plants as indicators of pollution. In my view, this chapter logically follows on from chapter 4! The extensive topic of the analytical approach for plant analysis is briefly reviewed by Margaret Farago and Aradhana Mehra.Chapter 8 could provide botanical students with a useful introduction to analytical techniques. Finally Margaret Farago describes methods for the study of inorganic species in plant tissue using phytochemistry. The editor has managed to produce a book with appeal to a wide audience. I can summarize my feelings no better than the cover which concludes that the text is a valuable forum for exchange of current thinking across a broad range of disciplines. A. P. Rowland 41901 59B Institute of Terrestrial Ecology, Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria Thermal Plasmas. Fundamentals and Applications. Volume 1 By Maher I. Boulos, Pierre Fauchais and Emil Pfender.Pp. xiii + 452. Plenum. 1994. Price $85.00. ISBN 0-306-44607-3. This book is the first of two volumes concerned with plasma technology; a subject which covers a wide and diverse range of disciplines from chemical analysis through plasma physics to materials science. Volume 1 is concerned with the fundamental concepts, gaseous kinetics, thermodynamics and transport properties of plasmas. The second volume will be concerned more with scientific and engineering applications of plasmas. The authors state in the preface that both are aimed at scientists seeking a broad view of the subject and for graduate students entering the subject of thermal plasma technology. It is with this criterion that I have attempted to review Volume 1. In addition I have reviewed the book through the eyes of an analytical chemist to judge its worth to this group of the scientific community. Volume 1 can be broadly described as a book which provides the reader with a complete description of the plasma state containing all of the necessary theoretical concepts in an accessible presentation.The book divides more or less equally6N Analyst, January 1996, Vol. I21 into descriptions of the microscopic properties and macroscopic properties of the plasma state. Chapter one is very much an introductory chapter which sets the scene, describing high intensity arcs, free burning arcs, RF discharges and microwave plasmas, followed by a discussion of relevant properties of plasmas giving the reader a useful synopsis of the subject.The rest of chapter one then switches to descriptions of several industrial applications of plasmas, e.g., plasma deposition and plasma metallurgy. Clearly chapter one forms an introduction to both volumes. Chapters two to four are concerned with the microscopic properties of plasmas covering basic atomic and molecular theory, elementary particle kinetics and fundamental concepts in gaseous electronics. These chapters provide an important basic framework for understanding the plasma state but possibly the most useful for analytical scientists is chapter four which builds upon earlier chapters to provide the reader with a clear understanding of thermal equilibrium and local thermal equilibrium (LTE) in the plasma state. An understanding of these concepts is important in understanding the emission characteristics of analytical plasmas (e.g., ICP) as well as the fundamental influence of temperature in such plasmas.As expected the treatment is based upon Maxwell-Bolzmann statistics and the Boltzmann distribution, concepts which rely upon the existence of LTE. The conditions under which LTE prevails are clearly discussed and examples of deviations from LTE are given. This approach leads to a rigorous definition of the plasma state and a discussion of Debye length, Quasi- neutrality and charge carrier separation. LFor graduate students wishing to enter the research field of thermal plasmas this book provides an excellent grounding in the subject. ’ Macroscopic properties of thermal plasmas are discussed in chapters five, six, seven and eight.Again, the importance of temperature in determining the properties of these plasmas is stressed. In Chapter five the plasma equations for current, mass and heat flow are derived. Chapter six is concerned with the thermodynamic properties of the plasma state and considers partition functions and the species number density temperature dependence of mixed gas plasmas. Chapter seven is a discussion of transport properties in plasmas under conditions of electric field and temperature gradients. Thus, self diffusion, thermal and electrical conductivity and viscosity of the plasma medium are elucidated. The theme of mixed gas plasmas is picked up again in this chapter showing the effects of gas composition on thermal conductivity. Finally in chapter eight a fairly routine but brief presentation of radiation transport and emission is given which is of some importance to analytical spectroscopists using a plasma for chemical analysis.Given the range of material covered in Volume 1 the authors have made a very good job of achieving their aims. Not many books exist which will take the reader from basic atomic theory right through to the thermodynamics of the plasma state. Even fewer do so in the lucid fashion which these authors have done. I suspect however that the book is not pitched at graduate level analytical chemists, being rather more concerned with the physics of plasmas. This is reflected in the relatively high level of applied mathematics knowledge which it is assumed that the reader possesses. Nevertheless, for analytical chemists with a real interest in plasma diagnostics this book is really a very useful bringing together all of the underlying concepts of the plasma state.For graduate students wishing to enter the research field of thermal plasmas this book provides an excellent grounding in the subject. Professor R. D. Snook 4/90] 26F UMIST, Manchester Split and Splitless Injection in Capillary GC. 3rd Edition By Konrad Grob. Chromatographic Methods. Pp xxiv + 548. Huthig. 1993. Price DM148.00. ISBN 3-7785-2151-9. Many of us feel after a few hours with a gas chromatograph, that there is nothing much to it beyond choosing the right column and a suitable temperature programme. Konrad Grob believes otherwise, and has been at great pains in his writing to show that if one really wants to identify all the volatile components present, and still more, to measure them quantitatively, there is a great deal more to be learned about the technique.This substantial book is on injection techniques alone, which he demonstrates can have many pitfalls. If after reading it, one despairs of success, he does say at one point; ‘of course many analyses are free from such difficulties . . . assume the reader is sufficiently experienced to maintain a balanced picture of the technique ’ . ‘This substantial book is on injection techniques alone, which demonstrates can have many pitfalls.’ He divides the technique first into ‘classical’ vaporizing injection (which forms the greater part of the book, and is subdivided into split, splitless and direct injection) and programmed temperature vapourization (PTV) injection, known to some as cold injection, which forms a much shorter part and which is further subdivided into split, splitless, solvent split and direct injection.Grob is well known for his wamings about the dangers of split injection. To be able to write 212 pages on this subject alone, in a concise and unrepetitive way, clearly indicates there is a great deal to be considered. Even subjects like measuring the flow rate through the column, or the correct length of a syringe needle are considered and shown to be far from simple or unbiased. Silanizing inserts and glass wool for plugs has received a lot of study and he comes down clearly on the need for high temperature silanizing. It is nice to see ones own experiences (or prejudices?) supported, e.g., that a glass wool plug in a straight glass tube is the best kind of injector liner, and that retention gaps are well worth using, and they do not need to be more than about 50 cm long, though he does advocate glass press-fit connectors for joining gap and column.Personally, they seem to give a great deal of trouble and glass-lined metal fittings seem much more reliable, and cheaper in the long run. A section of 60 pages is devoted to the vexed question of evaporation from the needle and just how much sample is injected when ‘1 pl’ is delivered from a syringe. There is no simple answer. It is not an easy book in which to browse, but once one is familiar with some of it, it is easy reading, because the text is split into many sections with a marginal heading or note to every paragraph (three or four to the page), and with important statements always in bold type. There is a good subject index, a one-page summary of how to select the correct injection technique and five-page glossary of terms. Sometimes one is confused by apparently conflicting advice under different headings, although he does his best to conclude at the ends of chapters and a two-page summary of parameter selection at the end. The subject has advanced considerably, even since the second edition in 1990, so this book necessarily supersedes the earlier ones. It is not a book to force on to undergraduates, and its price is high, but no one should be allowed to direct a laboratory doing quantitative analysis by GC without first being thoroughly familiar with this book, or its contents. Professor E . D. Morgan 3190309E Keele University, StafSordshire