3 comments about Chemometrics: A Practical Guide (Wiley-Interscience Series on Laboratory Automation).

1. Admittedly, I'm biased as the authors are friends. However, this is one of the best books on chemometrics, particularly for those who have some exposure to the subject and wish to learn more. The authors have drawn on their years of experience explaining complex results to non-expert clients to present some complex mathematical ideas in an understandable fashion.



2. The authors have put together a supremely useful guide to actually using chemometric techniques, as opposed to academic research. Consequently, my copy is getting dog-eared from frequent use. Perhaps the most helpful part of the book is the multitude of tables that explain when each different technique might best be used, and how to understand and interpret the diagnostics that arise from the calculations. The table of questions to ask BEFORE an experiment is worth the price of the book. If you're trying to write new chemometric algorithms, buy something else. But if you're trying to apply chemometric techniques in the 'real world' with the highest information-to-effort ratio, you need a copy of this book.



3. Chemometrics by Beebe et al. is my first recommendation to colleagues interested in the successful use and theory of chemometrics. It is a user focused book with theory sufficient to guide the appropriate and informed use of chemometric techniques in a variety of analyses. It is a "hard read" in the best sense of that phrase. You will probably have to work at getting through this book, but you do not need a degree in mathematics to understand and enjoy it.
   
   If you are using one of the many "shrink wrapped" chemometrics software packages available today, and you are troubled by these techniques great utility, and your limited understanding of the underlying theory, Beebe is a great a place to start.

No comments about Safety Scale Lab Experiments for Seager/Slabaugh's Chemistry for Today: General, Organic, and Biochemistry, 6th (Brooks / Cole Laboratory Series for Introductory Chemistry Courses).

1 comments about Analytical Chemistry in a GMP Environment: A Practical Guide.

1. This is the book if you work in the analytical lab of pharmaceutical industry. The book covers a lot of practical and day to day problems faced by persons working in the analytical lab especially from a regulatory point of view. Different chapters have been written by area experts making it very useful and comprehensive. I strongly recommend this book.

No comments about Characterization of Porous Solids and Powders: Surface Area, Pore Size and Density (Particle Technology Series).

2 comments about Introduction to X-Ray Powder Diffractometry.

1. This book provides an introduction to powder diffraction theory as well as a comprehensive list of everything involved with the actual diffractometer. This is not just a theory book nor a technical manual. It describes clearly all the factors involved in the production of x-rays, the workings of motors and detectors to the reasons for using divergence slits as well as the principles of phase identification and quantitative analysis. It is a great book for someone who will be using a diffractometer for the first time and will be doing the work themselves. This is not a crystallography text. It is more a handbook of practical applied powder diffraction. Well worth the money.



2. I would suggest reading this book if you want to learn about powder XRD technique. This book is really good...

2 comments about Introduction to Modern Liquid Chromatography.

1. I ma interesing for the new HPLC methods as Dionex



2. Introduction to Modern Liquid Chromatography - This book is a must for anyone practicing liquid chromatography. It is a great resource for both the novice and experienced chemist. Highly recommended.

5 comments about Children of the City: At Work and At Play.

1. Nasaw's _Children of the City_ is a wonderful glimpse into the lives of children at the turn of the century. If you are doing research on the 1899 newsboys' strike, READ THIS BOOK. It is a huge help in understanding why the newsies did what they did.



2. Controversial, yet remarkable look at how young children, primarily boys, resisted and re-made the conditions of their existence in early 20th century U.S. cities. His chronicle of the newsboys' strike is vital history. The book is more controversial when discussing the actions of the so-called 'child-savers,' one of whom actually included social activist photographer Lewis Hine. He dismisses the action of these advocates as puritanical and fundamentally ignorant of the real conditions of the children's lives. He decides that children are neither powerless nor defenseless, and this decision is, of course, a double-edged sword when dealing with the very real abuses of child labor and child exploitation that still pervade the U.S. and the globe.



3. In the book Children of the City: At Work and At Play, David Nasaw brings readers into the lives of children all over America at the turn of the century. Nasaw begins by giving us a description of the area in which the children were raised-mentioning the run-down cities and tenements where the working class resided, while also being sure to briefly mention the other half of the population that lived in great wealth. Since there wasn't much room around their houses, most middle class children simply played in the streets-gambling, playing baseball or kick the can, etc. The book discusses in great depth, and with great historical accurateness, what life was like during this time period-the school, the job and the home life. Nasaw paints a picture for us-vividly letting us experience life right along with these children as we turn the pages of his book.
   I know that prior to this book my knowledge concerning this subject was quite minimal. However, after completing it, I feel much more comfortable with the material. I think Nasaw did a great job of conveying a broad array of information through various statistics, facts, pictures and inserted passages. The book was informative, but somehow not boring. Sometimes, it's hard to find historical books that capture our attention. This was a rare exception-it appeals to our emotions as we read the accounts of rough life that such small children had to face each day. The book Children of the City helps us get to know the children of that age a little better. They lived more then a century before us and experienced life in a completely different realm. This may be hard for us to understand because the way we live our lives is so different-easier in a sense, but harder at the same time.



4. In his book, Children of the City, David Nasaw writes about the struggles, poverty and literal abuse suffered by children, mainly boys, of the early 20th century. Mr. Nasaw also talks about the so-called "child savers" like Lewis Hine who worked through his camera in order to make people aware of what was happening to their children at work. Children of the City was controversial when it was published back in 1986 due to its somewhat graphic or "real" depiction of child exploitation in the turn of the century.
   After reading this book I found out quite a bit more than I had known previously about child labor and how the laws came about. I had never heard of the "newsies" nor had I heard about the newsboys strike. I also had no idea what those children had to endure for pennies a day, sometimes as little as $.65 a day. It was amazing how the pictures in the book had an affect, some of them more so, than the book itself. I didn't necessarily like what he talked about but I liked how he depicted it through words and the pictures by Hine. The one thing I didn't like was how he portrayed the kids as powerless to stop the bosses and defenseless against them. I don't think the kids had a lot of self-esteem but do think they had enough in them to say something to someone.
   This book gave a good picture of how life was back then for kids 9-13 or 14 at the job site. I think this book should be read by anyone wanting to find out more about the child labor laws that are in place today or by anyone wanting to read a book that makes them feel like they're there.



5. This book is one of the few resources for those who want to find out something other then what Teddy Rosevelt did. Honestly I read this at least once a month. Other reviewers say it gave a veiw that the children did not feel they could change things, but they did. He devotes an entire chapter on the newsies strike, and does an unbelivablely good job of showing the fun side of this life that our history teachers and Jacob Riss tell us was horrible.
   
   He uses Lewis Hines Photographs in the way they were ment to be, showing the world as it was. Hine did not try and hide the bright smiles and lively pouts of the children, he wanted to show this world as it was. Thorugh wonderful anecdotes from famous people like Groucho Marx Nasaw shows that while the work was hard there was more to gain then just the money.
   
   He paints a realistic image of the world that is lost to us now.

2 comments about Modern Electrochemistry 2A: Fundamentals of Electrodics.

1. These authors have a great writing style. This is a subject matter that has a potential to be very, very dry but the authors have somehow made it enjoyable. If they get into hardcore calculations and derivations that you might be a little rusty on, they anticipate that (I assume from lots of students' feedback) and include appendixes at the end of each chapter so that you don't need to run off and find the corresponding chapter in one of your math/physics/chemistry textbooks. They also have a very useful nomenclature guide (in the first book only) in case you keep forgetting what certain symbols mean and what units they are in. The footnotes are great and keep things from getting too dry. Overall, I would definitely recommend these three books.
   
   Note: Unless you have a fetish for hard covers, get the paperbacks; they're half the cost. When I bought these books from amazon.com, it was very confusing to figure out which books to get. Here are the ISBN's of each of the three books in the series. This will save you some headache:
   
   Electrochemistry 1: Ionics
   ISBN: 0306455552 (paperback)
   
   Electrochemistry 2A: Fundamentals of Electrodics
   ISBN: 0306461676 (paperback)
   
   Electrochemistry 2B: Electrodics in Chemistry, Engineering, Biology, and Environmental Science
   ISBN: 0306463253 (paperback)



2. First things first: this book, as the other two books in the series, are about electochemistry, not analytical electrochemistry. That is, in this volume in particular, the fundamental aspects of electrode reactions (that is heterogeneous electron transfer) are covered.
   This is not a book on electroanalytical techniques.
   
   The aspects regarding the motion of ions and molecules in solution (diffusion, migration...) are not covered (they are thoroughly explained in the first volume: Modern electrochemistry 1: Ionics) and are frequently referenced to, so i'd suggest you get some understanding of how they work before you venture into this book.
   
   Now let's get to volume 2A: i love this book. It is written in an extremely clear and concise style. The authors are very careful always to present the phenomena they're describing both with an inutive and with a more mathematical approach, while never losing touch with the physics behind them.
   The topics covered range from double-layer structure, to electrodics (kinetics including multi-step reactions, transpost phenomena, crystal structure influence on kinetics) and an introduction to quantum electrodics.
   At the end of each chapter is also a very useful list of papers that dig deeper into the topics presented. Basicly everything one can wish to find in a textbook.
   
   I cannot but encourage one to get all of the 3 books in the series (paperback, the hardcovers have a rather silly price...).

5 comments about Chemistry Connections: The Chemical Basis of Everyday Phenomena, Second Edition (Complementary Science).

1. I found Chemistry Connections very interesting and informative. I am a high school science teacher and I already have a strong background in chemistry. The format presents infomation on each question at multiple levels of sophistication, from introductory information accessible without much knowledge of chemistry to in-depth information on specific molecular structures and interactions. This book would be a great resource for chemistry teachers. My only critisism is that the writing style could be a bit more engaging.



2. Overall this book and is fairly successful in its aim of explaining a selection of everyday chemical phenomena in terms accssible to most people. There are a couple of points which really let it down though.
   First, the presentation of the material and the diagrams could be greatly improved. For example, there is a "3-D" structure of EDTA given. In fact, it just seems to be a 2-D Chemdraw diagram pasted in to Chem3D! It gives no sense of how the dispostion of the oxygen and nitrogen atoms allow EDTA to surround the metal centre thus making it an effective metal sequestering agent.
   Second, certain sections go in to extraordinary detail concerning the physical chemistry of certain phenomena. Rather complicated equations and diagrams are presented which don't aid the reader in really understanding conceptualising the processe which are described.
   Third, annoyingly, temperatures are presented only in Fahrenheit. Hello!? Did the authors not consider that they may have readers outside of the US.....
   (...)



3. Now in an updated second edition, Chemistry Connections: The Chemical Basis Of Everyday Phenomena is an amazing volume with chapters based around answers to questions such as "What causes an egg to crack if it's boiled too rapidly?"; "Why do carbonated drinks go flat as they warm?"; "Why do lightsticks glow?"; "How does a timed-release medicine work?"; and much, much more. The collaborative effort of Kerry K. Karukstis (Professor of Chemistry, Harvey Mudd College) and Gerald R. Van Hecke (Professor of Chemistry, Harvey Mudd College), Chemistry Connections is an absorbing intermediate to advanced level chemical text that makes learning chemistry a lot of fun in some unique but quite effective ways.



4. There are a lot of books out there explaining the chemistry of everyday things. For sheer readability, I recommend Prof. Joe Schwarcz's series of books, which are readily available on Amazon. The shortcoming of Dr. Joe's books, and most books for the general public, is that they aren't really meant to be a resource for teachers of chemistry. They only include the most basic of explanations that the layman can understand.
   
   Thus, the need for a book like "Chemistry Connections." It contains the same "basic-level" explanation for a layperson, but also has a second explanation for each subject giving details on a more scientifically rigorous scale. Then there's a section of references (often reputable websites, vetted by the authors) for people that want to get even more in depth.
   
   The way the explanations are written, and the choice of topics, makes this a resource best suited to the high-school chemistry classroom, or to a "liberal arts" (chemistry for non-chemists) university course. The explanations tend to be a little thin for a true freshman-level calculus-based chemistry course. That's not to say that a thoughtful professor can't make great use of this book for any level course - the choices of chemical questions are varied and thoughtful, making it a great reference when planning lessons.
   
   The book is not perfect. It does not have the zing or flow of many other books for sheer readability - it's best used as a resource to give ideas for presentations and lesson examples for high school or liberal arts courses. There are some typos - there is a pentavalent organic carbon (horror of horrors!) in one diagram, for example. Finally, some of the detailed explanations tend to wander off-topic, for example, explaining how polymers are synthesised in a section on polymer structure. While interesting, it was not relevant to the particular question at hand, and likely to be confusing for the student.



5. Have you always been somewhat fascinated by chemistry? In college was a chemistry minor, and thought it was very exciting. It explans the many whys and hows behind basic everyday chemistry. Is this book super technical, no. Does it have enough science in it to make it credible, definately.
   Some of the topics that are included are:
   
   Why are Opals and Pearls Iridescent?
   Why are Ice Cubes Cloudy on the Inside?
   What Makes a No-Tears Champoo?
   How do Sutures Dissolve?
   Why do Lightsticks glow?
   Are Flamingos Naturally Pink?
   
   There are almost 100 of these types of questions. This book might make a great reference for a teacher, or a student in a science fair. The book covers some basic chemistry, and does a great job in building up some excitement around a subject that some may think is dull.
   I really enjoyed the book because it is broken up into sections: gases, solutions, solids, thermodynamics, and then into the questions that apply to those subjects. The book is a fairly easy read, and thankfully isn't too techincal for those of us who may not be so fresh on some of our chemical understanding.

2 comments about LC/MS: A Practical User's Guide.

1. A good introduction. But not for specialist. Some practical tips are useful.



2. I had received the item within 4 days. It was new.
   Thank you