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tr end.s n analy ti cal hemist ry , ol. 8, no. 2, 989

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i

primer for many people.

This is a well balanced text which

pays due attention to the theory

while also providing a comprehen-

sive range of examples.

The

biochemist however, may be a little

disappointed with the text as only

one section deals with a large mole-

cule, namely motional consider-

ations in DNA. It is rather unfortu-

nate that the editors chose not to in-

clude a section on at least one aspect

of modern protein analysis.

JOHN REGLINSKI

J. Reglin ski is at he Depart ment of Pure

and Appli ed Chemistry , Uni versit y of

Strat hclyde, Glasgow Gl I XL , V. K.

An overly extensive treatment?

On-column Injecti on in Capil lary

Gas Chromatography, by Konrad

Grob, Hi it hi g, 1987, DM 188.00 (xx

+ 591 pages) I SBN 3-7785-1551-9

This book, one of the Chroma-

tographic Methods series, follows an

earlier volume by the same author on

split and splitless injection. The pres-

ent volume is 591 pages in length,

subdivided into three main sections;

(A) on-column injection, (B) solvent

effects, and (C) retention gap ef-

fects.

Each of these topics is dealt with in

such verbose detail that the impres-

sion is gained of an author simply

writing down his

immediate

thoughts. There is little or no evi-

dence of subsequent editorial inter-

vention which would have condensed

the text to a reasonable size without

any loss of real information. Indeed,

the author stresses in his introduction

that this is not a book to be read from

beginning to end. It is a reference

book, and fortunately the style is

partially redeemed by the inclusion

of summarised instructions and gui-

delines printed in grey fields. Also,

summaries of important conclusions

are printed in bold-faced typescript.

Section A includes a historical intro-

duction, a detailed discussion of the

sample introduction process, injec-

tion design,

on-column syringes,

band broadening in space, solvent ef-

fects, involatile sample by-products,

and high oven temperatures. The

section gives simplified guidelines for

on-column injection and concludes

with an evaluation of the technique,

including its accuracy and realibility.

Section B deals with the effects of

solvent trapping and phase soaking

and how to avoid peak broadening

and distortion. Section C is devoted

to retention gap techniques, first dis-

cussing the purpose of using an un-

coated column inlet and then the

mechanism of solute reconcentration

using retention gaps. Practical topics

such as their required length and

preparation are treated extensively,

as are connections between capil-

laries and on-column injection of

large sample volumes. Automated

79

on-column injection is also de-

scribed.

Each of the three main sections of

the book is separately referenced,

with a total of 183 references

throughout. There are two appen-

dices; one is a useful trouble-shoot-

ing appendix and the other a glossary

of terminology. Numerous line dia-

grams illustrate mechanisms and ef-

fects and on the whole these are well-

drawn and easy to follow. On-col-

umn injection is fraught with trouble-

shooting problems, particularly in re-

lation to peak distortion or peak

splitting and the use of diagrams to il-

lustrate these problems is an invalua-

ble feature.

As a chromatographer who has

been closely associated with the de-

velopment of gas chromatography

since its inception in the early 1950s

this reviewer was left rather be-

mused by the extensive treatment of

the subject, much of which seemed to

be rather obvious common-sense and

simple scientific logic. Nevertheless,

the author is an acknowledged ex-

pert in this area, and who has studied

all aspects of capillary injection in

minute detail from a very practical

viewpoint. There is no doubt that

there is much useful information in

the book and certainly it will prove to

be the definitive reference work on

the subject of on-column injection.

D. W. GRANT

D. W. Grant is a Chromatography Con-

sultant at Chrompack UK Lt d., 14 Kel-

burn Av enue, Wal ton, Chesterfi eld ,

Derbyshi re S40 3DG, V. K.

Statistics in practice

Stat isti cs or Analyt ical Chemistr y, by

J. C. M il ler and J. N. M il ler, Ell is

Ho rw ood, 2nd ed., 1988, 9.95

(paperback)l L 26.50 (hard cover)

(227 pages) ISBN o-7458-0292-3

(paperback), 0-7458-0271-O (hard

cover)

Looking at the title of this book, one

might think Yet another book about

statistics for analytical chemistry.

The authors must have anticipated

this as the preface begins with the

sentence To add yet another volume

to the already numerous texts on sta-

tistics might seem to be an unwar-

ranted excercise . . .

The emphasis is on the practical

use of statistical methods and theo-

retical aspects are almost completely

omitted. Many paragraphs start with

a sentence like: The operation of

this test is most easily demonstrated

by an example . . . For each of the

statistical procedures discussed,

good practical advice on its use and

limitations is given. These statistical

common sense expositions give this

book its value. An interesting aspect

of the book is that nearly all of the

numerous examples are made with

real data provided by research

papers published in The Analyst.

This certainly makes the examples

more appealing for a chemist to read.

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trendsn analy ti cal chemi stry , vol . 8, no. 2,1989

c

Indeed, many books in this field

explain statistical concepts on a theo-

retical base, leaving the reader with

complicated formulae and expres-

sions, but without the knowledge of

where to apply them. This book is

clearly intended for the practitioner

of analytical chemistry. The required

background knowledge is limited to

very elementary mathematics and

chemistry. It will be a useful addition

to the laboratory library for a quick

reference to the how and why of a

simple statistical procedure or test. It

might serve equally well as a text

book on elementary statistics in a

course on analytical chemistry or

chemometrics.

This 227 page book is thin enough

not to scare people off reading it, yet

remarkably complete and useful.

The first three chapters deal with the

elementary

statistical procedures

and examples are taken mostly from

classical wet analytical chemistry.

Chapter 1 and 2 elaborate on random

and systematic errors, their distribu-

tion and propagation. Chapter 3 ex-

plains very clearly, the use of the tra-

ditional significance tests: t-test,

F-

test, Chi-square test and analysis of

variance. In chapter 4 some ideas

about sampling are presented, fol-

lowed by a discussion on collabora-

tive trials and control charts. Al-

though this chapter seems a bit het-

erogeneous, it serves as a good intro-

duction into this subject, which is of-

ten overlooked in many textbooks.

Chapter 5 addresses problems re-

lated to instrumental analysis, with

emphasis on calibration. Again so-

phisticated techniques are not con-

sidered, but an excellent treatment is

given on linear regression, limits of

detection and standard addition. The

next chapter is entirely devoted to

non-parametric tests such as the sign

test, the Wald-Wolfowitz run test,

the Wilcoxon rank tests and the Kol-

mogorov test. An interesting para-

graph deals with non-parametric re-

gression methods. Finally, chapter 7

tries to get the reader interested in

more advanced procedures. About

half of the chapter is devoted to ex-

perimental design, followed by some

ideas on optimization and pattern

recognition. The complexity of these

topics, as well as the limited amount

of space devoted to them, makes this

chapter less practical and less useful

than the others. Hopefully, it will en-

courage the reader to study further.

authors appreciation of the refer:

ence is given, which Z valued highly.

Each chapter concludes with a

number of exercises, the solution of

which is given at the end of the book.

The answers are not limited to the

correct numerical value; ample ex-

planation is also given.

Appendix 1 is a useful table that

summarizes a number of statistical

tests, grouped according to their ap-

plication. Table entries are Name of

the test,

Used to test whether,

Refer to page and Comments. Ap-

pendix 2 contains 16 (short) statis-

tical tables covering all the tests ex-

plained in the book.

Because of its concept, stressing

applications and examples rather

than theory, this book has indeed its

place and is not just yet another

book on statistics in analytical chem-

istry. Analytical chemists who have

read this book will certainly commit

fewer crimes against statistics in their

work if they follow the good advice

spread out over the pages of this

book.

P. VAN ESPEN

References at the end of each

chapter tend to cite monographs

P. Van Espen is at the Department of

Chemistry, University of Antwerpen

rather than research papers. Some

UIA), Universiteitsplein I, B-2610 Ant-

indication about the content and the

werpen Wilrijk), Belgium.

Books received

Review copies of the following books

have been received. The appearance

of a book in this list does ot preclude

the possibility of it being reviewed in

the future.

: ;eir piele zur D atenanalyse mi t BASIC-Program-

men, by G. Henrion, A. Henrion and R. Henrion,

VEB Deutscher Verlag der Wissenschaften, Berlin,

1988,6 + 363 pp., ISBN 3-326-00272-6, DM 34.00.

Spectroscopic Properties

of

Inorganic and Organo-

metall ic Compounds, Vol. 21, senior reporters: G.

Davidson and E. A. V. Ebsworth, Royal Society of

Chemistry, London, 1988, viii + 509 pp., ISBN

O-85186-193-8, f 120.00, US 240.00.

Experimental Toxicology, edited by D. Anderson

and D. M. Conning, Royal Society of Chemistry,

London, 1988, vii + 536 pp., ISBN O-85186-108-3,

f 69.50, US 138.00.

X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry, by R. Jenkins,

Wiley-Interscience, New York, 1988, v + 175 pp.,

ISBN O-471-83675-3, f 40.60.

A Guide to M aterials Characterizati on and Chemical

Analysis, edited by J. P. Sibilia, VCH Publishers,

Weinbeim, 1988, v + 318 pp., ISBN O-89573-269-6,

DM 75.00, f 29.95.

M aximum Concentrat ions at he Workpl ace and Bio-

logical Tol erance Values or Worki ng M aterials 1988.

Report N o. XXIV. Commission for the Investigation

of Health Hazards of Chemical Compounds in the

Work Area, VCH Verlagsgesellschaft, Weinheim,

1988,5 + 90 pp., ISBN 3-527-27366-2, DM 28.00.

M acrophage Pl asma M embrane Recepto rs: Struct ure

and Functi on, edited by S. Gordon (.I. CeliSci., 1988,

supplement 9), The Company of Biologists Limited,

Cambridge, 1988,l + 211 pp., ISBN: o-948601-13-2,

f 29.00, US 50.00.

Subcellul ar B iochemist ry, Vol . 13, Fluor escence

Studies on Biol ogical M embranes, edited by H. J.

Hilderson, Plenum, New York, 1988, v + 465 pp.,

ISBN o-306-42940-3, US 85.00.

Bioanaly sis of Drugs and Metaboli tes, especiall y

Anti-f lammatory and Cardiovascular,

edited by E.

Reid, _I. D. Robinson and I. D. Wilson, Plenum,

New York, 1988, v + 415 pp., ISBN O-3-6-42996-9,

US 89.50.

Develooment in Solvent Extraction, edited by S. Ale-

gret, E%is Horwood, Chichester, 1988, 6 + 221 pp..

ISBN o-7458-0303-2 f 30.00.

M ethods in Enzymology, by S. P. Colowick and N.

0. Kaplan, Vol. 140, Cumulative Subject Index Vol-

umes 102-119, 121-134, Academic Press, San Diego,

1988, v + 288 pp., ISBN o-12-182040-8, US 85.00.

Selenium in M edicine and Biology, edited by J. Ntve

and A. Favier, Walter de Gruyter, Berlin, 1988, vi +

411 pp., ISBN 3-11-011770-3, DM 290.00.