Catalysis from A to Z

A Concise Encyclo-pedia. Vols. 1–3, 3rded. Edited by BoyCornils, Wolfgang A.Herrmann, MartinMuhler and Chi-Huey Wong. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim2007. 1560 pp.,hardcoverE 549.00.—ISBN978-3-527-31438-6

Catalysis plays a key role in competi-tiveness and sustainable development.Catalytic processes not only have asignificant market in themselves, buthave an impact on world economicsthat is one to two orders of magnitudegreater. Catalysis is also at the heart ofmost of the processes and technologiesfor sustainable development and for thereduction of the environmental impactof industrial production. Finally, cataly-sis is well recognized as a priority fordeveloping advanced materials and akey player in advances in nanotechnol-ogies. The award of the 2007 Nobel Prizein Chemistry to G. Ertl further demon-strate the relevance of catalysis forchemistry, science, and our sustainabledevelopment and quality of life.

Catalysis is thus a key enablingtechnology for society, but the associ-ated development and applicationsrequire multidisciplinary competences(engineering, chemistry, physics, appliedcatalysis, materials science, etc.), andpresent interesting challenges in areasranging from fundamental studies (sur-face science, theory, and modeling) toindustrial applications. Tackling suchchallenges in the future will require

further efforts on interdisciplinary andmultidisciplinary approaches and onbridging the gap between fundamentalscience and technology. This requiresusing the correct terminology to com-municate between cultural areas thatare often widely different, and having aminimum set of common competencesthat facilitate the exchange of informa-tion. For this reason, there is a need for aconcise encyclopedia, which explains ina few sentences the concepts and termi-nologies used in the various areas ofcatalysis, since researchers in disciplinessuch as homogenous, heterogeneous,and biological catalysis, as well as indus-trial process engineers, have all devel-oped specialist terminologies for theirfields. In addition, managers in chemicalcompanies often need to better under-stand specialized terms, or to haveconcise descriptions of important indus-trial processes. Because of the increasinguse of catalysts outside the traditionalfields, often by people with only aminimal background in chemistry andcatalysis, there is a need for concisedescriptions of aspects such as thepreparation of catalysts, their character-ization by different methods, and theirapplications. These people will neverlook at the established books and ency-clopedias on catalysis, as these are toospecialized. Also the Internet, unlike aconcise encyclopedia, cannot alwaysprovide them with reliable answers.

Therefore, the first edition of theconcise encyclopedia Catalysis from Ato Z already earned a positive evalua-tion and attracted a wide readership,which ranged from chemists, biochem-ists, physicists, and engineers to non-technical people such as journalists,policy makers, managers, and businesspeople who needed to find a quickanswer and verification about particularterms and concepts. Thus, the book issuitable for both specialized and generallibraries. An edition accessible on theInternet would also be welcome in thissense, as it would further open upaccessibility.

Practice is often better than theory.Therefore, I carried out two experi-ments to test whether the concise ency-clopedia could really find extensive usein practical life and research. For this, Imade the three volumes accessiblefirstly to students in the area of indus-

trial chemistry and secondly to a groupof researchers and managers in a com-pany. Both experiments gave very pos-itive results. Therefore, I would stronglyrecommend Catalysis from A to Z, notonly to all scientists and engineers in thefield of catalysis, but also to scientificand general libraries, where researcherslooking at interdisciplinary areas andother people (from journalists to man-agers) can find the correct definitions ofterms and concepts associated withcatalysis.

This third edition is a truly impres-sive revised and enlarged work. Fromthe single volume of the first edition,with approximately 3000 keywords, thework has grown to the present threevolumes with about 8000 keywords. Avaluable feature is that some keywordarticles refer to a Figure or a table (intotal, references to 3100 figures and 110tables). There are more than 3300 cross-references, and several keyword articlesalso give references to French orGerman translations, a further bonus.More than 260 authors contributed tothe compilation of the articles, about 70more than in the 2nd edition. (Most ofthe best known specialists have contrib-uted to the encyclopedia, but unfortu-nately not the winner of the 2007 NobelPrize, G. Ertl.) The articles on the moregeneral terms have been written by theeditors themselves, whose specialistfields cover different complementaryaspects of catalysis. The articles byexternal contributors have also beenedited to give homogeneity to the text.R. Schl4gl is no longer on the editorialboard, but has been replaced by MartinMuhler as an expert on heterogeneouscatalysis. All the articles from theformer editions have undergone carefulrevision. It would always be possible tofind defects in the encyclopedia, such asthe absence of a particular keyword, orsome small imperfection in the termi-nology, but on the whole this thirdedition represents a really significantstep forward in trying to give a completecoverage of catalysis and a solid refer-ence book on terminology and concepts.

One of the most valuable features ofthe encyclopedia is the inclusion of shortdescriptions of the main catalytic pro-cesses used by leading chemical manu-facturers, often with a simplified flow-sheet and a few references for further

AngewandteChemieBooks

1547Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 1547 – 1548 + 2008 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim

reading. There is also an initial sectioncontaining a list of the general referen-ces cited in the encyclopedia, whichserves as a kind of recommended virtuallibrary for textbooks on catalysis.

When possible, indications of pat-ents and patent applications have alsobeen added to illustrate the technicalstatus of processes. Economic data onannual production, catalyst consump-tion, etc., have been included whereverpossible. In both these cases, it is clearlyimpossible to achieve a complete cover-age of information that is rapidly chang-ing. However, it is useful to have areference point.

In conclusion, Catalysis from A to Zin this third edition is a valuable expertguide for all people (researchers orothers) who seek concise definitions ofterms and concepts related to catalysis,or need a better understanding of issuesrelated to catalysis. The readership ispotentially very broad, from studentsand researchers in the areas of chemis-try, chemical engineering, materials sci-ence, and biotechnology to nontechnicalpeople who need concise definitions orexplanations of concepts. Therefore, thework is recommended for libraries, andas a reference source for personal use orin research laboratories. Finally, I rec-

ommend journalists, policy makers, andmanagers to use the work, where theycan find a quick reference to avoidpossible mistakes when discussing tech-nical points related to catalysis and itskey role for society and environmentalsustainability.

Gabriele CentiDepartment of Industrial Chemistry andEngineering of MaterialsUniversity of Messina (Italy)

DOI: 10.1002/anie.200785548

Books

1548 www.angewandte.org + 2008 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2008, 47, 1547 – 1548