[.ca] Spectra of Atoms and Molecules (ISBN 0195177592)

Worst Book Ever:
This book, though usefull, isnt not praticial for the begining spectroscopist. Knowing when and how to use the equations is difficult, sketch at best. I would never recomend this book to anyone unless they already know what they were doing.

Spectra of Atoms and Molecules:
I teach a fourth year course in spectroscopy, and have recently read the first edition of this book. I plan to use the second edition next year when I teach this course. It is an excellent introduction to spectroscopy at the advanced undergraduate or first year graduate level. I currently use Hollas ("Modern Spectroscopy", 4th Ed.), but I like this book a lot better. The level of theory is higher than in Hollas. This might pose a problem at the advanced undergraduate level, since students could easily get lost in some sections. However, the detail will appeal to the better students, while the instructor can direct the rest around the trickier sections. For the first year graduate student, the detail becomes essential. There are plenty of questions. The lack of solutions is quite expected for a book of this nature. The notation is a little confusing (much less so than in Hollas, however). But this is the notation actually used by spectroscopists. The coverage is just right for my course - the basics are handled clearly and comprehensively. Sure there could be more chemical applications. But this can easily be addressed by some supplementary materials provided by the instructor. It is much harder for the instructor to fill in mathematical details, if they were left out to make room for more qualitative materials. It would be nice to see a few things added (perhaps in future editions): a brief discussion of Fourier transform spectroscopy and interferometry, lasers and maybe a brief note about synchrotron radiation.

This book isn't any good:
Where do I begin? If I could have given it zero stars, I would have. 1. Examples: There are almost no examples. Many of the formulae that he uses are actually quite simple when put into practice. But he doesn't give any good examples. 2. Partitioning: The book is not partitioned into discrete parts that deals with each subject, one at a time. 3. Application: One uses this book in a course on spectroscopy, which is something used in the lab in *real life* (picture someone in academia knowing about that!). But he does not give us any examples of how this could apply to a real life problem. That may have been the best way to solidify some of these rigid, technical formulae. 4. Problems: There are no answers to the problems. The Atkins book (Physical Chemistry) is used for about 95% of Physical Chemistry classes in the USA. But they give the answers to the odd numbered problems, so that you can go through and work them out and check your answer. The even numbered problems are not given answers, but are usually a variation of the odd numbered ones.