Handbook of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry : Handbook of Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry, by K.E. Jarvis, A.L. Gray, and R.S. Houk, Blackie, New York, 1991, £75 (392 pp.), ISBN 0-216-92912-1.

36 trends in analytical chemistry, vol. 12, no. 1, 1993 spectrometry to study fundamental and applied as- pects of metal binding interactions with bio- molecules, and to investigate the dynamics of unusual gas-phase ion reactions. Michael Jay Songer received his B.S. in Chemistry and Biology from Jacksonville University, Jackson- vile, FL, USA in 1991. He is currently a graduate student in the Department of Chemistry at Emory University, and is studying mass spectrometry. His current research interest are in the use of dynamic LSlMS as an interface for HPLC. Handbook of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry Handbook of Inductively Coupled available, namely qualitative, semi- Plasma Mass Spectrometry, by K.E. quantitative and quantitative analyses, Jarvis, A.L. Gray and R.S. Houk, the latter allowing three options: ex- Blackie, New York, 1991, f 75 (392pp.), ternal calibration, the method of stand- ISBN O-216-92912-1. ard additions and isotope dilution. Both fundamental information and practical aspects of the ICP-MS tech- nique are provided in 11 chapters which each include a pertinent review of the literature. The book starts with the history of the technique, and goes on to a thorough discussion of the fundamentals of the ICP-MS instru- mentation, including everything from the ion source (i.e. the ICP) to the vacuum system. The advantages, disadvantages and operation of various instrument op- tions (i.e. nebulizers, spray chambers, torches, sampling interface, etc.) are discussed, as well as the principles, operation and application of various techniques which can be used in hy- phenation with ICP-MS for the analy- sis of liquids or gaseous samples (such as electrothermal vaporisation, liquid chromatography, flow injection tech- niques, etc.) or of solid samples (such as slurry nebulization, laser ablation, direct sample insertion into the plasma, etc.). Sample preparation, including sev- eral “recipes” for either the digestion of various materials and/or the separa- tion and preconcentration of selected analytes, is discussed in light of the requirements implied by potential in- terferences and the type of calibration carried out. Applications of ICP-MS to the analysis of geological, environ- mental, nuclear, industrial and bio- logical samples are then discussed. A chapter is devoted to the analysis of natural waters; although the technique should be ideally suited for this type of sample, the salt content and/or the concentration of the analytes may ne- cessitate the use of a separation and/or preconcentration technique, several examples of which are described. Fi- nally, a chapter deals with isotope ra- tios, i.e. how to measure them accu- rately and precisely for various applications (e.g. stable isotope tracer studies). The operation of an ICP-MS instru- ment is also covered in detail, includ- ing a discussion of potential interfer- ences (spectroscopic and non-spectroscopic) and means to alle- viate them. Data acquisition and proc- essing are discussed with respect to the various calibration strategies In general, the book reads well al- though several typographical errors can be found. Some pitfalls, however, may confuse newcomers to the tech- nique. For instance, a reference is made to Figure 4.9 on p.96, which has no response scale while the text sim- ply says I’... reduced to background levels”. Without a scale, how can a non-expert know what a “typical” background level is? (This is not the only case of a missing scale.) The un- derstanding of a continuous hydride generation system would have been greatly facilitated if a schematic of such a system (rather than only the gas phase separator) had been included. In the hyphenation of HPLC to ICP-MS, no mention is made of the possible problems of clogging which may be encountered with organic and/or salty mobile phases. There is also no men- tion of the implementation of on-line preconcentration using flow injection techniques (although this is later men- tioned in the chapter on the analysis of natural waters). The authors discuss the instrument response as a function of m/z, after corrections for isotopic abundance, concentration and degree of ionization of each element without actually say- ing which formula can be used for this purpose. Although the correction for isotopic abundance and concentration should be straightforward, that for the degree of ionization may not be (espe- cially since the authors refer the reader to an appendix where only ionization potentials are listed, rather than to the calculated values for degree of ioniza- tion listed in Figure 2.3). Other sources of confusion include a somewhat nebulous definition of abundance sensitivity on p.314 (which is actually quite clear in the glossary). Also, the authors use IR (usually re- served for infra-red) for isotope ratio but forgot to define it. Finally, the sec- tion on slurry nebulization gives the wrong impression that it can be ap- plied to the successful analysis of soils, which is certainly not straight- forward because of the very inhomo- geneous nature of this type of sample. Nonetheless, the authors have done trends in analytical chemistry, vol. 72, no. 1, 1993 xv an excellent job of explaining ICP-MS in a most readable manner. Informa- tion can easily be found using the in- dex, although an additional one, by element, would have been quite handy. This book should be truly in- valuable to potential users and new- comers to the technique, even if it has a strong geological “flavour” (four out of six authors are in geology). It can also be of value as a reference source to experts in the field. D. BEAUCHEMIN Dx D. Beauchemin is at the Department of Chemistry, Queen’s University, King- ston, Ont., Canada K7L 3N6. The customer oriented laboratory The Customer Oriented Laboratory, by K Umikel; Raven Press, New York,1991, US$61.50 (200pages) “The Customer Oriented Laboratory” is a milestone in the development of quality management in the testing in- dustries. The book explores the phi- losophy and practices of the Customer Care approach to management of clinical laboratory work in a North American environment. Whilst there are some aspects of style and presen- tation which may jar on the European reader and some issues of practice and law which will vary from sector to sector and country to country, the un- derlying approach and advice is appli- cable to all areas of measurement. At the basic level quality involves producing a product which is fit for its purpose. In more advanced circles it strives to achieve excellence of serv- ice by harnessing the energy of all the staff of an organisation to work as a team to provide the customer and the broader community with the service they want at the best price. The chapter headings listed below give the flavour of the contents: Who Are our Customers and What Do They Want?; Planning Your New Program; In-Service Educational Programs; Use of Employee Participating Groups; Quality Circles; Problem Solving; Position Descriptions and Performance Standards; Selecting Customer-Oriented Personnel; In- doctrination of Employees; Perform- ance Reviews and Rewards; Oral Communication for Service Provid- ers; Use and Abuse of the Telephone; Written Communications; Introduc- ing Change; Complaints and Com- plainers; Retention of Personnel; Im- proving Productivity; Budgeting and Cost Containment; Marketing; Qual- ity Assurance; Leaders in the Client- Oriented Laboratory. The book contains a wealth of sim- ple common sense advice plus de- tailed plans and strategies for analys- ing requirements and establishing new systems. My main criticism is that the evangelical style encourages instant conversion which may just as rapidly evaporate when you put the book down. Also it makes it sound too easy. Take Chapter 5, Quality Circles; in 7 pages we are instructed in all the key issues and advised on the roles of group members, agendas for meetings and even on pitfalls to look out for. In addition there are 13 references to more detailed works on quality cir- cles; all very useful stuff but the un- initiated who follow the recipe are likely to bake a less than cordon bleu cake. On the other hand it is a good starting point. A word of caution to those looking for guidance on technical matters or on how to establish a quality system complying with IS0 Guide 25 or IS0 9000; it is not that type of book and it is none the worse for that. Tom Peters was one of the first ex- ponents of customer service as the bedrock of business strategy. William Umiker tells us how to do it in the laboratory. Those who actually apply even a fraction of the advice offered are more likely to survive the choppy waters of competition and I commend the book to those who have a liking for survival. BERNARD KING DI: Bernard King is Deputy Direc- tor/Government Analyst at the Labora- tory of the Government Chemist, Ted- dington, Middlesex, UK. Computation in biological NMR Computational Aspects of the Study of Biological Macromolecules by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, ed- ited by Jeffrey C. Hoch, Flemming M. Paulsen, and Christina Redfield, (NATO ASI Series A: Volume 225), Plenum Press, New York and London. 1991. US$ 115.00 (x + 464 pages), ISBN: 0-306- 44114-4 The 37 papers in this book were pre- sented at a NATO Workshop held in 1990. The contributions collected here, unified to some extent by the central theme of computation, touch on a number of different areas of bio- logical NMR, and together provide a useful view of contemporary research in this large, acronym-laden field. Topics common to many of the reports include descriptions of hardware and software, signal processing, structure determination, and spectral simplifi- cation and analysis, there being also some more general explanations of multidimensional NMR and alterna- tives to Fourier transformation found in a few specifically dedicated chap- ters. As might be expected in a volume of this sort, a number of the papers are concerned principally with the devel- opment of either mathematical or ex- perimental techniques, while others report mainly the results of experi-