This text is devoted to the practical application of gas, liquid, and thin-layer chromatography. The text is extensively illustrated and includes a large number of references. The material presented has been used as the basis of graduate level courses and short courses.
The following chapters are contained within this text: chapter 1, "Fundamental Relationships of Chromatography," 104 references, 28 pp.; chapter 2, "The Column in Gas Chromatography," 463 references, 116 pp.; chapter 3, "Instrumental Requirements for Gas Chromatography," 301 references, 68 pp.; chapter 4, "The Column in Liquid Chromatography," 281 references, 140 pp.; chapter 5, "Instrumental Requirements for High Performance Liquid Chromatography," 84 references, 46 pp.; chapter 6 , "Preparative-Scale Chromatography," 89 references, 30 pp.; chapter 7, "Sample Preparation for Chromatographic Analysis," 658 references, 154 pp.; chapter 8, "Hyphenated Methods for Identification After Chromatographic Separation," 118 references, 36 pp.; chapter 9, "High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography," 130 references, 82 pp.
Overall, this book is well written, but the organizational format could be improved. For example, specific chapters devoted to gas and liquid chromatographic detectors would be helpful. In addition, the sections devoted to fluorescence and electrochemical detectors should include a more detailed discussion concerning principles of operation. The discussion on sample preparation is a definite asset to this text. Often, chromatography texts dwell upon specific examples that may not be applicable to other types of problems. This chapter is refreshing in that underlying chemical principles of sample preparation are discussed in general, practical terms. The contents of this chapter should greatly aid chromatographers in the biomedical sciences.
This book should be welcomed by practicing chromatographers in the biomedical, environmental, and instrumental areas and should find use as a valuable reference work in many personal libraries.