Customer Reviews

Chemical Shifts and Coupling Constants for Silicon-29 (Landolt-Börnstein: Numerical Data and Functional Relationships in Science and Technology - New Series / Condensed Matter)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I picked up a copy at my local used book store at a discount. It was only [...]so I feel like it was a HUGE bargain. What value! First let me say that the book does start off a little slow but once you get into the third chapter, "Silicon Molecules: We Hardly Knew Ye'", you just can't put this book down. It isn't without it's moments though. The contrast between antagonist and protagonist is just simply fantastic. I highly suggest reading this book by flashlight under the covers or in a homemade fort/tent in your bedroom. A+ and Highly recommended!

I'm a big fan of the NMR genre, but this book was really just phoned in. I mean, "Chemical Shifts of P-31 Compounds" had me on the edge of my seat, and "Hyperfine Coupling Constants of the Pnictogens" had a little something for everybody. I can say this with the conviction that only comes with love when I say that "Chemical Shifts and Coupling Constants for Silicon-29" is total crap.

It appeals to the lowest common denominator for cheap thrills when it should be striving to elevate the level of discourse. I mean, did we really need to slog through an entire chapter where Dr. Gupta describes, in agonizing detail, the time he took the spectra of two samples at the same time? He's probably the kind of guy who'll put his sample into a dirty NMR tube his friend just used, too. I actually went to the bathroom and washed my hands after putting this book down; I probably have hepatitis now.

I've come to expect much more from Landolt-Bornstein, and sincerely hope Si-29 was a fluke and not a portent of future editions. Is it too much to ask for another volume of the same quality as "Hydrogen - Old, But Still Knows How to Rock".

It was great while it was working. I had gotten up to chapter 3, the aforementioned 'hardly knew ye' chapter, when suddenly the pages went blank. I tried closing it and re-opening it and nothing. I let it sit for about an hour and when I re-opened it it briefly worked - I could see the letters, but they made no sense - and then went blank again. I called tech support and they said they'd never seen this and maybe I had the book upside down or something. I assured them I'd read plenty of books and knew which way was up. They had me close thebook, open it, flip through the pages... but nothing helped. Finally they agreed to let me return it for a replacement. I had asked for a refund, but they said "you know too much already" and said a replacement would require wiping a portion of my brain. I was not about to agree to that. We'll see how the replacement works...

I had to install a new shower in my bathroom , but I never used silicon caulk before. So I bought this "User Manual" for silicon 29 and boy what a mistake. You always hear that construction projects, even small ones, go way over budget but this one takes the cake. Oh sure, the shower came out fine, but for the same cost I could've had the entire bathroom renovated by a pro.

This book is not what it says it is!!! While the customer guide leads you to believe that this is a thorough, informative tome on the molecular properties of silicon, upon opening it proves to be little more than an extended disquisition on the importance of the hamburger in modern American society. To illustrate, here is a sample passage, taken from chapter 12, "Are the Hamburger Gods Angry At Us?"

"...March 23, 1946 marked the day that the world's 17,286,112th all-beef patty was lovingly constructed, by Mr. Heinrich Willinger of 1745 Frostbury Lane. To mark the occasion, a lavish banquet was held, with the hamburger itself as the surprise Guest of Honor, dressed in a beguiling sesame seed and lettuce ensemble (de la Renta, $1450). Journal accounts of the proceedings repeatedly note a sense of levity, mixed however with 'the bittersweet feeling that with the passing of this milestone, a certain innocent passion, an all-conquering zeal, had been lost.' The patty for whose honor so much blood had been shed was invited to give a speech, but remained 'silent, wise as an old oracle, generously bidding the party continue....'"

In short, the prose is scintillating. There are also several recipes for different varieties of hamburger mixed in throughout. I recommend the unexpected but retrospectively obvious "Grass-fed beef patty stuffed with citrus zest, Big League Chew and marinated crimini mushrooms (p. 265)."

The last 343 pages consist of pictures of someone named "Emma" taken from different angles. While I do not know who Emma is, she seems very nice.

All in all, despite the author's obvious passion for the subject, I feel the scattershot thematic approach undermines the "fly-on-the-wall" realism and edge-of-your-seat suspense developed in the first chapters. However, I don't think I'm being presumptuous when I say that I eagerly look forward to the future work of this soon-to-be titan of the literary world.

Do not be fooled! Lechner and Marsmann are mental infants. Every third year grad student knows that you can't manipulate subvolume III/35A with nuclei B-11 without first lowering the magnetic replicator to -300 ohms! Not to mention that unless you lower the cylindrical volume 4 quarks you'll freeze 90% of the atoms! And don't get me started on nucleus Si-29, you can't possibly think anybody is going to believe that subvolume III/35F can be examined without a particle shifter! Please!

Wow, what a great book. It's a real shame what they're doing with the movie. Why change it to silicon-9? Just to make the title catchier?!? Ridiculous. And Will Smith as R.R. Gupta? Come on, he doesn't need to be in EVERY movie, people! And okay, I know the studio took a big hit when Terry Gilliam's adaptation went down the tubes, but come on... Brett Ratner? Why, God, why??? I read on AICN he wants to cut out all of subvolume III! This thing's going to be a bigger bomb than The Spirit, take my word for it.

I was a fanatic Germenium follower. I looking up this Silicon book just to see what my enemies are up to. But I accidently clicked one click buy button on this page. The book was well worth the price, I mean I actually converted from Germeniumism to Silconism. Yes, it is that good !

After reading the book, I didn't felt the author gave the main character the strength necessary to overcome the complexities of the story. I liked the love-hate relationship between nuclei B-11 and P-31 and the occasional comedy moments from nucleus C-13. I'm not going to give up the ending but if this supposed to be a Trilogy, it needs a better cliffhanger with Silicon-29, I mean, c'mon, it is very obvious that him and nuclei B-11 are brother and sister that were separated at birth to protect them from the evil nucleus Si-29. Frankly I think I've read something like that a long, long time ago.

On the positive note i think this is a bargain compared to "The Task" from Tomas Alexander Hartmann, although that book was more enlightening.

My ex-wife and I were both big fans of Silicon-29. However, after reading this book, her opinion changed. I think the biggest problem I had with the book was it's inability to explain quarks and quantum mechanics... one can understand how this would cause many an argument over string theory and how to actually find something without really looking for it - yet for some reason Dr. Gupta elected to skim over that section. I mean, who really tries to equate quantum mechanics to Quantum of Solace? Maybe Gupta was trying to make a joke in the Bond chapter (the name is Bond, Chemical Bond) but the section of wave particle duality and comparing it to sexual duality was just atrocious. Yes, it's perhaps a bit funny to make sexual jokes when talking about Silicon, but come on... we've all heard a silicon implant joke before, but a whole chapter with just jokes?

One expects something better from Gupta. With such literary thrillers as Carbon 14 dating, a history of finding history (best book ever) and the fact that he helped co-write the Large Hadron Collider rap (LHC), I've came to expect a bit more....

But back to the marriage part... As a huge fan of superfluidity and quantum entanglement, I found that living with a woman who didn't accept these theories as fact was intolerable. My ex-wife kept referring to this book as a source for all her arguments against these two well established theories. I mean, who can really trust anybody who doesn't believe 100% in the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox (which apparently Gupta and my ex wife do not). Before reading this travesty of a book, my wife was on board with the uncertainty principle.... Well, thank you very much Gupta for this book, a diatribe of garbage, which inadvertently change my wife's opinion on everything.

Ironically, my divorce cost as much as this book.