Customer Reviews

Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a great reference for anyone designing or using FTIR instruments. This book is really intended for the advanced users and is worth the price. The only major drawback is that it is getting a little dated.

The book is really geared to the chemist, however, additional material on alignment techniques and a more complete and jointed discussion on design trade-offs and instrument characterization would make it much more useful to other users.

Bottom line: It is still a great reference

This book is the Bible of FTIR, written by the twin gods of FTIR, Griffiths and DeHaseth. It contains as complete an introduction to the theory and practice of this field as is available. Anyone who wants a detailed understanding of this field, and in particular how FTIRs work, should own this book. However...there are 2 reasons why I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5.

1. The book is written at a rather advanced level, and is full of mathematics. For doctorate level scientists and engineers this is fine, but it blows away anyone without the appropriate math and science background. As a result, beginners to the field are often times frustrated with this book. The book is more approriate for instrument designers and lab managers than it is for the average technician running spectra.

2. The book was written in 1986, and parts of it are terribly outdated. Not surprisingly, discussions of specific computers, software, and instruments were outdated years ago. Things that the book predicts will happen, have long ago come to pass. Certain important new developments, such as IR Microscopy, FT-Raman, and new applications of Step Scanning, are totally missing. Come on guys...its time for a new edition.

If you want a single book to learn how and why FT-IR spectrometers work, this is your best bet. I upgraded to the second edition because my first edition was falling apart after 20 years. I bought the print edition because I didn't like the way the Kindle edition displayed the diagrams, spectra, and other figures.

The authors are highly-regarded practitioners and professors of applied spectroscopy, and they present a wide and deep enough scope of applicable technique to provide a great deal of useful reference material. It's a most useful book. If you want another single book to learn how to interpret FT-IR spectra buy "Introduction to Infrared and Raman Spectroscopy" by Colthup, Daly, and Wiberley, another one I have used for years.

I work in semiconductor industry and use FTIR for in line metrology. This book was recommended by the vendor of the FTIR which we have and seems to be a good read. Have a good description of the Hardware required for FTIR and is complemented by spectroscopic studies of different materials.