Modern Raman Spectroscopy: A Practical Approach [Paperback]

Ewen Smith (Author), Geoffrey Dent (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 14, 2005 | ISBN-10: 0471497940 | ISBN-13: 978-0471497943 | Edition: 1

This book reflects the dramatic increase in the number of Raman spectrometers being sold to and used by non-expert practitioners. It contains coverage of Resonance Raman and SERS, two hot areas of Raman, in a form suitable for the non-expert.

• Builds Raman theory up in stages without overloading the reader with complex theory
• Includes two chapters on instrumentation and interpretation that shows how Raman spectra can be obtained and interpreted
• Explains the potential of using Raman spectroscopy in a wide variety of applications
• Includes detailed, but concise information and worked examples

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...the book achieves its aims of outlining a very wide range of applications…" (Physical Sciences Educational Reviews, December 2006)

"…a useful starting point for the chemist who is just entering the field…" (Analytical Chemistry, January 1, 2006)

"…everything is here in this highly recommended primer on the subject." (CHOICE, October 2005)

From the Back Cover

For many years the practice of Raman spectroscopy was confined to experts in dedicated academic or industrial research laboratories. The instruments were large, complicated and the experiments quite complex. With advances in modern technology Raman spectrometers can be small, portable and are regularly used by people who are neither specialist spectroscopists nor analysts. This book aims to provide the information necessary to enable new users of Raman spectroscopy to understand and apply the technique correctly and includes descriptions of the many pitfalls that can be encountered.

The early chapters provide enough basic theory to make a practical interpretation of Raman spectra. The theory is dealt with in more depth in later chapters where the approach is to describe the main equations involved in Raman scattering, concentrating on their meaning and relevance. With this background the much more detailed world is revealed in which aspects of Raman spectroscopy can provide unique information for a limited number of analytical problems. A full mathematical approach to the theory of Raman spectroscopy is outside the scope of this book. For those who stay to the end, the book will provide a firm grounding from which to approach more in depth studies of specific aspects of Raman spectroscopy with appropriate references given.

It is the authors’ hope that those who are just developing or reviving an interest in Raman spectroscopy will very quickly gain a practical understanding from the first two chapters. Furthermore they will be inspired by the elegance and information content of the technique to delve further into the rest of the book, opening up the vast potential of the more sophisticated applications of Raman spectroscopy.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471497940
• ISBN-13: 978-0471497943
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #769,250 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Up to date, but weak, June 7, 2008

By 

AC (Cookeville, TN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Modern Raman Spectroscopy: A Practical Approach (Paperback)

The big strength of this book is that it's a good single-volume coverage of the current technology involved in the method, including ultrafast laser systems for CARS etc. The chapter that surveys applications is also fairly well-done. The coverage does not provide enough information to make useful conclusions on choice of specific equipment, or even questions such as "would I be better served with visible-light excitation and a good CCD, or a FT instrument?"

The rest of it... well. It's simply not very well written - organization is poor, even within a given paragraph. Information is repeated multiple times; I saw the same sentence (about the need to pick a good baseline when doing quantitative work) on three consecutive pages - and in no case do they provide a good example of a well-chosen baseline. They mention apodization of FT spectra, but they do not explain or define it. They talk about work on standardizing instruments (esp. for quantitative/intensity purposes), but they wander back and forth between "it's very seldom done" and "it's not been studied much" and "it's been satisfactorily addressed" and "it's very nearly a solved problem". (As another example, there's a figure showing FT-Raman spectra of indene at several different excitation powers; the text claims that there's a non-linear power dependence for the relative peak intensities, but the figure suggests the opposite.)

Sentence fragments are common, and at least two figures have typos. Was there a proof-reader?

Paragraphs also contradict each other: They say that "the SMOOTH function" (yes, apparently there's only the one) is a useful tool for bringing out weak features; that it's extremely dangerous because it obscures detail; that it's an excellent way to remove noise. On the basis of those paragraphs, the reader is left with very little indication of whether "the SMOOTH function" should be used or not. They (attempt to) cover the relevant theory, but again, it's poorly arranged and winds up obscuring more than it explains.

As a review of Raman since 2000 (McCreery's book), it's somewhat useful. They do provide extensive references, so it's perhaps an effective set of pointers on where to start reading.

It is not "the perfect book on Raman spectroscopy"; it is not even a very good one. In particular, I cannot see it useful as an introduction to Raman. (I'd hoped to suggest it as a supplement to a class I'm teaching in the fall; I'm glad I read it before giving it to students!) Their idea for the book was good; perhaps a second edition will be more useful.

5.0 out of 5 stars Concise and to the point, November 16, 2011

By 

Betty C. Rostro "Betty Catalina Rostro" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Modern Raman Spectroscopy: A Practical Approach (Paperback)

For doing Raman, this is the book to have handy. If you want to learn the theory, read Born's Dynamic Theory of Crystal Lattices, there's a chapter in there on Raman, and Einstein, and it refers to Einstein's Brownian motion thesis, which is a Dover classic. If you go back to read Born, then you may follow in the footsteps of Raman, Einstein, Debye, Casimir, Van der Waals, etc.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for background and laboratory set-up, October 19, 2010

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jcangie "Angie" (Alum Bank, PA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Modern Raman Spectroscopy: A Practical Approach (Paperback)

This book gave good background on the technique and fundamentals of SERS. It really is a practical approach for how to add SERS into a lab to use in different experimental set-ups. However, there is no discussion on TERS, which is a large part of modern Raman.