Tutorials in molecular reaction dynamics
Tutorials in molecular reaction dynamics
Mark Brouard and Claire Vallance (eds)
Cambridge UK: RSC Publishing 2010 | 508pp | ?49.99 (HB)
ISBN 9780854041589
Reviewed by Ben Whitaker
Aimed at postgraduate students, this collection of tutorial essays written by internationally recognised researchers sets out to provide an overview of the experimental and theoretical methods that have been developed to probe, understand and control chemicals at the quantum resolved level.
The most obvious comparison to make is with Molecular reaction dynamics by Raphael Levine (2005) (ISBN 9780521842761). The two books cover much of the same ground and at approximately the same level, but the present volume takes a more didactic approach and provides a more comprehensive description of the theoretical framework to non-adiabatic interactions and scattering theory as well as recent experimental advances such as velocity map imaging, femtochemistry, coherent control and ultracold chemistry.
Each chapter closes with a set of half a dozen or so well chosen illustrative problems, and each contains a number of study boxes to highlight important concepts or review background material.
Since each chapter is written by a different author (or authors) there is a danger that such a volume simply becomes a collection of review papers, but through the inclusion of the study boxes and a common style for the figures and tables the editors, Mark Brouard and Claire Vallance, have done an excellent job of pulling the work together into a coherent whole.
The volume is well proofread and extensively referenced. I am sure it will soon be seen on the desk of any young scientist embarking on a research career in the field.
My only complaint is that the book binding is truly dreadful and I have already broken the spine of my copy. This is unfortunate in a book that is likely to be well thumbed and used as a study aid.
Further Reading
Other related books
N E Henrikson and F Y Hansen, Theories of molecular reaction dynamics: the microscopic foundation of chemical kinetics (2008, Oxford University Press) (ISBN 9780199203864)
R D Levine, Molecular reaction dynamics (2005, Cambridge University Press) (ISBN 9780521842761) reviewed in Chemistry World , April 2005
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