A full review by Hans-Peter Trommsdorff of the CNRS Laboratoire de Spectrométrie Physique, Université J Fourier Grenoble, France, appears in the March issue of Physics World.
Many areas of chemistry and physics now have so much in common that they have effectively merged into a single discipline. In fact, it is easier to define this field - known as chemical physics or physical chemistry, depending on your point of view - by what it excludes rather than what it contains. Indeed, it is central to everything in the exact sciences, from biology to materials science. It even has a bearing on astrophysics, notably the chemistry of the interstellar medium under extreme conditions.
In view of the breadth and depth of chemical physics and physical chemistry, creating an encyclopedia of the entire field is a Herculean task. Chemical physicists and physical chemists are "jacks of all trades", for whom the existence of a single source of knowledge of the field would be a dream come true. I therefore welcome this Encyclopedia of Chemical Physics and Physical Chemistry, edited by John Moore of the University of Maryland and Nicholas Spencer from the ETH in Zurich.
No encyclopedia can ever replace a textbook entirely, but should orient the reader and provide rapid introductions to specialist topics, practical techniques or underlying theories. So even though this work does not totally fulfil the dream of a single source of knowledge in chemical physics and physical chemistry, it is a good step in the right direction. I will certainly keep it close to hand in my office - when it is not being borrowed by students or colleagues, that is.
Perhaps the best recommendation that I can give for the encyclopedia is the fact that when a colleague saw it on my desk, he took one look at its contents and then immediately noted down the details to order a copy for himself.
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