Ask current analytical chemistry faculty what textbook they had for their Quantitative Analysis course way back when, and you are likely to get one of two responses: Skoog, West, and Holler's Fundamentals of Analytical Chemistry or Analytical Chemistry: An Introduction, which first appeared in 1963 and 1965, respectively, or Daniel C. Harris's Quantitative Chemical Analysis, which was introduced in 1982. Skoog et al. offer solid fundamentals, somewhat dated literature references, and straightforward experiments that are perfect for developing and assessing lab technique. Harris incorporates much of the same material, but adds relevance with examples from the current and not-too-distant literature. Unlike Skoog's dry, no-nonsense style, Harris's style is more conversational. Experiments for technique are available, as well as ones providing a sense of how analytical chemistry can be applied to biological or environmental problems. Both texts offer spreadsheet exercises for handling repetitive calculations and for the graphical analysis of data.

For a new quantitative analysis textbook to compete against the established two, it must offer something more than just a different writing style, an extra topic, or nicer color plates. Instead, it should better reflect analytical chemistry as it is practiced today. David Harvey's Modern Analytical Chemistry is a new textbook that nicely fills the bill. The same size as other texts, it is organized into only 15 chapters. None of the chapters are incomplete and as a result, some run to 90 pages in length. All the expected topics are present and are found in roughly the same order used by Skoog et al. and Harris. Three notable content differences are the inclusion of ladder diagrams for evaluating equilibria, a chapter on kinetic methods of analysis, and a chapter on developing a standard method. Much of the material in the kinetic methods chapter is also likely to be covered in a physical chemistry course, but the section on flow injection analysis is certainly applicable to the quantitative analysis curriculum. The chapter on developing a standard method completes the calibration/ standardization chapter (which is found much earlier in the text) by answering the question of how a method for analysis is actually developed and evaluated.

Content differences aside, there are other features in Modern Analytical Chemistry that make it quite attractive. First, concepts are presented with clear explanations in a relaxed, conversational writing style. Students reading the text should find it accessible and uncluttered. Material is supported by a respectable number of problems at the end of the chapter. Many of the exercises Harvey has provided are word problems derived from published work and they require students to think, not just "plug and chug", to get the correct answer. The solutions manual is complete and provides excellent coaching on each step involved in arriving at the final answer. Literature references are incorporated into the text and are for the most part very current. Each chapter also has a fairly extensive list of suggested readings, which are nicely divided between journals and books. The inclusion of a significant number of articles from the Journal of Chemical Education should make it possible to send students to the literature with the expectation that what they find will be written in such a way that they can make use of it.

One challenge to writing a quantitative analysis textbook is trying to provide laboratory activities that are useful to the instructor. Each institution has different enrollments, facilities, and roles for the quantitative analysis laboratory. Rather than present just one or two experiments, Harvey provides 10 to 20 suggestions at the end of each chapter, drawn almost exclusively from the Journal of Chemical Education. Choosing from this large number is simplified by the summary of each experiment found after the citation. Like the strong list of references and suggested readings, the listing of experiments provides an excellent means of getting students into the literature.

If Modern Analytical Chemistry has a drawback, it is the decision to use only 15 chapters to present the material. While it does make sense to place all of chemical equilibrium, spectroscopic methods, electrochemistry, separations, etc. into single chapters, there is a certain psychological effect of taking on a 90-page chapter. My concern is for the typical student, who waits until the end and only then realizes what a single chapter means in terms of material for an exam or quiz. Otherwise, David Harvey has done a very nice job in developing a textbook that has something new to offer to both faculty and students interested in studying the fundamentals used when practicing analytical chemistry today.