Spectroscopy is both fundamentally and practically important to chemistry. However, the complicated mathematics makes the topic difficult to understand, and an easy-to-read text that makes the subject comprehensible is overdue. Basic Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy achieves this goal by covering the basic concepts of both quantitative and qualitative spectroscopy while avoiding a significant portion of the mathematical aspects of the subject. By omitting most of the thorny mathematics, the author succeeds in making spectroscopy comprehensible. The target audience is first- or second-year students in a British University, but the text is well suited for any student, researcher, or professional with minimal mathematics qualifications.

The theories of spectroscopy are covered in the first 100 pages of the book. First, a very basic explanation of spectroscopy and the electromagnetic spectrum is presented. Then, using the emission spectrum of hydrogen, the concept of quantization of energy and the quantum mechanics that describes this emission pattern is developed. In the traditional manner, the electronic structure theory for the hydrogen atom is extended to poly-electronic atoms and then to the electronic structure of diatomic and polyatomic molecules. The theories of molecular vibrations and rotations (within the Born–Oppenheimer approximation) follow.

The remainder of the text covers the practice of spectroscopy. Chapter Eight describes the instrumentation for obtaining microwave, infrared, visible, and ultraviolet spectra and is followed by a series of chapters that describe each type of spectroscopy in detail. Rotational spectroscopy is discussed first. Vibrational spectroscopy follows with a surprisingly rather-thorough treatment of Raman spectroscopy. The book ends with the treatment of electronic spectroscopy that, for the most part, focuses on vibrational and rotational structure of various electronic states.

Overall, the book is well laid out and attractively typeset. There are a number of shaded boxes containing supplementary material that can be omitted on a first reading. Included in these shaded boxes are thoroughly worked example problems that relate directly to topics discussed in the text. Margin notes that clarify points made in the main reading are numerous. Important vocabulary words are highlighted throughout the reading, but the meanings of these ‘important’ words are not always easily inferred from the context. Each chapter includes a list of aims, summary of key points, and problems (with solutions); all represent the material well. However, the amount of space allocated to the objectives and summaries for each chapter make up a rather high percentage of the total text, and the numbers of problems at the end of each chapter are few.

Taken as a whole, the content is somewhat incomplete, which isn’t surprising considering the length of the book. Although the fundamental aspects of spectroscopy are covered well, the text is lacking in practical applications. Spectral interpretation is confined to an abbreviated table with “typical” IR spectral positions with no discussion on how these positions can be used to deduce molecular structure. Quantitative spectroscopy is limited to a brief discussion of the Beer–Lambert law and its application to electronic absorption. The reader is only exposed to rotational, vibrational, electronic, and Raman spectroscopy; there is no mention of atomic absorption (or emission), NMR, ESR, photoelectron, or other spectroscopies. In particular, the exclusion of NMR is a serious deficiency of the text.

Despite the brief coverage of the topic, the clear explanations and affordable price make this book an ideal primer for students, researchers, and professionals. Because the book is written for first- or second-year students, it is not suitable as a primary or secondary text in upper-level chemistry courses. However, faculty who want to introduce lower-level students to spectroscopy will find this text to be practical. The book is also well suited for independent study since it is easy to read, includes thoroughly worked example problems, and is short enough to be covered in a few weeks. Readers of this text will feel as if they really understand what they have read and will appreciate the writing style of the author.