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Historically, research on the methods and amounts of trace element application to agriculture soils for correcting plant deficiencies has received major attention. More recently, due to industrial development and past disposal activities, trace elements are considered to be important environmental contaminants that affect all components in the atmosphere and in aquatic and terrestrial systems. Prepared by a multi-disciplinary group of scientists, Trace Elements in Soil: Bioavailability, Flux, and Transfer explores and discusses emerging issues in biogeochemistry research.The book emphasizes the role of biological and chemical interactions and discusses the newest research and its application to major environmental problems. It provides a concise compilation of current research and a handy, time-saving reference. With contributions from an international panel of authors, the book focuses on trace element issues in developing countries and environmentally sound techniques such as stabilization and bioremediation.Fundamental yet complex, bioavailability can be relatively simple to parameterize under controlled simulated conditions. This is not always the case under field conditions. To expand our understanding of the fate and transport of trace elements in soils, the methods of assessing trace element bioavailability, flux, and transfer among the different soil components needs to be redefined and developed. Trace Elements in Soil: Bioavailability, Flux, and Transfer is unique in its emphasis on bioavailability and how trace element contamination ultimately effects plants, wildlife, and human population. ... Read more

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Despite the development of innovative new analytical techniques for biological trace element research, today's trace element investigators face formidable obstacles to obtaining reliable data. This complete reference identifies and assesses the challenges the analyst encounters at each stage of an analysis, and discusses the effects of various techniques on the sample.Three internationally recognized scientists and authors consider the effects of the numerous collection, storage, and sample preparatory techniques used in sample analysis. Proper analytical quality control, including such critical factors as sampling and sample preparation, specimen preservation and storage, and ashing, is examined. The book also looks at sample preparation methods unique to various instruments and speciation chemistry issues, and examines the link between chemical analysis and specimen banking. A previously unrecognized source of error, presampling factors, is also discussed. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (1)

The best thermodynamics text that is also very cheap
The book is great not only as a refresher course in thermodynamics, but also as the main text for learning. It does not shy away from the use of calculus formulations like other introductory texts, but at the same time it "holds your hands" in the derivation of formulas so even a beginner with little to no knowledge of thermodynamics but good working knowledge of basic integrals and differentiation, will grasp easily. There is even a math refresher in the index section to teach those concepts if they are weak to the readers.

Nash is an eloquent writer, the language style used in this book feels like a school lecture without being overly strait-laced which is good because it keeps the reader interested throughout. His explanations are thorough and builds upon what was discussed previously so there is little page flipping as you read on. The examples given after some topics is a nice touch as it gives a good picture of what he is trying to say, too bad the questions in the back are very confusing and you are left to guess what he is asking, and more so how to solve it.

So what is bad about this book? Not much. Nash decided to leave out the Maxwell Relations due to the "difficulty" of partial derivatives, which is such a shame because it conjures a whole new insight into thermodynamic relations. This and perhaps the poor wordings in the problem section are my only qualms with the book. Aside from those minor flaws, with the explanation of all 3 thermodynamic laws and other concepts such as state functions, reversibility; this book is second to none. With the way Nash explains, you will conceptualize those "elements" of thermodynamics with a much deeper understanding.
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Customer Reviews (3)

An Excellent Introduction for Chemistry or Physics Students
I wholeheartedly recommend this book as either a first or a second book on Statistical Mechanics for undergraduates in either physics or chemistry. But I would recommend that any student attempting this book have some background in probability.

The approach to the subject is very much in the style of Boltzmann, so there is heavy use of the idea of the microcanonical ensemble, basic combinatorics, and Stirling's approximation.

While this approach is good as an introduction, it is ultimately less powerful and general than the Gibbsian approach.

So now for the contents...

Chapter 1: The Statistical Viewpoint. This chapter introduces the fundamental ideas of statistical mechanics and deduces the law of canonical distribution for the independent elements (molecules) of a system. It also gives Boltzmann's definition of entropy.

Chapter 2: The Partition Function. The partition function begins its life in statistical mechanics as a humble normalization factor and is quickly elevated to the central object of study.

This chapter demonstrates the importance of the partition function very quickly by showing how it is related to the equilibrium constant of a simple chemical reaction. It then details how partition functions should be formulated tackling the tricky topic of indistinguishable units required by quantum mechanics. Finally, it shows how all of the classical thermodynamical functions can be deduced once the partition function is known.

Chapter 3: Evaluation of Partition Functions. Once we understand how to formulate partition functions, actually evaluating them becomes the central mathematical problem of the entire subject of the statistical mechanics. This chapter derives the partition functions for monatomic and diatomic ideal gasses. It notes the important difference between homonuclear and heteronuclear diatomic gasses, and is broken down into separate sections for the translational, rotational and vibrational contributions to the partition function. This chapter ends with a few words about partition functions for polyatomic gasses.

Chapter 4: Applications. This chapter is devoted to the application of the theory developed thus far to the exploration of two very important areas: heat capacities and equilibrium.

The first section covers the heat capacities of solids giving both the Einstein and Debye accounts as well as the heat capacities of monatomic and diatomic gasses.

The second section begins with a general discussion of equilibrium constants and then launches into a five page discussion of equilibrium for the simple reaction of the dissociation of Iodine gas. This example uses statistical mechanics to predict the equilibrium constant as a function of the temperature. This section concludes with a brief discussion of the the most important contributions to equilibrium constants.

The book ends with 31 problems which test the readers understanding of the material and also ask the reader to provide the details or alternatives to some of the derivations in this book. None of them are particularly difficult. All of them seem well chosen and useful.

There is a lot to like about this book, and not much to not like. The exposition is very clear and there are many helpful figures throughout the book.

Partition function doesn't make sense?
Without this book I would have been lost in my Stat. Mech. course (physics). I have very little experience with chemistry. This book, to my understanding, is a book intended for students of physical chemistry. As a physics student, I found this resource invaluable! It demands from the reader a tiny bit of mathematical skill - not really and theorem-proof kind of stuff, more like being able to manipulate sums and products and being alert enough to follow what's happening.

Nash is VERY clear! Stat. Mech., in my opinion, is made much easier when going through this book along side the regular course text-book. For my class, the instructor chose to use Chandler's "Introduction to Modern Statistical Mechanics" - the purpose of this book is different, wherever they overlap in content I find Nash to be easier to follow, the arguments to be simpler. Often in physics texts it is said that "one may use statistical arguments to show that..." and Nash does them and shows that they are actually 'simple' (by simple I mean few assumptions, low-level math, just counting arguments, sums and products, derivatives, things like that).

The first chapter is a (much needed) introduction to probability, very minimal, nothing too intense, just counting arguments (no Central Limit Theorems or Laws of Large Numbers). Often physics/chem students don't get enough exposure to math, this helps. After that we have a bit of an intro to the Boltzmann distribution, and then an introduction of the partition function as a normalization constant. From there he shows how almost everything in stat. mech. and thermodynamics can be derived from this simple normalization constant! The things he derives with that function! I particularly liked the geometric interpretation he gives to it.

If you give this book an honest effort (not really that much), you will walk away understanding the central arguments of stat. mech. As another reviewer noted, if you combine this book with Fermi's book on "Thermodynamics" you'll walk away being a master of the subject (at least at the undergraduate level) - they complement each other well.

More physics books should be written this way.

this old book the best elementary introduction to statistical mechanics
This is a wonderful introduction to statistical mechanics, especially for chemistry students taking undergraduate physical chemistry.Leonard K. Nash was a Harvard professor of chemistry whose primary interest became chemical education and the history of chemistry.This book was a classic in the 1960's, but later went out of print.Dover has done a real service in reissuing it.The book is remarkable for its lucidity and pedagogical clarity.It's the best introduction I know to the very difficult subject, especially for beginners, of statistical mechanics.For starters, it gives a wonderfully insightful look at the meaning of the statistics of the statistical ensembles.

This book puts most of the current physical chemistry textbooks to shame in its treatment of the subject.It could serve as a stand-alone text for the statistical mechanics part of a physical chemistry sequence.

If you are taking this course, you owe it to yourself to get this book.The price cannot be beat.

I also recommend the companion book by Nash on macroscopic thermodynamics, together with Fermi's classic text (also available from Dover).

At a more elementary level, Dover has re-issued Bruce Mahan's famous thermodynamics book.I believe he used this for advanced freshmen at Berkeley.If you are having trouble with thermodynamics in physical chemistry, even at the Fermi or Nash level, do yourself a favor and get Mahan's book.Even if you're not having trouble, you may very well find it helpful. ... Read more

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In this essential text, the authors explore concepts from the Su Wen, Ling Shu and Nan Jing to bring us a view of ideas that flowered in an age rich with Chinese medical history. They discuss the philosophical and theoretical development of the five-phase system, in particular the relationship of five phases to the I Ching, Tao Te Ching, and other classical Chinese texts, then present the correspondences that a practitioner can apply to the problems of diagnosis and treatment. The diagnostic section is a complete and practical discussion of technique, including pulse, body type, visual diagnosis, and hara or abdominal diagnosis. The treatment section describes basic exercises, breathing techniques, treatment principles, and techniques from eminent classical texts. Modern treatment protocols are presented in clear, easy to use tables. It is one of the best sources of technique currently available and it reaches beyond technique to the art of healing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

five elements and ten stems
just starting to read en learn more about this theory.

A modern classic
This is a great book for people who want to know more about 5 phase acupuncture.I have owned this book for about 3 years, and have gone back to it over and over.Each time I pick it up, I find something new.While some "cookie-cutter" approaches to 5 phase styles are presented, there is also enough theoretical meat to keep the reader interested.Great book to have in your collection!

OK, I'd rather not buy.
I was very disappointed by Extraordinary Vessels, but
this one is a-OK. However, the Style of writing is again all
too confusing.Does not really explain
the fundamental of acupuncture
concisely way. Lack of translations of each Chinese/
Japanese characters would not really help.
I do not recommend for students of acupuncture.

So so book
Somewhat a better book than Extraordinary Vessels, but
still failed in explaining the basic acupuncture philosophy.
Too many quotes from too many different classics.Failure to
provide Chinese and Japanese characters and the lack of clear translation of each of the words do not really help readers
to understand the essence and fundamental.It could have been
a better book, but it is not.

Great book!
This book explains the five phases(as in the chinese classics) in a very understandable manner. It is much more comprehensive than many other books on the same subject. Highly recomended... ... Read more

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This digital document is an article from Science and Its Times, brought to you by Gale®, a part of Cengage Learning, a world leader in e-research and educational publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.The length of the article is 1505 words.The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase.You can view it with any web browser.The histories of science, technology, and mathematics merge with the study of humanities and social science in this interdisciplinary reference work. Essays on people, theories, discoveries, and concepts are combined with overviews, bibliographies of primary documents, and chronological elements to offer students a fascinating way to understand the impact of science on the course of human history and how science affects everyday life. Entries represent people and developments throughout the world, from about 2000 B.C. through the end of the twentieth century. ... Read more

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This digital document is a journal article from Atmospheric Environment, published by Elsevier in 2004. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Media Library immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Wet deposition from a suburban area in Reston, Virginia was collected during 1998 and analyzed to assess the anion and trace-element concentrations and depositions. Suburban Reston, approximately 26km west of Washington, DC, is densely populated and heavily developed. Wet deposition was collected bi-weekly in an automated collector using trace-element clean sampling and analytical techniques. The annual volume-weighted concentrations of As, Cd, and Pb were similar to those previously reported for a remote site on Catoctin Mt., Maryland (70km northwest), which indicated a regional signal for these elements. The concentrations and depositions of Cu and Zn at the suburban site were nearly double those at remote sites because of the influence of local vehicular traffic. The 1998 average annual wet deposition (@mgm^-^2yr^-^1) was calculated for Al (52,000), As (94), Cd (54), Cr (160), Cu (700), Fe (23,000), Mn (2000), Ni (240), Pb (440), V (430), and Zn (4100). The average annual wet deposition (meqm^-^2yr^-^1) was calculated for H^+ (74), Cl^- (8.5), NO"3^- (33), and SO"4^2^- (70). Analysis of digested total trace-element concentrations in a subset of samples showed that the refractory elements in suburban precipitation comprised a larger portion of the total deposition of trace elements than in remote areas. ... Read more

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In 10 stimulating chapters, Volume 43 of Metal Ions in Biological Systems focuses on the vibrant research area related to the cycling of elements, metals, and nonmetals in biology and geology. It critically highlights the biogeochemistry of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorus, examines the interrelations between the availability of iron, phytoplankton growth, and the carbon cycle, considers the biogeochemical cycling of mercury and lead, and includes a chapter devoted to cadmium, a highly toxic element that is also a micronutrient for phytoplankton. This volume contains more than 50 illustrations along with more than 1300 references for further research on the subject.

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Critical reviews on topics of research concerned with chemical structure and bonding. Specially commissioned contributions include: Acute Aluminum Intoxication; A New Effect of Aluminum on Iron Metabolism in Mammalian Cells; and Fluoroaluminate Chemistry. Includes author index for volumes 101-104 and subject index. ... Read more

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Volume 32 of Group III is a supplement to volume III/19 and deals with the magnetic properties of metals, alloys and metallic compounds which contain at least one transition element.
The present subvolume III/32C provides comprehensive and evaluated data on magnetic properties of alloys and compounds of d-elements with main group elements published mainly in the previous decade. ... Read more