JOURNAL OF MASS SPECTROMETRY, Vol. 33, 403 (1998)

Book Review

I. T. PLATZNER, with contributions by K.HABFAST, A. J. WALDER and A. GOETZ

Modern Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry

Wiley, Chichester, 1997. 514 pages, 1134 ref-erences.

By an odd coincidence, the call toreview this book came only a few min-utes after I had Ðnished a discussionwith some research associates on thecapricious nature of mass spectrometers.My faded photocopy of the 2nd editionof AstonÏs Mass Spectra and Isotopeswas still opened to p. 69 on which hisfamous quotation Ðrst appeared. Wejokingly attributed the dayÏs anomalousresults to “AstonÏs curse,Ï as thoughsome irritated spirit was toying with usfor not paying proper attention to ourinstruments. Platzner and co-authorscontend on p. 8 of their book, perhapswith good justiÐcation, that modern iso-tope ratio mass spectrometers haveachieved a level of reliability, precisionand accuracy that was unimaginable inAstonÏs day. I agree, but my youngassociates have yet to be convinced.

This book is Volume 145 in a contin-uing series of monographs on analyticalchemistry and its applications publishedby Wiley. The three contributing au-thors o†er some valuable insights intohigh precision isotopic analysis byvirtue of their many decades workingfor commercial instrument manufac-turers. The raison for Modern Iso-dÏeü tretope Ratio Mass Spectrometry is toprovide a contemporary review of thestate of the art for high precision isotoperatio measurements of the elements.Most importantly, this book contains acompendium of information on a di-verse topic that transcends many intel-lectual disciplines like few others in therealm of science. Examples of the utilityof isotopes can be found in all of thephysical and biomedical sciences, ecol-ogy, agriculture, commercial productauthentication, paleontology andarcheometry, some of which are de-scribed towards the end of the book.

The Ðrst third of the book (Part I, 145pages) brieÑy covers the historical workon isotope ratio mass spectrometers, fol-lowed by a discussion on the fundamen-tals of quadrupole and magnetic sectormass analyzers, ionization sources forgas and solid samples and various iondetectors. The treatment of the histori-cal aspects of isotope ratio mass spec-trometry is too brief to be of much use,but inquisitive readers can follow up onthe citations given, beginning of coursewith AstonÏs book.

Most of Chapter 3 is devoted to mag-

netic sector instruments equipped withmultiple Faraday collectors for theanalysis of solid samples by thermal ion-ization or analysis of gas samples byelectron ionization. The design consider-ations necessary to couple multipleFaraday collectors to magnetic sectoroptics for isotope ratio work are clearlydelineated. More advanced multi-sectorinstruments for special applications aredescribed later in Chapters 4 and 6.Among the major advances in isotopeinstrumentation is the construction ofautomated sample processing and inletsystems to improve analytical pro-ductivity and reliability. The most not-able advance in this area is thecontinuous Ñow inlet for gas (CHNOS)samples, but several other specializedpreparation devices are also described.

An extended discussion in Chapter 4is devoted to multi-collector, inductivelycoupled plasma, magnetic sector (MCÈICPÈMS) instruments. It is replete withenough examples to convince any skep-tic that the MCÈICPÈMS can achieveprecision and accuracy comparable tothose of a good thermal ionization in-strument. The chief barrier to TI/MSand MCÈICPÈMS is cost, so somemanufacturers have introduced low-costquadrupole isotope ratio instruments(Chapter 5) for the analysis of gases andsolid samples. Although the theory ofoperation of quadrupole mass spectro-meters (QMS) is well known, the au-thors should have given more depth tothe topic. Quadrupole instruments gen-erally cannot compete with sector in-struments for high-precision isotopequantitation. However, the QMS maybe adequate for isotope dilution mea-surements or multi-element quantitationby ICPÈMS where precision is lessdemanding than for geochronology ormetabolic tracer applications.

SpeciÐc ionization processes and ele-ment speciÐc applications are covered inPart II (340 pages). Chapter 7 contains adiscussion of ion formation processessuch as glow discharge ionization andlaser-induced resonance ionization, butsome of the information presented inearlier chapters on thermal ionization isalso repeated here. Chapter 8 introducesthe concepts of precision and accuracyin isotope ratio measurements, the sta-tistical treatment of experimental dataand the e†ects of isotope fractionationon precision and accuracy. In fact, thisis a substantial issue in isotope ratiomass spectrometry, so I am disap-pointed the authors did not introducethe topic earlier and with more depththan they have. Chapter 9 contains a de-

tailed compendium of isotope analysisof all naturally occurring elements, suchas Aston did more than 70 years ago inthe 1st edition of his book. The informa-tion in Chapter 9 may be the single bestjustiÐcation to purchase this book. Theextent of discussion of various elementsis roughly in accord with their impor-tance to a given Ðeld. Mononuclidicelements, for which ratiometric measure-ments are impossible, are dismissed in afew sentences with one or two refer-ences, as appropriate. A more thoroughtreatment is given to isotope ratio mea-surements of light elements (CHNOS),those of importance for geochronology(Sm/Nd, Rb/Sr, Pb, Th, U) and elementsused in nuclear fuel production andmonitoring (Xe, U, Pu). Sufficient exam-ples of real-world analytical measure-ments are given in this section so thatreaders can gain an appreciation of theprecision and accuracy achievable bymodern isotope ratio mass spectro-meters.

Chapter 10 contains about a dozenselected applications of isotope ratiomass spectrometry in various physicaland biological sciences. No more than3È4 pages are devoted to each topic, soexperienced practitioners will be disap-pointed with the coverage of their spe-cialty. However, the purpose of thismonograph is to provide a broad over-view of a complex subject matter, and inthe process give readers a thoroughenough bibliography to pursue as theirinterests dictate. Chapter 11 contains acompilation of equations for the calcu-lation of isotopic abundances for vari-ous elements based on the atomic ormolecular species being quantitated.Appendix 1 is a table of the elementsand all naturally occurring isotopes, in-cluding the relative abundance, atomicmass and ionization energy. Appendix 2is a table of the standard IUPAC con-Ðrmed atomic masses of the elements.

Modern Isotope Ratio Mass Spectro-metry is generally well organized andreadable, so it will be a worthy additionto the library of everyone who practicesthe art of isotope ratio mass spectrom-etry. This book will be especially valu-able for scientists Ðrst contemplating theuse of stable isotopes in their research.Despite the inevitable blemishes thatcreep into a complex manuscript, I en-joyed reading PlatznerÏs book and tookaway from the experience a deeperappreciation of my craft.

DAVID L. HACHEY

Baylor College of Medicine,

Houston, TX, USA

CCC 1076È5174/98/040403È01 $17.501998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.(