INT. J . RADIAT. BIOL . 1979, VOL . 36, NO . 5, 553

Book review

Ultraviolette Strahlen . Edited by J . KIEFER . (Berlin : Verlag de Gruyter, 1976) .

Ultraviolette Strahlen has been for many years the standard reference book on ultraviolet lightand a main source of information, at least in the German-speaking world . It was firstpublished in 1941 under the editorship of A . E . H. Meyer and E . O . Seitz, and a second editionappeared in 1949 . Since then rapid and fundamental advances have taken place in this area andit became necessary to rewrite the book . However, Seitz preferred to have a new bookassembled from individual chapters written by different authors . Before he died he asked Dr .J . Kiefer to edit the new book which had been planned . It was published in 1976 .

The book starts with a general introduction and explanation of the basic concepts(R. Schulze and J. Kiefer ; 15, pages) . This is followed by a chapter on natural U .V. radiation(R. Schulze ; 30 pages), its artificial production (V . Schafer and G . Heindrich; 130 pages), andthe principles of the physical effects of U .V. on matter (H . Blume and H . Gusten ; 35 pages) .The next few chapters are mainly concered with the application of U .V. radiation . First comesthe measurement of U .V. radiation (R . Schulze and J . Bensel ; 95 pages) and then a specialchapter on spectroscopic methods (H . Blume and H . Gusten ; 35 pages) . This is followed bythe basic concepts of chemical (H . Blume and H . Gusten ; 95 pages), biological (J . Kiefer andI. Wienhard; 120 pages) and medical (H . Tonnier ; 30 pages) effects of U .V . radiation . The bookconcludes with a chapter on the practical application of U .V. radiation (medical treatment, byH. Tronnier; disinfection and sterilisation, by I . Wienhard ; photochemical reactions andphotophysical processes, by H . Blume and H . Gusten ; 45 pages) .

This book therefore provides a modern review of the fundamentals of the whole field ofU.V. radiations, their measurement, effects and application, in a detail which is not found inany other German book and probably not in a single book in any other language . Consequentlyit is likely to be for some time the standard reference source in this field . How far and for howlong it will remain so depends of course on the effect this detailed information has on itsreaders. On the one hand the numerous data, tables, and illustrations, and the contents of someof the chapters, certainly make this book a source of reference which will be consulted for along time. On the other hand, the sometimes detailed descriptions of new and still somewhatcontroversial fields renders uncertain their future validity .

The size of the book and the spectrum of subjects discussed makes it difficult to justify theabove judgement . Therefore I can only say that in general this book represents an enrichmentof the literature in this field and that everybody who is interested in U .V. radiation can berecommended to read and refer to it . However, the very high price may inhibit its desiredlarge-scale distribution . Had the price of the book been realized before publication it isdifficult to see why individual chapters were not considerably shortened . This could have beenachieved by avoiding duplication of information in tables and graphs, or by omitting some ofthe special material which will soon become out-of-date, for example, the detailed data aboutmonochromator models currently available. It may be useful to have the same materialavailable in different chapters, and the avoidance of duplication would have required a largeamount of editorial work ; nevertheless it could have helped to reduce the price of the book, justas a soft-cover edition would have done .

H. D. MENNIGMANN

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