Introducing astrochemistry to a wide audience, this book describes how molecules formed in chemical reactions occur in a range of environments in interstellar and circumstellar space, from shortly after the Big Bang up to the present epoch. Stressing that chemistry in these environments needs to be driven, it helps identify these drivers and the various chemical networks that operate giving rise to signature molecules that enable the physics of the region to be better understood. The book emphasises, in a non-mathematical way, the chemistry of the Milky Way Galaxy and its planet-forming regions, describes how other galaxies may have rather different chemistries and shows how chemistry was important even in the Early Universe when most of the elements had yet to be formed. This book will appeal to anyone with a general interest in chemistry, from students to professional scientists working in interdisciplinary areas and non-scientists fascinated by the evolving and exciting story of chemistry in the cosmos.

Reviews

UK academics Williams (Univ. College London) and Hartquist (Univ. of Leeds) present an authoritative though

skimpily documented account of the universe's evolution, from the prechemical times--shortly after the big bang--of

isolated elementary particles and hyperenergetic photons, through the formation of atoms, to more complex

molecules and dust particles, and finally to stars, planets, and galaxies. The emphasis is heavily chemical, with

relatively brief focus on the physical dynamics of stellar fNmation and energy. The text is also unsparingly

technical, though nonmathematical. The authors stipulate that the intended audienc;e is "anyone with a general

interest in chemistry, from students to professional scientists." However, students will need a good background in

chemistry and physics to follow the text. The presentation is adorned with stl'ikingly good color illustrations of

deep-space objects in the throes of processes described. Unfortunately, bibliographic aids are limited to brief

"Fwiher Reading" lists, dominated by the authors' and their students' contributions. The relatively terse index largely

references individual scientists. There is no discussion (perhaps wisely; no one really understands it) ofthe "dark

matter" and "dark energy" that may or may not, depending on cosmologists, dominate the evolution of galaxies and

the universe. Js there a "dark chemistry"? Summing Up: Recommended. With reservations. Upper-division

undergraduates through professionals. -- T R. Blackburn, former(v, American Chemical Society Petroleum Research

Fund

* CHOICE - Vol. 51 No. 08 *



Book Information
ISBN 9781849736091
Author David A Williams
Format Paperback
Page Count 238
Imprint Royal Society of Chemistry
Publisher Royal Society of Chemistry