Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Rating:
Summary: A most worthy successor to the first edition
Review: In the sixteen years since the appearance of the first edition of Lakowicz's Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy, the use of fluorescence as an analytical tool has grown remarkably, especially in instrumentation, available fluorophores, and practical applications. Therefore, it shouldn't be surprising that the second edition of the work has more than doubled in size.

The approach is the same as that in the first edition: fluorescence spectroscopy from the viewpoint of a biophysical chemist. Explanations are clear. References are profuse; they now number well over a thousand and include an additional appendix that cites many books and review articles for additional reading. Figures are also plentiful; no fancy color diagrams a la contemporary biochemistry texts, but basic line drawings, primarily adapted from journal articles.

The first three chapters ("Introduction to Fluorescence", "Instrumentation for Fluorescence Spectroscopy", and "Fluorophores") are an excellent brief (93-page) introduction to the whole field. Most of the remaining 19 chapters are organized around the kinds of photophysical processes and spectroscopic quantities that are relevant to fluorescence. These include very thorough treatments of fluorescence lifetimes, quenching, anisotropy, and energy transfer. There are many examples drawn from journal articles. In addition, the work now covers more of the technological applications of fluorescence, especially in chapters on "Fluorescence Sensing" and "DNA Technology". These give a sense of the great contributions that fluorescence has made to biotechnology.

My own work involves varied applications of fluorescence to biotechnology, and the second edition of Lakowicz is my reference book of choice. It would also be an excellent text for a graduate course on fluorescence in a chemistry or biochemistry department. All in all, this is a most worth successor to the first edition.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book for an overview on fluorometry
Review: Introduces the reader to the basic physics and physical chemistry of fluorescence phenomena, fluorometry techniques and covers advanced topics as well. An excellent textbook.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, new edition out soon
Review: Joe Lakowicz has just finished a thorough revision of this classic work, which should be coming out soon. Highly recommended.