which act like a bucket of icy cold water. For them, the failure to account for things such as the electron-muon mass difference is decisive in their scorn for superstrings. The great problem for young scientists now is, should they make the enormous investment required to learn su- perstrings, given that there is no hard evidence for them and given that the common herd is run- ning in that direction? These interviews may help in this decision.

George Jaroszkiewicz

Dust in the Galactic Environment. By D.C.B. Whittet. Pp. 295. American Institute of Physics. 7992. Hardback f 19.50, US 539.00 ISBN 0 7503 0209 7.

Since the advent of sensitive infrared detectors in the early 1970s the study of dust particles in space has become a major research field in mod- em astronomy. Dust is no longer viewed as an irritant but enables astronomers to study a wide range of cosmic phenomena ranging from star formation to star death. In this book, Doug Whittet one of the foremost and peripatetic - he has appointments in three countries - re- searchers in the field gives a lucid, thorough and up-to-date account of the subject. After a brief description of the importance of dust in astron- omy, Whittet reviews several topics including the composition and extinction properties of the dust grains, their absorption and emission prop- erties over wavelengths ranging from the vac- uum ultraviolet to the far infrared, and their formation and evolution in the galaxy. Although the author suggests that the book might be suit- able as an undergraduate text, it will be more successful at graduate level. As with many text- books aimed at describing an active and con- tentious research field, there are times when one baulks at the author’s preferences and prejudices showing through so clearly. Nonetheless, this is only a minor quibble since the keen researcher will be able to follow up other points of view using the 600 or so references contained in an admirable book which provides an excellent and comprehensive introduction to the subject.

Tom Miller

Frontier Topics in Nuclear and Astrophysics - Graduate Lectures. Proceedings of the 22nd Masurian Lakes Summer School on Nuclear Physics held in Piaski, Poland, August P&September 5. 1991. Edited by Z. Sujkowski and G. Szefliriska. Pp. 386. Institute of Physics Publishing. f24.50 US $49.00, ISBN 0 7503 0 172 4.

Summer schools provide excellent opportunities for graduate students to attend lectures by active researchers on the latest work in their tield, and to discuss their results in relaxed and informal surroundings. Publishing the lectures forces the speakers to put their thoughts on paper and thus makes the material more generally available. This summer school concentrated on the proper- ties of hot, dense nuclear matter under extreme conditions, both in the laboratory and in stellar objects. The subjects discussed included heavy- ion reaction dynamics, rotational bands and

level densities of superdeformed nuclei, photon decay of giant dipole resonances, charge-ex-

change reactions, neutron stars, cosmochronol- ogy, supernovae and solar neutrinos. Some of the latest experimental techniques, such as the use of radioactive beams, were described, to- gether with the theoretical analyses of the data obtained. The lecturers are all well-known ac- tive researchers and these accounts of their work provide a useful summary of our current knowl- edge.

P. E. Hodgson

UN - ESA Workshop on Basic Space Science, held at the ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangalore, India on 30 April-3 May 1991. Edited by H. J. Hanbold and R. K. Khana. Pp. 340. American Institute of Publishing. New York. 1992. f66.00, US $99.00 ISBN 0 883 189518.

A workshop on basic space science was orga- nized by the Outer Space Affairs Division of the U.N. European Space Agency and the Indian Space Research Organization. This publication contains the majority of the presentations made. The introductory addresses at the beginning give a perspective of the subject especially in the context of space sciences in developing coun- tries. This is followed by overviews on space science in India and astronomical research in Japan. The publication contains in the section on solar-terrestrial interactions excellent overviews on biosphere-geosphere interactions, solar wind-magnetospheric processes, equatorial elec- trojet and spread F phenomenon. These are im- portant and topical, particularly in view of the current International Geosphere-Biosphere and Solar-Terrestrial Energy Programmes. The arti- cles on Solar System variability and EUV stud- ies presented in the section on Solar System science are highly informative. The last section, on space astronomy and astrophysics, contains very interesting presentations on the recent ad- vances in these areas of space science, including the results of the International Extreme Ultraviolet Project and the Cosmic Background Explorer Experiment (COBE). Finally, the workshop recommendations are appended: these will be extremely useful for both space science policy makers and scientists.

B. V. Krishna Murthy

The Fullness of Space. By Gareth Wynn- Williams. Pp. 202 Cambridge University Press. Hardback f35.00, US $65.00 ISBN 052 13559 7 5; paperback f 15.95, US $29.95 ISBN 0521426383.

Good ideas do not always materialize in the form of good books. The author’s link-theme between the various research fields and different phenomena in space is the existence of matter in what would otherwise be vacuum (empty space). The contents of space are, therefore, lim- itless but his success comes in the choice of sub- jects, the way they are tackled, and the presentation. It is easy reading - to the scientist incomplete - but not so simplified as to be in- sulting. To the nonspecialist it reads well with key words (perhaps over-highlighted) and the significance of the subject brought out.

To avoid distractions in the text, a range of appendices is included. These are useful to the lay reader, or perhaps the interdisciplinarian

seeking a scientific primer on the universe, and they include most things from units to Greek let- ters and lists of elements. A useful index and suggestions for further reading is thrown in. Lacking throughout is the use of references, a good decision certainly, but the book also lacks mention of key workers in the field, that rich web of human colour which is the powerhouse of progress in reality. The scientific reader would find little of how to explore more deeply; the nonscientist left with the impression of achievements being the result of multitudes of white coated boffin clones.

An excellent primer for the scientist with an astrophysical appetite and certainly a useful text for courses where science, or certainly astro- physics, is not the major subject.

J. A. M. McDonnell

Industrial Applications of Single Cell Oils. Edited by David J. Kyle and Co/in Ratledge. Pp. 300. American Oil Chemists Society. 1992. Hardback 575. ISBN 0 9353 7539 X. The title of this text could be misleading. Single Cell Oils (SCO), intended as an equivalent to Single Cell Protein (SCP), are the edible oils (triacylgycerols) that can be extracted from a microbial cell. The term is applicable to the in- dustrial production of long-chain omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, cocoa butter substitutes and wax esters from bacteria, fungi, yeast and mi- croalgae. The text is a collection of papers/chap- ters on both the industrial production of, and novel processes for the formation of this range of fatty acids from these microbes. An important aspect is the use of microbial oils for a particu- lar application: that is, designer oils.

The 16 chapters are clearly and concisely written, giving a comprehensive and yet detailed treatment. There is a considerable amount of very useful data for the researcher and industri- alist, on biomass and fatty acid production, mainly for batch culture, as well as on culture and process operational specifications, including engineering flow sheets. The text is also a source of fundamental information, discussing the role of the underlying biochemistry of lipid biosynthesis, accumulation in the cell and fatty acid elongation and desaturation.

Overall, should you wish to know about edi- ble oil formation in microbes, then this text is the place to start.

A. J. Knights

The Chemistry of Inorganic Ring Systems. Edited by Ralf Steodel. Pp. 486 Elsevier. 1992. US $274.50 ISBN 0 444 88933 7. This is volume 14 of the series ‘Studies in Inorganic Chemistry’. Of the 22 chapters, 19 are based on lectures given at the Sixth International Symposium on Inorganic Ring Systems (IRIS VI) which was held at the Technical University, Berlin, in August 1991. Speedy publication has been achieved using camera-ready copy, and a monograph of the most recent progress in the chemistry of rings and clusters of the main group elements (ex- cluding the heaviest ones) has been produced, on which the Editor is to be congratulated.

Between chapter one, ‘Cluster, cages and

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