An introduction to cosmochemistry /

Cosmochemistry is a scientist's creation epic. It sings of nothing less than the origins of the material universe and the evolution of matter, first through thermonuclear transformations in stars, and then in cooler, lower-energy chemical processes, into the present world. Cowley, an astronomer, understandably focuses on the heroic early evolution of matter and the spectrophysics and mechanics of stars and galaxies, and gives shorter attention to the detailed chemical and mineralogical evolution of planets and their surfaces. A curricular year's worth of advanced physical chemistry is covered in 24 pages. The origin of life, that amusing stunt of elements in low oxidation states in only one known locale, is not treated at all, though it plays an important geochemical role where it exists. Nevertheless, this is a wide-ranging, intelligent, and useful survey. Early research is given due homage, and the extensive bibliography includes citations up to 1993. The prose is engaging and readable for most subjects, though more so the further Cowley roams from his own expertise. Cowley presents a "self-contained" and interdisciplinary monograph aimed at upper-division undergraduates and graduate students. Faculty in chemistry wishing to ground their own expertise in a cosmic framework will also benefit. Well produced, sturdy, and a bargain at about 15 cents per page. T. R. Blackburn; American Chemical Society