07 April 2009

Book Review on FBDD Book

There is a review just publish ASAP in JACS of the Zartler and Shapiro edited book on FBDD. Overall, it is a nice review (Thanks to Andrew and Phil). There is one error (chapters 4-11 are EIGHT chapters, not seven) and one critique that I want to address.

Although there is a paragraph in Chapter 3 covering X-ray methods, which are mentioned in the introductory chapters, it would have been nice to have an entire chapter dedicated to these methods as several groups in industry have applied them successfully.

Mike and I made a conscious choice NOT to include any chapters on X-ray. We thought that of all the methods for FBDD X-ray has been done; there was nothing new to the field that our book could contribute. The focus of this book was on practical applications and newer techniques. There are a plethora of nice reviews out there, X-ray focused companies, and three chapters entirely or mostly about using X-ray in the Jahnke and Erlanson book.
What are the feelings of others? Did we swing and miss by leaving that topic out of the book or is X-ray the "mature" FBDD method? I would argue (and did in my editorial choice) that there is little left to say about X-ray that hasn't already been said.
[Update]: Zartler and Shapiro:Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,595,845 in Books.
Jahnke and Erlanson: Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,238,437 in Books

No comments: