Photochemistry - Tapa dura

Photochemistry is the study of the interaction of light with matter, and this concise and clearly written book provides a very accessible introduction to the subject. When visible or ultraviolet light is absorbed by a molecule, the result often is its apparently erratic behavior, with chemical properties distinct from those of the unexcited molecule. The primary part of this volume explores the role of light in this metamorphosis, and explains the chemical processes that occur after the absorption of light. The emission of radiation as fluorescence and phosphorescence is explained in depth in a separate chapter. The final two chapters are dedicated to the impact photochemistry has on life, and to the ways Man has made use of this discipline in a variety of applications.

Richard P. Wayne is at University of Oxford.