Analytical flame spectroscopy is a rich and growing disci- pline, rooted
in the broad fields of physics and chemistry. Its applications abound
not only in these large areas, but also thrive in the geosciences,
materials science, and clinical and biochemical analysis. As an
inevitable corollary of the field's growth, the scientist seeking to
develop a fluent expertise has been forced to assimilate and master a
rapidly increasing quantity of information. Our guiding hope in creating
the present work has therefore been to provide the investigator with a
single reference source for nearly all the material ever likely to be
required in the daily conduct of basic or applied research. Flame
spectroscopy is not a new analytical field. It has seen at least three
major eras, in each of which much new information was developed - the
Bunsen-Kirchhoff years, the Beckman D. U. years, and finally the atomic
absorption years. In the Bunsen-Kirchhoff era, several new elements were
discovered. During the Beckman years - nearly all the early flame
emission data were taken on modified Beckman D. U. spectrometers - trace
metal analysis for the alkaline metals and for many alkaline earth
elements reached a new high (low?) - the parts per million level. More
recently, trace metal analysis has in general achieved a new maturity
with the advent of atomic absorption analysis, which was co-discovered
by C. Th. J. Alkemade and Alan Walsh in 1955.
