"International praise for the previous edition. . . . . .critically describes x-ray instrumentation and techniques. . .has one of the most extensive discussions of energy-dispersive x-ray spectrometry of any book. "---Analytical Chemistry". . .a valuable compendium for the practicing x-ray spectroscopist in industry and science or researchers in other fields who have to apply x-ray analysis. "---Journal of Applied Crystallography"Ron Jenkins could. . .be described as the doyen of XRF and together with his colleagues R. W. Gould and Dale Gedcke brings vast wealth of experience to the subject of XRF. . .. . . .the main revisions to this second edition are the inclusion of details of layered synthetic microstructures, total reflection X-ray spectrometry, and the influence of the personal computer. . ..an important contribution to XRF and will be of interest to both new and established workers in this field. "---Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry

• The interaction of X-rays with matter; sources for the excitation of characteristic X-rays; instrumentation; statistics; general computer applications and quantitative spectrum analysis as applied to energy-dispersive analysis; specimen preparation; qualitative analysis; basic problems in quantitative analysis; methods and models for quantitative analysis; trace analysis; radiation health hazards in X-ray spectrometry; applications of X-ray spectrometry. Appendices: no-menclature; mass absorption coefficients; conversions and physical constants; atomic weights and densities; wavelengths and energies; wavelength tables for K, L, and M series.