Suggested Books for Spin Course
RGL Nov 2008
Explicitly about spin:
1. “The Story of Spin”, Sin-itiro Tomonaga, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1997.
Comprehensive coverage of the history and physics of spin. Based on a series of lectures
by the author. Geared toward physicists, but the historical sections will be of general interest.
2. “Spins in Chemistry”, Roy McWeeny, Academic Press, New York, 1970.
Based on a series of lectures given by one of the first chemical physicists to apply MO
theory to chemical shift calculations. Treatment is mathematical and orientation is toward
describing the theory behind the NMR and EPR parameters. Has a nice Appendix dealing with
the interaction of two electron systems which is relevant to spin chemistry.
3. “The Chemical Consequences of Nuclear Spin”, P. J. Wheatley, North-Holland Publishing
Company, Amsterdam, 1970.
Qualitative discussions, with extensive use of vector and energy-level diagrams, of all
aspects of nuclear spin. Extensive coverage of the effects of nuclear spin statistics and symmetry
on molecular properties.
4. “Nuclear Moments”, Norman F. Ramsey, John Wiley & sons, Inc., New York, 1953.
Concise, early discussion of the basic physics and phenomenology associated with nuclear
magnetism. Detailed description of the molecular beam resonance method for nuclei which
Ramsey largely developed.
Magnetic Resonance:
5. “Introduction to Magnetic Resonance”, Alan Carrington and Andrew D. McLachlan, Harper
and Row, New York, 1967.
Even after 40 years, this is still the best available introduction to virtually all aspects of
magnetic resonance. It is one of the few books on the subject to have problems sets. The
references are also to classic papers in the field. The Appendices are especially valuable for the
clarity with which they cover some of the more abstract and notationally challenging aspects of
magnetic resonance.
6. “Principles of Magnetic Resonance”, Charles P. Slichter, Harper and Row, New York, 1964.
Detailed coverage of the theory of magnetic resonance. Very mathematical, with examples
from solid state physics. It would be the next place to go after one felt comfortable with
Carrington and McLachlan. The treatment of the density matrix theory of relaxation is especially
good.
7. “The Principles of Nuclear Magnetism”, Anatole Abragam, Oxford University Press, Oxford,
UK, 1961.
The bible. Abragam is where you go for the correct descriptions of the physics of just
about all NMR phenomena.
8. “Electron Paramagnetic Resonance: Elementary Theory and Practical Applications”, John A.
Weil, James R. Bolton, and John E. Wertz, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1994.
Most recent edition of a textbook written by three of the pioneers of EPR in chemistry.
Has some good problems and lots of references up to the early 1990’s.
9. “Modern NMR Techniques for Chemistry Research”, Andrew E. Derome, Pergamon Press,
Oxford, 1987.
Very clearly written description of the basic theory of modern multiple-pulse and 2D
NMR techniques. Easier to follow than most of the flood of other books on these techniques
published at about the same time or more recently. Unfortunately Derome died a few years after
the book was published so we shall never see an updated edition. If you can find a used copy, buy
it.
10. “An Introduction to the Analysis of Spin-Spin Splitting in High Resolution Nuclear Magnetic
Resonance”, John D. Roberts, W. A. Benjamin, Inc., New York, 1961.
Very detailed treatment of how basic quantum mechanics is used to analyze spin-spin
splitting. Uses vector models, energy level diagrams, and numerous exercises to make the topic
understandable.
11. “Foundations of Modern EPR”, Gareth R. Eaton, Sandra S. Eaton, and Kev M. Salikhov,
World Scientific Publishing Company, Singapore, 1998.
A collection of scholarly essays by many of the pioneers of EPR. An excellent source of
references to classic papers on EPR theory and applications.
Quantum Mechanics:
12. “Quantum Mechanics”, Leonard I. Schiff, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., New York,
1955.
Especially clear discussion and derivation of the Schrodinger equation and lots of
examples of solutions. Problems are at about the junior physics major level. Chapters on spin,
radiation and atoms and molecules are suitable for chemists.
13. “Quantum Theory”, David Bohm, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1951.
Bohm’s book has an unusual emphasis on the philosophical basis of quantum phenomena
and measurement. His discussion of the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen (“EPR”) Paradox, involving
independent measurement of the properties of two widely-separated spin-1/2 particles, is a
classic.
14. “Quantum Chemistry”, Kenneth S. Pitzer, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1953.
Has unusually clear solutions for many quantum mechanical models of importance in
chemical structure, thermodynamics and spectroscopy. Problems at the ends of chapters are
accessible to chemistry students.
15. “Physical Chemistry”, Peter Atkins, W. H. Freeman and Company, New York, 6th edition,
1998.
This is my favorite modern PChem textbook. It’s where you go to find the most
convincing explanations for topics in the field. Atkins is especially good on quantum mechanics
and spectroscopy. He did a postdoc in the area of magnetic resonance and carried out some of the
earliest theory on CIDNP and CIDEP.
16. “Angular Momentum: Understanding Spatial Aspects in Chemistry and Physics”, Richard N.
Zare, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1988.
Based on a series of Baker Lectures at Cornell given by the author. Designed as a textbook
on the topic, with problems and very carefully worked-out examples. The first chapter gives the
clearest rational for the vector model for spin and orbital angular momentum that I have seen.
17. “Atomic Spectra and Atomic Structure”, Gerhard Herzberg, Dover Publications, New York,
1945.
This is the first volume in a series of classic monographs on atomic and molecular spectra.
This particular volume establishes a link between the quantum theory of Bohr and the quantum
mechanics we use today. The chapters on electron and nuclear spin are especially relevant, as are
many of the vector and energy level diagrams.
Special Topics:
18. “Orthohydrogen, Parahydrogen and Heavy Hydrogen”, Adalbert Farkas, Cambridge
University Press, London, 1935.
This is the place to start for anyone interested in the properties of hydrogen. It’s
remarkable that this book was written only three years after the discovery of deuterium, less than
a decade after the formulation of quantum mechanics and the importance of nuclear and electron
spin, and more than a decade before the first successful NMR and EPR experiments. There are
also great descriptions of experimental methods and results.
19. “Chemical Generation and Reception of Radio- and Microwaves”, Anatoly L. Buchachenko
and Eugene L. Frankevich, VCH Publishers, Inc., New York, 1994.
Despite the title, which makes it sound like an electrical engineering monograph, this book
is an excellent introduction to the basic ideas and applications of modern spin chemistry.
Frankevich is a solid state theorist who anticipated the radical pair model for CIDNP by a few
years when he proposed spin selection as the explanation for recombination emission in irradiated
solids.
20. “Introduction to Dynamic Spin Chemistry: Magnetic Field Effects on Chemical and
Biochemical Reactions”, Hisaharu Hayashi, World Scientific Publishing Co., Singapore, 2004.
The most up-to-date book on spin chemistry. Has especially useful discussions of
magnetic isotope effects and magnetic field effects in biology.
21. “Dynamic Spin Chemistry: Magnetic Controls and Spin Dynamics of Chemical Reactions”,
Saburo Nagakura, Hisaharu Hayashi, and Tohru Asumi, Eds., John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New
York, 1998.
Based on a research project in Japan called “Molecular Magnetism” carried out in the
1992-1995 period. Has unusual chapters on magnetic field effects on chemical equilibria and
excited molecules in the gas phase.
22. “Spin Polarization and Magnetic Effects in Radical Reactions”, Yu. N. Molin, Ed., Elsevier,
Amsterdam, 1984.
Detailed development of the theory of chemical polarization and other magnetic effects by
the leaders of the USSR effort in this area. The second half of the book discusses the experimental
basis as of the early 1980’s.
23. “Chemically Induced Magnetic Polarization”, A.R. Lepley and G.L. Closs, Eds., John
Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1973.
A collection of papers by the earliest participants in CIDNP and CIDEP conferences in
Houston, Brussels and Tallinn. Largely of historical interest now, but it does give some sense of
where experiment and theory stood at this early stage of the field.