Physics and Astronomy

This book describes the methods of experimental spectroscopy and their use in the study of physical phenomena. The applications of optical spectroscopy may be grouped under three broad headings: chemical analysis, elucidation of atomic and molecular structure, and investigations of the interactions of radiating atoms and molecules with their environment. I have used the word ''Spectro­ physics'' for the third of these by analogy with spectrochemistry for the first and in preference to ''quantitative spectroscopy''. A number of textbooks treat atomic and molecular structure at varying levels of profundity, but elementary spectrophysics is not, so far as I am aware, covered in anyone existing book. There is moreover a lack of up-to-date books on experimental techniques that treat in a fairly elementary fashion interfero­ metric, Fourier transform and radiofrequency methods as well as prism and grating spectroscopy. In view of the importance of spectrophysics in astrophys­ ics and plasma physics as well as in atomic and molecular spectroscopy there seemed a place for a book describing both the experimental methods and their spectrophysical applications.