Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy

The third edition of the established classic text reference, Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy, will enhance upon the earlier editions' successes. Organized as a textbook for the learning student or the researcher needing to acquire the core competencies, Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy, 3e will maintain the emphasis on basics, while updating the examples to include recent results from the literature. The third edition also includes new chapters on single molecule detection, fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, novel probes and radiative decay engineering.

This full-color textbook features the following:

- Problem sets following every chapter

- Glossaries of commonly used acronyms and mathematical symbols

- Appendices containing a list of recommended books which expand on various specialized topics

- Sections describing advanced topics will indicate as such, to allow these sections to be skipped in an introductory course, allowing the text to be used for classes of different levels

Principles of Fluorescence Spectroscopy, 3 rd edition, is an essential volume for students, researchers, and industry professionals in biophysics, biochemistry, biotechnology, bioengineering, biology and medicine.

The approach is the same as that in the first edition: fluorescence spectroscopy from the viewpoint of a biophysical chemist. Explanations are clear. References are profuse; they now number well over a thousand and include an additional appendix that cites many books and review articles for additional reading. Figures are also plentiful; no fancy color diagrams a la contemporary biochemistry texts, but basic line drawings, primarily adapted from journal articles.

The first three chapters ("Introduction to Fluorescence", "Instrumentation for Fluorescence Spectroscopy", and "Fluorophores") are an excellent brief (93-page) introduction to the whole field. Most of the remaining 19 chapters are organized around the kinds of photophysical processes and spectroscopic quantities that are relevant to fluorescence. These include very thorough treatments of fluorescence lifetimes, quenching, anisotropy, and energy transfer. There are many examples drawn from journal articles. In addition, the work now covers more of the technological applications of fluorescence, especially in chapters on "Fluorescence Sensing" and "DNA Technology". These give a sense of the great contributions that fluorescence has made to biotechnology.

My own work involves varied applications of fluorescence to biotechnology, and the second edition of Lakowicz is my reference book of choice. It would also be an excellent text for a graduate course on fluorescence in a chemistry or biochemistry department. All in all, this is a most worth successor to the first edition.


The Luminescence Bible   March 8, 2007
Payam Minoofar (Los Angeles, CA)
3 out of 6 found this review helpful

What's more to say? This is the authoritative, the definitive volume for luminescence experiments from theory to all of the most useful applications. It is readable, dense, useful and indispensable if you do fluorescence, lifetime measurements, energy transfer studies, etc., etc.


Excellent   May 21, 2007
T. Anglin (SLC, UT)
1 out of 4 found this review helpful

Stellar text. Very thorough and easy to read. New version is in color, and has several new chapters. I'm very happy with the new edition


Excellent buy   December 23, 2007
Michael A. Moxley (Lincoln, NE)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful

This book is an excellent buy for anyone who knows little to nothing about fluorescence spectroscopy and someone who wants a great reference on the subject. I definitely haven't read all of this book, however what I have read has been very good. What's nice is that everything is referenced like a research article would be, so if there's anything that's not explained to the reader's satisfaction then they have the option of going straight to the original research article. So far, I have been impressed with the additional reading sections in the back of the chapter. What's also nice is the CD-ROM that comes along with the book. It contains all 1300 plus figures on a PDF file. This is very nice for someone who needs to do a lot of presentations.
There's a lab at my university that specializes in fluorescence and this book has become the main reference for their lab. This means something considering how well recognized this professor is throughout the biophysical community.


Great book, new edition out soon   June 9, 1999
4 out of 13 found this review helpful

Joe Lakowicz has just finished a thorough revision of this classic work, which should be coming out soon. Highly recommended.