Book excerpt: This two-volume reference serves as a handbook containing a wealth of information for all isotope chemists working in a wide range of disciplines including anthropology to ecology; drug detection methodology to toxicology; nutrition to food science; and the atmospheric sciences to geochemistry.Complementing the first volume, Volume II includes matters that are not strictly confined to the analytical techniques themselves, but relate to analysis of stable isotopes, such as the views on the development of mass spectrometers, isotopic scales, standards and references, and directives for setting up a laboratory.ALSO AVAILABLE:Volume I: Dec. 2004, 0444511148/9780444511140, $176.00Volume I and II (set): Oct. 2007, 0444511164/9780444511164, $205.00 - Presents an encyclopedic overview of stable isotope analytical techniques in an objective way - Includes descriptions of methods and diagrams of analytical devices - Addresses how older techniques formed the basis for present-day techniques, which can be useful in constructing modern analytical systems - Completments Volume I of the set