As I have written in several publications, a lack of detailed knowledge of the fundamentals of chemistry and its relationship to quantum mechanics among the philosophy of chemistry community has delayed the development of the discipline (Scerri 2017). It has also meant that a good deal of what passes for philosophy of chemistry has been ignored by professional chemists and even by the philosophy of physics fraternity. The book under review is outstanding and promises to remedy some of this situation, provided that it is read as widely as it deserves to be. Without being an explicitly philosophical treatise Chas McCaw’s book, which has now appeared as a second edition, delves into some of the deepest and most difficult aspects of atomic physics and chemistry and its underlying quantum mechanical account. The six chapters in the book begin with an introduction to the mathematical foundations of quantum mechanics. Chapter 2 is entitled “Orbitals in the Hydrogen atom” and consists of a detailed account of hydrogenic orbitals up to and including the g-orbitals, an aspect that is seldom treated in chemistry textbooks. In chapter 3, the author moves on to multi-electron atoms. McCaw gives a detailed analysis of the 4 s/3d atomic orbitals conundrum, which has plagued chemical educators for generations (Scerri 2013) and which has only been fully resolved in recent years by the theoretical chemist Eugen Schwarz, who frequently attends and presents at our ISPC international meetings (Wang and Schwarz 2009). However, there are other approaches to this question, which are equally well reviewed in the book. Similarly, there is a useful section on the anomalous configurations that occur in approximately 20 transition metal and f-block metal atoms have been analyzed through a number of approaches, including those of Schwarz, Rich, and Suter. More recently, the latter approach has been developed further by the Brazilian chemist Eduardo Faria and his colleagues, as our author explains (Orofino et al. 2013). Other topics which are well covered in the same chapter include Slater’s rules, electron affinity, including a discussion of the two conventions in use, electron spin and the Pauli Principle. Chapter 4 provides a review of wave functions in multi-electron atoms, including the question of anti-symmetry, Russell–Saunders coupling, spin–orbit as well as further forms

中文翻译：

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Charles S. McCaw：轨道在原子光谱中的应用，第 2 版

正如我在几篇出版物中所写的那样，化学界缺乏对化学基础及其与量子力学关系的详细知识，这延迟了该学科的发展（Scerri 2017）。这也意味着专业化学家甚至物理学哲学界都忽略了很多被认为是化学哲学的东西。正在审查的这本书非常出色，并有望弥补这种情况的一部分，前提是它应该被广泛阅读。Chas McCaw 的书虽然不是明确的哲学论文，但现在已作为第二版出现，它深入研究了原子物理和化学的一些最深刻和最困难的方面及其潜在的量子力学解释。本书的六章以介绍量子力学的数学基础开始。第 2 章题为“氢原子中的轨道”，详细介绍了直到并包括 g 轨道的氢轨道，这在化学教科书中很少涉及。在第 3 章中，作者继续讨论多电子原子。McCaw 对 4 s/3d 原子轨道难题进行了详细分析，该难题困扰了几代化学教育者 (Scerri 2013)，直到最近几年理论化学家 Eugen Schwarz 才完全解决，他经常参加我们的ISPC 国际会议（Wang 和 Schwarz 2009）。但是，还有其他方法可以解决这个问题，这些方法在书中也得到了很好的评论。相似地，通过多种方法（包括 Schwarz、Rich 和 Suter 的方法）分析了大约 20 个过渡金属和 f 区金属原子中出现的异常构型的有用部分。最近，正如我们的作者所解释的那样，巴西化学家 Eduardo Faria 及其同事进一步开发了后一种方法（Orofino 等人，2013 年）。同一章中很好地涵盖的其他主题包括斯莱特规则、电子亲和力，包括对使用中的两个约定、电子自旋和泡利原理的讨论。第 4 章回顾了多电子原子中的波函数，包括反对称问题、Russell-Saunders 耦合、自旋轨道以及其他形式 正如我们的作者所解释的那样，巴西化学家 Eduardo Faria 及其同事进一步开发了后一种方法（Orofino 等人，2013 年）。同一章中很好地涵盖的其他主题包括斯莱特规则、电子亲和力，包括对使用中的两个约定、电子自旋和泡利原理的讨论。第 4 章回顾了多电子原子中的波函数，包括反对称问题、Russell-Saunders 耦合、自旋轨道以及其他形式 正如我们的作者所解释的那样，巴西化学家 Eduardo Faria 及其同事进一步开发了后一种方法（Orofino 等人，2013 年）。同一章中很好地涵盖的其他主题包括斯莱特规则、电子亲和力，包括对使用中的两个约定、电子自旋和泡利原理的讨论。第 4 章回顾了多电子原子中的波函数，包括反对称问题、Russell-Saunders 耦合、自旋轨道以及其他形式