By Phil Danielson
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By Phil Danielson
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A User's Guide to Vacuum Technology This book will probably be found on more vacuum practitioners’ bookshelves than any other book whether in-print or out. The reason for this is simple. It’s been used as the standard text for AVS vacuum courses for many years. It has a number of advantages that led to its choice as a course text. It is a single author book, and that means that there’s a uniformity throughout the book in terms of writing style, overall approach, and general attitude toward the contents. Obviously, this attribute makes it easier for the course instructor to use to tie to the verbal instruction phase. Under these conditions, the instructor has the advantage of working with a smooth transition of subject and sub-subject throughout the course. It’s also a full scale text that moves from the simplicity of the introduction of the behavior of gases to practical vacuum system management. The title gives away the main thrust of the overall approach. It’s aimed directly at “users” of vacuum equipment. That establishes the limits of the subject matter. Limits, stated or unstated, are required for a full or wide scale book. Anything else would be hopeless. For example, a really deep and detailed exposition of each type of high vacuum pump would require a chapter on pumps and pumping that would outweigh a text like this by orders of magnitude. Instead, the author has put himself into the mind of the user and provided the depth of information that would allow understanding of the technology as it is used. This does not mean that only a superficial amount of information is provided. In fact, each subject seems to have much more than would be required to just operate, trouble-shoot, or specify a component or system. It does have the limitation of not being a great deal of use to a vacuum practitioner that’s designing a new product or researching a particular area of the technology, but that’s a tiny percentage of the field. Such information rightly belongs in a specialized text. The 2nd edition has been updated somewhat since the 1st edition had been in print since 1980, and a number of advances had been made in the technology during that period. additionally, problems have been added at the end of each chapter, and these are extremely useful to either a student in a course or the self-teaching student. These changes and additions are obviously a help to its continued use as a text for the AVS courses. It’s singular position is presently being challenged to some extent by Mars Hablanian’s HIGH-VACUUM TECHNOLOGY, A PRACTICAL GUIDE. It’s impossible to make an overall statement regarding the use of one book over the other since they are on much the same level. One difference needs be stated though. O’Hanlon uses the System International (SI) units throughout. This means that, for example, pressure is stated in Pascals (Pa). If your thinking and gauges are in torr, then it becomes a bit of a strain to wrench yourself into Pa. This doesn’t really provide a total barrier to the use of the book, but it’s recommended that the reader keep a calculator handy if they’re not used to working in Pa. This book belongs on the shelf of most vacuum practitioners, and that’s why you’ll find it there so often. It is likely to remain a standard for some time. |
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