As might well be expected, the major emphasis throughout the book is that which has characterized Kornherg's research activities for the past 20 years or so; i.e., the approach is that of the nucleic acid enzymologist and the prime suhject is DNA polymerase I. Workers who utilize the basically genetic approach to investigate biochemical problems are likely to feel that contributions to our knowledge of DNA synthesis derived from the study of viral and bacterial mutants have not received the depth of coverage which is their due. The general format used by the author is the introduction of each subject with a short historical review which leads to a concise summary of the important facts. This is then followed by detailed enamination of the experiments which yielded those facts. The book is well-illustrated with excellent figures and contains numerous tables summarizing data from many sources. This feature greatly facilitates the understanding of the relationships of the various enzyme systems, their differences and similarities. The writing is clear and straightforward. Accordingly, from the standpoint both of content and of presentation, this is an excellent book. James L. Fairley Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan 48824
The Path to the Double Hellx
Robert Olby, University of Leeds, Scotland. University of Washington Press, Seattle, Washington, 1975. xxiii 510 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 24 cm. $23.50.
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In his preface, Robert Olby suggests that "The Path to the Double Helix" will provide the scientist, sociologist, and historian a reference work with a broad, eomprehensive view of "the whole intellectual and institutional movement in experimental biology which has yielded a physical and ehemical account of the gene." This view is described by science historian Olby in five sections. The first, From Colloidal Particles to Long-Chain Molecules describes the origin of the concept of macromolecules in the 19th century t o a detailed account of Astbury's studies in Leeds on keratin. The second and third sections, Nucleic Acids and the Nature of Hereditary Material and Bacterial Transformation, its Nature and Implications, emphasize a number of biochemical concepts established during the first half of the 20th century. The second section includes discussions on the tetranucleotide hypothesis as supported by Steudel and Levene, the nucleopratein theory of the gene, Garrod's remarkable insights into inborn errors of metabolism, Beadle and Tatum's classical studies on Neurospora, and the work on TMV by Stanley, Cohen, and others. The third section on bacterial transformation describes the outstanding work of Avery, MacLeod, and McCarty, whieh with typical uncanny in-
sight Andrh Baivin aptly described a t the time as "revolutionary." This was followed by the finding of Vendrely that different individuals of the same species have equal amounts of DNA per cell and that it is reduced t o one-half this amount during the formation of germ cells. The development of paper chromatography then provided Chareaffs laboratow with the necessarv technique to ~ C C I I T R determine I ~ ~ hose rati
