book reviews traditional format with the nature and structure of biochemicals being treated in the first half and the metabolism of biochemicals considered in the second half. The book is well-written and is unique in that a conversational tone is used whieh makes i t both interestine and "easv" to read. Manv illustraOverall the book is physically attractive and appealing t o the eye. In the preface, the author indicates that the book is meant to be neither "encyclopedic nor cursory." The reviewer feels the author has succeeded in his goal with a hook that is intermediate in scope. The author alsostates that the text could be used for either a one or two semester course. When used for a one semester course, the instructor would need to be judicious in his selection of reading assignments. Literature citations are included a t the end of each chapter which should he valuable t o hoth the instructor and the motivated student. Problem exercises are also and quantity. An impressive part of the hook is the apparent concern of the author that the student understand the basic chemical principles underlying biochemistry. Far example, before the chapters on amino acidsand proteins are presented, a thorough treatment of ionic equilibrium and a c i d - h e chemistry is given. Chemical kinetics is reviewed before enzyme kinetics is considered. A chapter an chemical thermodynamics which included an excellent treatment of high energy biomolecules and coupling is given before metabolic reaction sequences are presented. The energetics of electron transfers between molecules is re-
thennodynamics and kinetics of transpart processes. Subsequent chapters explore various aspects hoth generally and specifically. Each chapter opens with a statement of scope and ends with a summary. The hook also contains three appendices on terminology, corrections for non-saturable migration, and certain practical procedures. There are about 1000 references, the most recent dated a t about press time. There are both author and subject indices. Dr. Christensen says that he has attempted t o begin his treatment a t a level a t whieh an advanced undergraduate can "get on board" but not to address himself to the immediate, complicated interest of the investigator of transport. As regards the former aim, my students enthusiastically agree that he has succeeded; but as regards the latter, he is altogether too modest. I feelmany investigators of transport will find this bwk most valuable, if only to gain some feel for the unity of transport processes. For those not immediately involved in transport, this book should be invaluable because i t encompasses, in a small volume, virtually the whole field of biological transport. The author is a t pains to describe the differentiation of simole diffusion. facilitated d ~ f f u w and n active transport, and theerrom that ma" arise in dtkrmining the mechankm in particular cases. The mathematical treatment is straightforward, and there are no equations of a complexity t w great to he of practical value. The illustrations are clear and adequate. and the hook seems free of gross typo&aphieal errors. Ian S. Longmuir North Carolim State University Raleigh, North Camlim 27607
Quantum Mechanics for Organic Chemlsts just memorized chemical structures and reaction sequences. In summary, this hioehemical text is i n attractive, well-written, well-illustrated book.
-
Northern Arizona University Flagstaff, ArizoM 8601 1
Biological Transport. Second Edition
Noloor N. Christensen, University of Michigan. W. A. Benjamin, Inc., Reading, Massachusetts, 1975. xx + 514 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.5 X 24 em. $19.50. Not long ago the cell was thought of as a hag of enwmra, and it qcrmrd rhnt knowl-
t d r r ot en~ymicactivityonly should lead ru undwstonding oi l f c m r l f Sow it is known that the cell is divided into eompartments by membranes across whieh various molecules move. So it is clear that. in addition ~n
purpose of this book to present the current status of knowledge in this field. The opening chapters deal with the scope of the problem, membrane structure, and the A300 / Journal of Chemical Education
Howard C. Zimmerman, University of Wisconsin. Academic Press. New York. 1975. a 215 pages. ~ i g u r e $and tables: 15.5 X 23.5 cm. $16.50
+
Twenty years ago the Journal of The American Chemical Society did not publish any articles on electronic structure theory. Today they comprise approximately 17% of its contents. and this dramatic increase reoresents the single largest change that has occurred in the major areas of chemistry during this period. The theoretical chemistry which has arisen is not a simple transfer from physics but rather a discipline focused on chemistry-the discrimination of one eomplex pattern of atoms from another. In the current phase of its development, theoretical chemistrv is able to orovide ouantitativesolution\ in many U3SrE ns d l AS B cunvincing cuncrptual fmmewcrk fur chcmieal ideas. A measure of its success has been the willingness of prominent organic experimentalists, not only t o embrace theory in their research, but also t o present i t in courses and texts specifically designed for this purpose. The two pioneering books in this area were "Notes on Molecular Orbital Theory" by J. D. Roberts and "Molecular Orbital Theory for Organic Chemists" by Andrew Streitwieser, both published in 1961. Many chemistry departments now offer a first-year graduate course on electronic structure theory for organic chemists and Howard
Zimmerman's hook is an excellent choice as a text for these courses. The mathematical treatment is a t a level accessible to the avera,.m oreanie .. student and stens in the mathemntirs are uuffic~mtlyfilled in a,, that rrw dents wdl he ahlr to fdluw the mattr~al without recourse to outside references. Worked out examples are interspersed t o provide motivation and impart meaning t o the mathematics. Zimmerman's text develops the baekground required for comprehending and applying semiempirical molecular orbital theories: the concept of orbitals and energy levels, orbital mixing, the LCAO expansion of molecular orbitals, Htiekel theory, elementary use of variation and perturbation methods, introduction t o group theory and molecular symmetry, and the WaodwardHaffmann correlation diagrams. As is aporooriate t o the level soueht here. the pedagogical approach is indu&e rathe* than deductive and there is an emphasis on the simple rules and mnemonics (e.g., Hiiekel and M6bius rules) which afford useful aids to the practicing organic chemist. An especially important feature of the hook is the last chapter, "More Advanced Methods." This gives an introduction to extended Hiiekel theory, two-electron semiempirical theories (INDO) and many-electron determinantal wavefunctions, an appreciation of which is essential to meaningful application ofquanturn chemical ideas. Leland C. Allen Princeton University Princeton. New Jersey 08540
Data Analysls for Scientists and Engineers Stuart L. Meyer, Northwestern University. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, 1975. aii 513 pp. Figs. and tables. 17.5 X 25.5 cm. $16.95.
+
Professor Meyer begins his preface with the statement, "This hook evolved from a personal need: the need to have in one place, with a consistent style and notation practically all that an experimental scientist needs to know to deal with data and wonts to know to satisfy his or her intellectual curiosity." In my opinion the author has succeeded in his task: to paraphrase his words, this booksays it all. The material is arranged mr,, fiw pnrrs. rarh uhdiwded intu fiw ur mchaptem. Part I , Intmdurum ro Scicntit~cMmsuremenr, gives some necessary definitions and concepts (e.g., systematic errors, random errors, and blunders), as well as same philosophical discussion as to the nature of proof and truth: had there been a desire to shorten the text, some of this material could have been deleted without serious harm. Part I1 is a discussion of the preparation and use of graphs (including nomograms). Part 111 is a concise introduction to probability, including a lucid discussion of Monte Carlo techniques; Part IV continues with a detailed discussion of the several orobabilitv distributions whieh are encrmntrred in the nnnlysis of expenmental TPSIIIU. It 1% n welnme fenrure 111this section that the hinumtnl and I'c,~rsondistrihutmna are discussed as thoroughly as the Gaussian. Part V deals with statistical inference, i.e., with estimation of parameters, hypothesis testing, and curve fitting. The final 100 pages
