book reviews frim ~ i c l e nto t Modern Tlmes Henry M.Leicester, Hamard University. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1974. Figs. and tables. 286 pp. 23.5 X 16 em. $15.
Although biochemistry is one of the most productive and active areas of current chemical research, its history has been relatively neglected. With this slim volume under review, Dr. Leicester, Chairman of the Department of Biochemistry, School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific, and 1962 winner of the Dexter Award in the History of Chemistry, has produced an eminently readable account of hiochemical history and development that spans more than 20 centuries. From the time of the ancient Mesopotamians and Egyptians through the decade of the 1930's he traces the vicissitudes of various hiochemical concepts, which he defines as "any hypotheses of bodily function which involve specific substances." The book, consisting of 19 short chapters and a 3-page "Afterword," is an excellent general introduction to the subject and is similar in style and format to the author's "The Historical Background of Chemistry," [John Wiley and Sons, 19561, the last chapter of which was devoted to biochemistry. Thus, like the earlier book, it will be valuable to students in both undergraduate or graduate history of science or history of chemistry courses as well as t o practicing chemists interested in the history of their subject. Like the earlier hook too, with its appealing narrative style and its sacrifice of detail for the sake of brevity, it will appeal ~rimarilyto the beginner and the generalist rather than to the specialist. Unlike the earlier work, however, it contains an extensive list of primary and secondary reference sources (37 pp) a t the hackafthe book, dating from ancient treatises through works published as late as 1971, which extends its usefulness to serious scholars. The hook constitutes a broad work of synthesis in which the author masterfully fashions his copious data into aunified, fascinating story. Dr. Leicester's emphasis throughout is on relationships between concepts, attitudes, and ideas rather than on isolated facts per se, although the hook does contain numerous curious and little known facts along with mare familiar tales. He recognizes that through the centuries the most basic biochemical concept is that life results from a balance of interacting forces. Dr. Leicester thus underscores the recurring parallelism hetween different systems and theories, e.g., the four elements; the four humors; Yin and Yang; sulfur, mercury, and salt, among others, attesting to the truth of the French proverb, "Plus $a change, plus e'est la meme ehose."The result is avast but compressed panoramic canvas filled with brief descriptions of the major and minor contributions of hundreds of characters, some well known and some obscure (The 6-page index of proper names contains well over 500 mtries!). The first seven chapters--roughly onethird of the book-survey concepts from :lassical Greece, the Hellenistic period, Chinese, Indian, and Arabic thought, the early A466 / Journal of Chemical Education
middle ages, and the medieval period. The author considers the modem science of hiochemistry to begin with Paracelsus, and he devotes entire chapter t o this contradictory character and his iatrochemical theories and practices. Three chapters bring us to the early 19th century,and the remainder ofthe hook deals with developments of the 19th and 20th centuries. Quotations from many of the classics of science grace the pages. Although the approach is largely chronological, the later chapters are also topical, with separate chapters devoted to pneumatic chemistry, vitalism, digestion and assimilation, enzymes and cell constituents, energy production and biological oxidations, intermediary metabolism, vitamins, and hormones. The text even mentions the discovery of DNA and ather recent events. In numerous instances illustrations would have added t o t h e utility of the volume, e.g., Albertus Magnus' anatomical drawings described on p. 12; yet only one marginal line drawing (the poorly drawn Tai Chi or YinYangon p. 45) is included in the hook. The excessive number of errors proved annoying t o this Virgo reviewer (I counted a t least 55), hut most of them are either typographical or misspellings that are easily detected. These, however, are hut minor shortcomings in an otherwise useful text that is warmly recommended. George 8. Kauffman California State University. FIsSnO Fresno. California 93740
Chemlslry of Macromolecules. MTP International Revlew of SClenCe. Blochemlstry Serles One, Volume I Edited by H. Gutfreund. Butterworths, London, University Park Press, Baltimore, 1974.411 pp. Figs. and tables. 24 X 16 cm. $19.50. This volume, the first in a series of twelve, is edited by Dr. H. Gutfreund and is an effort to summarize the approaches employed in studies of macromolecules and the results obtained from these approaches. The primary focus of this volume appears to be the relationship of structure (chemical and physical) to function with strong emphasis on the chemistry and biophysics. The volume is heavily weighted towards protein chemistry (8 out of 10 articles). Nevertheless, the various papers cover a hroad range of topics and "resent an interestine overview of a number of important areas. The topics covered include: the relation of primary structure of proteins to evolution, the three dimensional structure of proteins, the subunit structure and symmetry of protein assembly, the conformation and physic4 properties of polypeptide and nucleic acid chains in solution, the chemical modification of and the reactivity of amino acids in proteins, the reactivities of functional groups in metalloproteins, equilibria and kinetics of protein-ligand interactions, the protein chemistry of regulatary phenomena, physical characterization of the size and shape of mncromolecules in solution, and the functions of proteins as devices. (Continued on page A468)
book reviews Overall. the various artielesare well witten end timely in that they cover topics which. at present, are not understood in depth. The individual articles are not overly concerned with the various techniques used hut rather with typesof approaches and the results of these approaches from which our present level of undentandine is derived. Moreover.. the emphasis is not on the ramifications of the bidogical activity of the macromolecules hut on the molecules themselves. The authors have attempted in many cases to philosophize about strategies and goals in elucidating particular problems. As with any publication of this type, the volume suffers from beine somewhat out of date a t publication (the liierature is covered through 1972) and omitting several areas of potential significance such as nmr studies (this is acknowledged by the editor). This reviewer found the chapter on the relationship of protein primary structure to evolution excellent in that i t covered the material well and discussed in detail possible interpretations of available data. The chapter on chemical modification presents an excellent overview without getting hogged down in details and discusses the usefulness and limitations of the various strategies. The chapter on the pratein-ligand interactions presents very lucidly an important but often misunderstood area. The final chapter on proteins as devices gives a general overview on oroteins. In this reviewer's opinion, "Chemistry of Macromolecules" is a useful addition t o the library of macromolecular chemists and biochemists as an overview and will be of considerable use a9 a reference work to those people on the periphery of macromolecular chemistry or interested in obtaining a general knowledge of the "state of the art" in this area. ~
~
.~
~~~~~~~
Michael A. Cusanovlch University of Arizona Tucson, Arizona 85721
istry and applications in the areas of environmental and physical sciences. The discussions on the fundamentals of all the major topics tend t o be rather hrief, simple and to the point. However, a student wishing to go into further detail is blessed with excellent chapter-end bibliographies. For example 133 and 250 cited and annotated references are contained a t the end of two different chapters. With this much cited material. the book mieht well he used hv ~, sume as a wferenre hwk stressing the "whrre u,findit,"a~wellns"thchowtuduit,"in the nuclear sciences. The chapters on liquid scintillation counting (chapter 9). solid state detectors (chapter 6) and nuclear instrumentation (chapter 4) are especially well organized and clearly written. The allocation of space in the book leaves much to be desired. The many half-page, commercially supplied photos of equipment (one complete with a female model!) do not add to the quality of the book. For example, the space equivalent of six pages is devoted to photos and electrical schematics of three commercial liauid scintillation counters. In adairion the reader is suh~ectedto 13 t! p~rnl gnmma-rag spectra from a NahTI) detector and 18 very small, barely readable, figures of monthly concentrations of radionuclides in air to illustrate the results of atmospheric bomb testing. The development of a more sophisticated presentation of the fundamentals or the introduction of other applications such as Mossbauer spectroscopy in place of these repetitive examples would have resulted in a more useful book with no increase in length. There are a small group of problems associated with each chapter, same with answers. The format makes for easy reading, the text is relatively free of misprints and an excellent subject index provides easy access to the material. .~ On the whole this book isa welromeaddi. tion ta, the f d d ofnuclenr science educatiun. I t fills the exlstinggnp hetween w x ~ *trrssing r nuclear physics-&d those meant for th; technician. This reviewer feels a good job has been done to fulfill the need. L. 8. Church Reed College Ponlend. Oregon 97202
Radiotracer Methodology In the Blologlcal, Environmental and Physlcal Sclences
C. H. Wong, D.L. Willis, and W. D. Loueland, Oregon State University, PrenticeHall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1975. xv + 480 pp. 23.5 X 16 em. $19.95. This bwk is primarily a text book intended for lab-oriented chemistry and biology courses utilizing rsdianuelides. I t should prove especially valuable in those nuclear chemistry courses which strive to place the emphasis on chemistry rather than physics. The length and level of sophistication lend it to the one semester, upper division, undergraduate courses. This is e rather complete rewrite of the 1965 edition of "Radioisotooe Methodoloev ~-, in Hiological Science" hy Wang and Willis. As is obvious from the change in titles, the current edition places more emphasis on the physical aspects of nuclear science; for example new chapters appear on nuclear solid state detectors, nuclear instrumentation, counting statistics, nuclear analytical chem~
.
-.. -.- ..- . ..- .....-- - ... -..,--.A468 / Journal of Chemical Educatlm
~
MTP lnternatlonal Revlew of Sclence-
Inorganic Chemistry. Serles Two Edited by H. J. Ernelius, University of Cambridge. Butterworth & Co., London and University Park Press, Baltimore, 1975. Ten volumes. 16 X 24 cur. $37.50 per volume. The reouhlication of the entire "MTP Inrernntional Hevirw of Science-lncqnnic Chemidtry" i* planned to occur every tuo yenrs. Each birnnial edition cmsistr r,f reVIPWS intended to keep inorganic chemists aunre ofdeve.opmen~sthat have taken place in the preced~nginterval. In spite of the LmpressiGe size of ihe work not alielements have been reviewed in each of the two existing (Continued on page A470)
