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)
