version of the hook is a useful text for introductory biochemistry, partienlady for sludents with a physial science baekeround.
book reviews Editor: W. F. KIEFFER College of Woosler Wooster, Ohio
ROBERTS A. SMITH University of Califomin Los Angela
Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry Biochemistry: A Brief Course
Abraham Mamr and Benjamin Harroul, both of City University of New York. W. B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, 1968. 445 pp. Figs. and tables. 16 X 24cm. $9.
One is pleasantly surprised an reading this lstest edition of a book which mrny in the field will recognize has been around through several prior versions. The letest edition appears to he a. completely new hook and cannot even he compared with the previous offerings by these authors. It seems geared to the changing audience for introduct,ory biochemistry and lacks much of the more descript,ive physiological chemist,ry oft,en found in larger works. This book appears admirably snited t,o t,he sophomore or jnnior with some backponnd in organic chemistry. The aothors have present,ed intradrmtory biochemistry in a sequence which fits uuefully following int,roductory organic chemistry since it, allows an inst,rnctor a logical progression from purely organic chemistry t,o the chemistry of molecules of biological importance and finally to t,he chemistry of metabolic processes. An important step in this sequence is the introduction early (Chapter 1) in the book of the grass anatomy of a cell which is highly wefnl for students with a physical science background. All too often introductory biochemistry text h o o k neglect to focus the students at,tent,ion to t,he fact that the science has developed as a result of man's attempt t,o nnderst,and the mysteries of cellolar stnlct,we and fnnction. Mazur and Harrow have, however, started their book with a discussion of cellular organization which
should help orient the student with s. purely chemical background. The hook moves on to the chemistry of proteins and emphasizes the properties of proteins which are pnrely a part of their being large molecules. The student is left with no doubt about the higher orders of structure of proteins although the difference between secondary and tertiary structure of proteins is not clearly spelled out,. A logical follow up to the discnssion of protein structure is a discussion of biological catalysis which is treated a t s n adequately introductory level. Following these chapters the hook moves on to a. discussion of the chemistry and structure of nucleie acids and this together with the chapters on nuoleic acid metabolism and protein synthesis make an excellent unit. The student is exposed to enough basic nucleic acid chemistry hefore the discussion of nucleic acid function so that again he can gain an appreciation of properties of nncleic acids which result from their size and particular stroct u r d features. The chapter on hiological oxidation which incidently includes hiological energy generation and transfer, precedes the d e tailed discussion of carbohydrate chemistry and metaholism. I t is logically presented and gives a, good stepping off point for intermediary metabolism. It was the authors' choice to present met* halic regulatory mechanisms in the chapter dealing with lipid metabolism. I t is this reviewer's conviction that these important concepts should be included with the discussion of the metabolic pathwsys more often considered as part of the energy process. As is often the case with new hooks, this one is not free from error missed inproafing. Most of these will easily he caught by students, none in our use of the book have caused serious concern. All in all this
-Reviewed in this lssue Abraham Mazur and Benjamin Harrow, Biochemistry: A Brief Course Ernest Baldwin, Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry
J. W. Richards, Interpretation of Technical Data Ruth A. Walker and Helen Johnston, The Language of Chemistry. Reading, Writing, and Understanding Equations Ocorqs W . IV~irzfart,Pyrotechnics
548
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Journal o f Chemical Education
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Ernest Baldwin, University College in the University of London. 5t,h ed. University Printing House, Cambridge, 466 pp. Figs. October 1967. xiv and tables. 16 X 23.5 cm. $9.50.
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"Dynamic Aspects of Biochemistry" was first published twenty-one years ago. The latest edition, the fifth, is a n exemplary t,ext-hook for the serious young student of biology who seeks a. concise treatment of the chemical basis for metabolic pathways. As in the previous editions, the hook consists of two parts, Enzymes and Metaholism. The first three chapters deal with the nature of enzymatic catalysis and biological energetics. The succeeding five chapters in this section treat the general types of enzymes, namely the hydralases, transferases, lyases and isamerases, oxidases, and dehydrogenase systems. I n this section, Professor Baldwin has used good judgment with the difficult matter of enzyme nomenclature, using acceptable trivial nomenclature along with synonyms when required. As in the previous editions, the section on metabolism begins with a chapter on biochemical methodology. The sueceeding parts deal successively with the metnbo h m of the amino acids, nucleatides, carbohydrates, and fats. Included in the second part of the hook also is a omprehensive discussion of the eitrate cycle with emphesis on its relevance to energy produetion in aerobic systems. One major deletion in the current edition is the c h a p ter an Special Aspects of Nitrogen Metahalism, which treated such metaholifes as quaternary nitrogencompounds, theimidsi zole bases, and taurine. Discussion of these compounds has been incorporated into the other chapters. Unfortunately, the lstest edition, like the Fourth, has no bibliography. The major revisions in the letest edition are the treatment of onecarbon metabolism, t,he nucleatides and nucleic acids, and lipid metabolism. One minor error in the discussions of tetrahydrafolate derivatives on page 109 is the assignment of the CH, of methyl-tetrshydrofolie acid to the number 10 N rather than to the number 5 N. There is also the incorrect implicatiqn that betaines can be derived in mammalian systems from glycine by successive methylations of glycine. The new section on the relationshi~sbetween nucleic acids and protein synthesis, although only six pages (Continued on page A620)
