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 As with any publication of this type, the volume suffers from beine somewhat out of date a t publication (the liierature is covered through 1972) and omitting several areas of potential significance such as nmr studies (this is acknowledged by the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. ~
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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~
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-.. -.- ..- . ..- .....-- - ... -..,--.A468 / Journal of Chemical Educatlm
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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)
