reviews Chemical lnformation Management Wendy Warr and Claus Suhr. Weinheim: VCH, 1992. xix + 261 PP. I t is symptomatic of the rapidly evolving world of chemical information that every couple of years a new primer appears, attempting to summarize and explain it, and predict where it might be going. While this new survey, like other recent ones, attempts to be bath comprehensive and up-to-date, the nature of the subject makes both unfeasible. Nevertheless, the authors do a n adequate job of presenting the complex matrix of chemical information to a n audience that should include industry specialists, researchers, librarians, and managers. Many guides have already discussed the traditional, paperbased literature of chemistry, so the authors wisely dispense with journals, conferences, handbooks, reviews, and indexing services in a mere 42 pages. They then devote nearly half of the text to a wide-ranging summary of information technology and its applications to the chemical sciences: online databases of bibliographic, structural, thermodynamic, crystallographic, and spectral data, substructure search systems, information management software, expert systems, hardware, and other computer-related topics. Since these technolasies are now a t the forefront of chemical information handling, i i i s appropriate that a book like this should focus its attention on them. Understanding the very complex world of patents is also crucial to modern chemical research, and the fmal third of the text is given aver to a discussion of their nature, format, and retrieval. The emphasis is on international patent conventions (such as EPO and WIPO) and their corresponding databases, rather than U S . patents. This bwk covers a lot of gmund quickly, meaning that no one source of information or retrieval tool gets more than a brief mention. I t should also be understood t h a t new oroducts and develooments. oarticularlv in the online and sofkare fields.~,rendered ~~, ,~~ ~, pnna ofthia summary out ofdntc almost hrforr it was published. Stlll, the lnfarmatwn presented makes 1hl.i uvenrieu a very helpful guide to haveon)oursheit', whethwyou'rean information s p c cialist or a researcher who only occasionally has to look beyond the conventional journal ~
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use the same orbital philosophy. Carefully worked out solutions, including a large number of hand-drawn diagrams, are provided for all questions and problems.
Cultivating and Processing of Medicinal Plants L. Hornok Editor. Wiley: New York, NY, 1992. xi + 338 pp. Figs. and tables. 17.5 x 24.6 cm. $19.95.
This b w k is aimed a t those involved in cultivation and processing of medicinal plants, the userr of herhs, nnd proplr inrcresied in nnturol sciences. The term -medicinal plants" 1s a hrmd definition including containing - species . - aromatic and flavorine substanre* and essentral otls usrd in t h r kirrhcn. perfumery and ru~metics,and modern therapy and rrad~rionalherboi remedws. P a n I deals with the scwntlfic and technnlngical tu - bockwound the cultivation and processing (drying, steam distillation, packaging, and storage) of such plants, venturing into the areas of genetics, phytochemistry, botany, h o r t i c u l t u r e , a n d chemical engineering, among others. The second part of the b w k contains monographs on 37 medicinal plant species, mostly European or Mediterranean species, giving comprehensive details of their histow, .. uses. active inmedients. botanical characteristics.. mowth req u i r e m e i t s , c u l t i v a t i o n m e t h o d s , protection from p e s t s , hawesting and prwessing. Part I11 (which contains 24 species) includes those medicinal plant species that are cultivated mostly on a small scale i n temperate zones, and those tropical and subtropical plant species that are not suitable for cultivation in temperate zones. but whose eonsum~tionis sirmifieant in Europe. The book is primarily a practical manual.
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David Flaxbart University of Texas at Austin Austin, TX 78712
Titles of Interest Problems in Molecular Orbital Theory Thomas A. Albrightand Jeremy K Burden. Oxford University Press: New York, NY, 1992. vi + 285 pp. Figs. and tables. 16.6 x 23.6 cm. $19.95 PB.
T h s i s a supplementary prohlems hook in the field of molecular orbnal theory deslq~edfur a course m advanced morganrc, physlcnl organw, and group theory The cxamples presented come from organic, inorganic, organometallie, and solid state chemistry and
The Molecular Vision of Life: Caltech, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology Lily E. Kay Oxford University Press: New York, NY, 1993. x + 304 pp. 16.3 x 24.6 cm. $49.95
This studv examines the rise of American molecular bialoev -" to disciplinary dominance, focusing on the period between 1930 and the elucidation of DNA structure i n the mid 1950's. The author shows that the growth of molecular biology was a result of systematic efforts by key scientists and their sponsors to direct the development of biological research toward a shared vision of science and sacietv. s h e analvzes the motivations and meehanisins empowennl: this visron by focusing on two key insrltutions. Caltech and lu: sponsor, the Rockefeller Foundmion. Hrr study explores a number of topics, among them the role of private power centers in shaping scientific agenda, and the political dimensions of "pure" research. I t also advances the argument that the mgnitive and social groundwork for genetic engineering and human genome projects was laid by the American architects of molecular biology during these early decades of the project.
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Reviewed in This Issue Reviewer
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Wendy Warrand Claus Suhr, Chemical lnformation Management Titles of lnterest
David Flaxbalt
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Volume 70 Number 6 June 1993
A171
