Out of their minds

amino acid every 14.5 million years. In 1969 Kiiura proposed that the ‘molecular evolutionarv unit’ should be termed the ‘pauling’. The’ biography divides the lifespan-of Pauling into nine periods, beginning with his ancestry and chiidhood (1901-13), and his secondary and college education (1913-22). As a graduate student at Caltech (1922-25), his talent became apparent and, after a period in Europe (192627), he was appointed to the chemistry faculty at Caltech. His X-ray studies led him to the Pauling rules for the sharing of coordination polyhedra in ionic crystals (1928), and he developed the quantum mechanical ‘valence-bond’ treatment of molecular structure, involving the ‘hybridization’ of atomic orbitals (193 1). From the mid-1930s Pauling investigated the physico-chemical properties of haemoglobins and the structure of proteins. The direct X-ray determination of protein structure was not then feasible, but the structures of the individual amino acid units and their peptide dimers were accessible. Pauling used structural data for the peptides to construct models of the ordered secondary structures of the polypeptides, stabilized by hydrogen bonding between adjacent peptide chains. His model-building method came to fruition in 1950 with Pauling’s discovery of two ordered protein conformations, the rodlike alpha-helix and the pleated beta-sheet, both later confirmed by X-ray studies. During the 1950s Pauling led a general concern with the global genetic effects of radioactive fallout. He collected the signatures of 11 021 scientists from 49 countries, including 216 Soviet Academicians, to a petition calling for an end to atomic-bomb testing, presented to the United Nations in 1958. The petition contributed to a general political movement, culminating with the atmospheric test-ban treaty in 1963. Pauling’s role was recognized by his Nobel Peace Prize in 1963, greeted in the IJSA with the headline, ‘Weird Insult from Norway’. Pauling was edged out of his tenured chair at Caltech in 1964. Thereafter he promoted the therapeutic virtues of vitamin C for the common cold, then cancer and a range of other maladies. On retiring from Stanford, he founded, with a group of egregious and occasionally-contentious coworkers, the Pauling Institute (1973-94), from which little noteworthy emerged. The biography ends with eight interpretations of Pauling’s replies to an ink-blot test. Only one expert perceives that Pauling was simply joking. Stephen F. Mason

Virtual Environments and Advanced Interface Design. Edited by W. Barfield and T.A. Furness III. Pp. 580. Oxford University Press, 1995. EBN 0 79 507555 2. Virtual environments, or more commonly virtual reality, is a field of scientific investi-

gation that has received popular attention over the last ten years. It involves the advanced interfacing of humans and computers to provide the human participant with a more natural and intuitive way of understanding, communicating and interacting with symbolic data. The field integrates contributions from psychology, engineering and computer science. In a similar manner this publication is a contribution from a number of investigators (26 in all) at the forefront of a wide area of research. The 14 chapters, sectioned into three parts, represent a comprehensive text for those wishing to gain a fuller understanding of the psychological and technological issues involved in virtual environment research. However, it is not aimed at the novice who may have come across virtual reality through the popular media but more as a teaching text for graduate students. The chapters are well researched and on the whole well written, although one or two lack explanatory figures or tables where they might have been helpful. However, this is made up for in other chapters, which contain an ample supply capable of satisfying the data-hungry. All chapters have a comprehensive list of references and notes, with one containing nearly 300 references. Part I is an introduction to virtual environments with the opening chapter by the editors. Part II, by far the bulkiest, contains nine chapters under the heading of Virtual Environments Technologies. This covers aspects such as modeling, input devices, and displays for realizing sensory data generated by the computer. It also includes technologies for realizing auditory, tactile and kinesthetic information. Part III discusses issues on the integration of the various technologies, namely the cognitive and psychological states of the participant and their sense of inclusion within the environment. The organization and the content of this book make it a sound contribution to those in the VR community. However, I feel it would be far more popular with students at a more affordable price. M. Usoh

Out of Their Minds. By D. Shasha and C. Lazere. Pp. 291. Copernicus, 7995. ISBN 0 387 97992 1. This volume is essentially a nostalgic trip through the key events in the history of the computer and fifteen of its scientists. The reading is easy going, and more complex concepts are explained with clever analogies, for example that an algorithm may be understood merely as a procedure akin to following a cooking recipe such as for lasagne. It presents a friendly introduction to the informed lay reader but is also of value to the academic researcher with an interest in the background to the phenomenal increase in computer technology.

The book is divided into chapters dealing chronologically with the founding fathers of computer science. There is good biographical background to the individual’s academic career interspersed with extracts from entertaining interviews conducted by the authors. What makes this publication less of a scientific treatise and more of a recreational read is the thoughtful way in which the character of the individual researcher and the magnitude of their contribution is allowed to emerge. In-depth analysis of their methods is omitted in favour of more general explanations, which are put into the context of a science that was still in its infancy. This publication does not pretend to be a standard text for those requiring a theoretical analysis of these scientists’ work, but concentrates instead on documenting the ideas and influences of the past which shape the state of computer science today. Most of the scientists come from backgrounds other than computing. This presents a welcome encouragement to those from other sciences seeking innovative ways of developing computing which reflects their academic bias. A must for the scientific historian. M. Usoh

Understanding Medications: What the Label Doesn’t Tell You. By A. Burger. Pp. 206. American Chemical Society, 1995. ISBN 0 84 12 32105. In a world where words increasingly no longer have precise meanings it is perhaps little wonder that Alfred Burger chose to entitle this volume ‘Understanding Medications’. The title ‘Understanding Drugs’ might well have been misunderstood by the public and by the body politic. Semantics aside, Dr Burger took his task to be that of providing an intelligible and intelligent primer on the history, contemporary and future development and the underlying biochemical basis of drug action. There can scarcely be anyone better prepared for this task than Alfred Burger, Professor Emeritus at the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, with a distinguished career in medicinal research, teaching, writing and editing including co-founding the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. To achieve his goal of providing this intelligible primer, Dr Burger provides a guided tour from prerecorded history, to Chinese medicine, later European developments and current drugs to the ongoing and vital search for antiviral agents and the use of computers in drug design. He concludes with some speculations on future directions and the increasing need for greater emphasis on scientific education. In 206 pages, 21 slim chapters, a glossary and an index has Dr Burger achieved his goal? In large part - yes. The prose is clear, the examples useful, the explanations not

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