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Aquatic chemistry. Interfacial and interspecies processes
which provides a timely survey of the field. In the opening chapter Matt Suffness gives an overview of the topic including the problems of supply of material from the yew tree. There is an account of the current state of clinical trials, but all the other chapters concentrate on various chemical aspects of the subject. There are six chapters on structure activity relationships by Kingston, Georg, Ojima and others; an account of the use of photoaffinity labelling to study the interaction of taxol with microtubules by Susan Horwitz and her group; a review of the semi-synthesis of taxol and taxotere from the Potier group; and accounts of the two completed total syntheses of taxol by Holton and Nicolaou, as well as surveys of the synthetic work by Paquette and Wender. Reviews of taxol metabolism, formulation and biosynthesis are also included. This book is an excellent account of the topic which will be essential reading for all those interested in taxol. l?R. Jenkins
Bioremediation Through Rhizosphere Technology. Edited by Todd A. Anderson and Joel R. Coats. Pp. 249. American Chemical Society f54.00. ISBN 0 8423 2942 2. This symposium volume of invited papers summarizes biological ways to accelerate detoxification of soil pollutants. The special environment generated around the roots of plants enhances the effectiveness of microorganisms for degrading or mineralizing chemical wastes; phytoremediative action can be improved further by additives that maintain the optimum pH or redox status in the soil. Two introductory chapters describe the specialized role of the soil/root interface. A following section tells of the complex and varied interactions operating between the plant, its micro-organism associates and pollutants such as phenolics, surfactants and pesticides. Differences in root exudates, root cell wall composition, soil type, the bacterial species or attendant mycorrhizal fungi can all determine success or failure of the rhizosphere detoxification process. One section deals specifically with waste industrial chemicals and the results of laboratory, greenhouse and on-site trials with chosen plant/micro-organism communities. Another considers biochemical conversions of particular herbicides such as propanil and the functions of glutathione-S-transferases and glutathione conjugates, and the value of adding composts or certain chemical additives. This knowledge provides an impetus for new biological clean-up procedures and draws together current work on this highly specialized topic. The book is not a ‘good read’ nor does it present easy solutions. But land pollution is a reality, and if this publication encourages more scientific effort directed to bioremedial studies in the
174
soil environment, then the editors and their many contributors will have achieved their goal. Daphne J. Osborne
Aquatic Chemistry. Interfacial and interspecies Processes. Edited by Chin Pao Huang, Charles R. O’Melia and James J. Morgan. Pp. 412. American Chemical Society US$124.95. ISBN 0 8412 2921 X. This volume is based on the proceedings of an ACS symposium held in 1992 to honour Werner Stumm, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the evolution of aquatic chemistry. The editors have selected carefully from more than 50 initial paper and poster presentations to produce 19 chapters, primarily by American or Swiss authors. As a result, the book provides an excellent insight into the current ‘state of the art’ in aquatic chemistry, and is to be recommended to academic and other researchers in this field. The interpretation of aquatic chemistry is broad, and in places appropriate interdisciplinary approaches have been used. Indeed, some chapters deserve a broader audience, being also of interest to microbiologists and environmental scientists interested in the fate of heavy metals or organic pollutant degradation. The research themes covered concentrate especially on transport and transformations of chemicals in aquatic systems, but extend into the realms of desirable waste-processing procedures and environmental management. Overall the production standard is excellent, and the work is well-indexed and referenced. It provides a praiseworthy account both of the subject area and of Stumm’s impressive contribution to its development. Malcolm Cresser
Quantification and the Quest for Medical Certainty. By J. Rosser Matthews. Pp. 195. Princeton University Press, 1995. lJS$39.50. ISBN 0 691 03794 9. This book aims to locate the development of the clinical trial in the context of the increasing use of comparative statistics in a therapeutic context by medical men, mathematicians and statisticians in France, Germany and Britain between the lateeighteenth and twentieth centuries. The account is, however, disappointing. Leaving aside the problematic ‘birth’ and ‘revolution’ metaphors which pervade the work, and the echoes of hero-worshipping which it displays, the author seems not to have been encouraged to locate the heroes he selects in the context of the societies and cultures in which they lived. Neither does
he explore the extent to which statistical issues were temporally and culturally bound. Even the issue of what it means to be ‘quantitative’, a pivotal theme of the book, is not analysed in any depth. More worrying is the unexplained assumption that the use of comparative statistics was the central issue in the construction of the clinical trial. This uncritical stance leads the author to overlook other crucial issues involved in the making of the clinical trial. Nevertheless, the book does make a contribution to the history of the use of statistics in medicine. The section on Major Greenwood, in particular, contains valuable new information about his career and correspondence with Raymond Pearl and Karl Pearson. D. C. i? Cox-Maksimov
Food Microbiology. By M. R. Adams and M.O. Moss. Pp. 398. The Royal Society of Chemistry, 1995. f22.50. ISBN 0 85404 509 0. As a microbiologist I am amazed that we seem to be in an epidemic of food poisoning which started in the 1980s. It is curious, therefore, that we have never, as this book by Adams and Moss shows, known more about the microbiology of foods. The authors have produced a comprehensive and absorbing book designed to appeal most to microbiologists and food scientists but very accessible to the general reader who will find sections of the work fascinating reading. In early chapters the scene is set by briefly reviewing microbes and their habitats and the way they grow. A short section describes the new science of predictive microbiology. Food preservation and the microbiology of primary foodstuffs follow. A large section of the book considers public health and the microbiology of the commonest food pathogens. There is only one page dealing with spongiform encephalopathies, the most notorious of which is ‘mad cow disease’. The last part of the book includes an account of fermented foods where microbes are employed gainfully in producing fundamental products like bread, wine, beer, cheese, etc. The book is readable and clearly written and fills a niche that has been vacant for the last 10 years or so. I thoroughly recommend it. J. W Z Wimpenny
Thomas Gray in Copenhagen. In Which the Philosopher Cat Meets the Ghost of Hans Christian Andersen. By Philip J. Davis. Pp. 192. Springer- Verlag, 1995. Hardback DM 24.00. ISBN 0 387 94493 1. The author of this light-hearted fantasy is Emeritus Professor of Applied Mathematics at Brown University. It is a sequel to his
Bioremediation Through Rhizosphere Technology. Edited by Todd A. Anderson and Joel R. Coats. Pp. 249. American Chemical Society f54.00. ISBN 0 8423 2942 2. This symposium volume of invited papers summarizes biological ways to accelerate detoxification of soil pollutants. The special environment generated around the roots of plants enhances the effectiveness of microorganisms for degrading or mineralizing chemical wastes; phytoremediative action can be improved further by additives that maintain the optimum pH or redox status in the soil. Two introductory chapters describe the specialized role of the soil/root interface. A following section tells of the complex and varied interactions operating between the plant, its micro-organism associates and pollutants such as phenolics, surfactants and pesticides. Differences in root exudates, root cell wall composition, soil type, the bacterial species or attendant mycorrhizal fungi can all determine success or failure of the rhizosphere detoxification process. One section deals specifically with waste industrial chemicals and the results of laboratory, greenhouse and on-site trials with chosen plant/micro-organism communities. Another considers biochemical conversions of particular herbicides such as propanil and the functions of glutathione-S-transferases and glutathione conjugates, and the value of adding composts or certain chemical additives. This knowledge provides an impetus for new biological clean-up procedures and draws together current work on this highly specialized topic. The book is not a ‘good read’ nor does it present easy solutions. But land pollution is a reality, and if this publication encourages more scientific effort directed to bioremedial studies in the
174
soil environment, then the editors and their many contributors will have achieved their goal. Daphne J. Osborne
Aquatic Chemistry. Interfacial and interspecies Processes. Edited by Chin Pao Huang, Charles R. O’Melia and James J. Morgan. Pp. 412. American Chemical Society US$124.95. ISBN 0 8412 2921 X. This volume is based on the proceedings of an ACS symposium held in 1992 to honour Werner Stumm, in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the evolution of aquatic chemistry. The editors have selected carefully from more than 50 initial paper and poster presentations to produce 19 chapters, primarily by American or Swiss authors. As a result, the book provides an excellent insight into the current ‘state of the art’ in aquatic chemistry, and is to be recommended to academic and other researchers in this field. The interpretation of aquatic chemistry is broad, and in places appropriate interdisciplinary approaches have been used. Indeed, some chapters deserve a broader audience, being also of interest to microbiologists and environmental scientists interested in the fate of heavy metals or organic pollutant degradation. The research themes covered concentrate especially on transport and transformations of chemicals in aquatic systems, but extend into the realms of desirable waste-processing procedures and environmental management. Overall the production standard is excellent, and the work is well-indexed and referenced. It provides a praiseworthy account both of the subject area and of Stumm’s impressive contribution to its development. Malcolm Cresser
Quantification and the Quest for Medical Certainty. By J. Rosser Matthews. Pp. 195. Princeton University Press, 1995. lJS$39.50. ISBN 0 691 03794 9. This book aims to locate the development of the clinical trial in the context of the increasing use of comparative statistics in a therapeutic context by medical men, mathematicians and statisticians in France, Germany and Britain between the lateeighteenth and twentieth centuries. The account is, however, disappointing. Leaving aside the problematic ‘birth’ and ‘revolution’ metaphors which pervade the work, and the echoes of hero-worshipping which it displays, the author seems not to have been encouraged to locate the heroes he selects in the context of the societies and cultures in which they lived. Neither does
he explore the extent to which statistical issues were temporally and culturally bound. Even the issue of what it means to be ‘quantitative’, a pivotal theme of the book, is not analysed in any depth. More worrying is the unexplained assumption that the use of comparative statistics was the central issue in the construction of the clinical trial. This uncritical stance leads the author to overlook other crucial issues involved in the making of the clinical trial. Nevertheless, the book does make a contribution to the history of the use of statistics in medicine. The section on Major Greenwood, in particular, contains valuable new information about his career and correspondence with Raymond Pearl and Karl Pearson. D. C. i? Cox-Maksimov
Food Microbiology. By M. R. Adams and M.O. Moss. Pp. 398. The Royal Society of Chemistry, 1995. f22.50. ISBN 0 85404 509 0. As a microbiologist I am amazed that we seem to be in an epidemic of food poisoning which started in the 1980s. It is curious, therefore, that we have never, as this book by Adams and Moss shows, known more about the microbiology of foods. The authors have produced a comprehensive and absorbing book designed to appeal most to microbiologists and food scientists but very accessible to the general reader who will find sections of the work fascinating reading. In early chapters the scene is set by briefly reviewing microbes and their habitats and the way they grow. A short section describes the new science of predictive microbiology. Food preservation and the microbiology of primary foodstuffs follow. A large section of the book considers public health and the microbiology of the commonest food pathogens. There is only one page dealing with spongiform encephalopathies, the most notorious of which is ‘mad cow disease’. The last part of the book includes an account of fermented foods where microbes are employed gainfully in producing fundamental products like bread, wine, beer, cheese, etc. The book is readable and clearly written and fills a niche that has been vacant for the last 10 years or so. I thoroughly recommend it. J. W Z Wimpenny
Thomas Gray in Copenhagen. In Which the Philosopher Cat Meets the Ghost of Hans Christian Andersen. By Philip J. Davis. Pp. 192. Springer- Verlag, 1995. Hardback DM 24.00. ISBN 0 387 94493 1. The author of this light-hearted fantasy is Emeritus Professor of Applied Mathematics at Brown University. It is a sequel to his