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Biochemistry Illustrated (Being an illustrated summary of the subject for medical and other students of biochemistry)
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Longman Illustrated Science Dictionary by A Godman. pp 256. Longman-York Press. 1981. £2.95. ISBN 0 - 5 8 2 - 5 5 6 4 5 - 7 This little dictionary is well illustrated in colour and contains about 2000 definitions covering all branches of science. The main sections are physics, chemistry, biology, geology and health. In addition there is an Index. To look up the meaning of a given word it is necessary to find it in the Index and then go to the page given. The word, and words related to it, are defined on that page, along with pictures and cross-references. For example if you look up DNA, you find on the same page 'nucleotide', 'RNA', 'helix', and on the next page 'gene', 'haploid', 'homozygous', and so on. There is a danger of oversimplification: thus under DNA, we are told, 'DNA only occurs in the nuclei of ceils', but the rest of the definition is sensible. The level is fairly low. Useful for school revision, for tllose with little biological background starting biochemistry and related courses, and for nursing and nutrition students to look up basic chemistry. SI units and IUPAC chemical nomenclature are used.
Biochemistry Illustrated (Being an illustrated summary of the subject for medical and other students of biochemistry) by Peter N Campbell and A n t h o n y D Smith. pp 225. Churchill Livingstone. 1982. £7.50. ISBN 0 - 4 4 3 - 0 2 1 7 6 - 7 There are, of course, several comprehensive text books of biochemistry that are well supported by good coloured illustrations. Biochemistry Illustrated, by Peter Campbell and Tony Smith, of the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry in London, has a different approach. It is a collection of illustrations, with accompanying notes that span the whole subject in relatively little space. The figures, in black and red, together with the explanatory notes, are set out to the right of each page while the left-hand margin provides bold headings and simple statements of fact. Overall the format is admirably clear: the authors have been well served by their artist, Sue Harris, their designers and their Hong Kong printers. The scope is broad and the organization of the material follows very traditional lines. There are sections on structures of amino acids, peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, coenzymes, carbohydrates and lipids. Metabolism gets a large share of the s p a c e - a b o u t 40% of the text. Nucleic acid and protein biosynthesis are given a full exposure (40 pages) and, in the reviewer's opinion, formed the most interesting part of the book. This was perhaps because it successfully managed a logical development beginning with very simple concepts and ending with an outline of the principles of recombinant DNA methodology. What is the place for such a book in the teaching of biochemistry? The authors suggest that it may have several roles. First as a succinct summary of the subject that might stimulate students to read more deeply in the larger texts. Secondly, for teachers in developing countries who might make use of the diagrams, and thirdly as a source book for those on the periphery of academic biochemistry, such as school teachers or physicians. The authors do not suggest that this 200-page volume can supplant the major text books for the first year student in medicine or science. It could do so only if it were tightly coupled to a lecture course. My guess is that students who buy it may find its main value as a useful revision text to reinforce and to aid understanding of knowledge that has been gained from other sources. Certainly teachers will find much that is useful among the illustrations and biochemists at all levels will learn something new from it. It would be easy for any reviewer to nit-pick. Occasionally one feels that some concepts needed no figure, eg the whiskered rodent (p 2) illustrating the 'whole animal', or the white male representing the human species (p 122), thereby scoring a gratuitous black mark from feminists, especially of the third
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 10(3) 1982
world. At the other extreme, the inevitably complex threedimensional representation of the structure of a dehydrogenase probably deserves a much more detailed commentary. About a hundred of the figures have been taken or redrawn from other sources (all duly acknowledged) but the majority are original. This occasionally makes for a degree of unevenness in style of illustration that would have been avoided if all the figures had been planned by the authors. The depth of coverage is also a little variable - very detailed, for example, on prostaglandin synthesis or in listing the effect of antibiotics on protein biosynthesis, yet omitting reference to core oligosaccharide, dolichol phosphate or tunicamycin when discussing the synthesis of glycoproteins. But, such criticisms apart, the authors are to be congratulated on what is a novel venture. It deserves success and the appearance of future editions will give them the chance to prune and graft where necessary. John Kenny
Bioorganic Chemistry: A Chemical Approach to Enzyme Action by H Dugas and C Penney. pp 508. Springer-Verlag, BerlinHeidelberg-New York. 198 I. $34.70/DM 59. ISBN 3 - 5 4 0 - 9 0 4 9 1 - 3 This is, without doubt, a book worth having on the shelves of a biochemistry departmental library. Its strength lies, as its title implies, with the chemical aspects of a number of discrete biochemical topics. As the authors point out in their preface, it was not their intention to cover all aspects of bioorganic chemistry but instead to deal in considerable detail with the mode of action of enzymes and cofactors. In addition to these in-depth treatments, they also take into account the fundamental chemistry of the amino acids, the purines and the pyrimidines discussing the ways in which these can be used in the chemical synthesis of proteins and polynucleotides. In these days when we seem to have a surfeit of good quality general biochemistry textbooks, the publication of such a specialist work is to be welcomed particularly when, as in the case of this text, it is well written and makes compelling reading. The way in which 1 would envisage an undergraduate biochemistry student benefiting from this text would be for them to carefully select sections which clarify and extend their course material in biochemistry rather than attempting to read the text from cover to cover. The exemplars used to illustrate the chemical generalizations are largely drawn from a biochemical context and as such the student would have fewer problems relating to the material. As might have been predicted from a book of this type, the chemistry is sound and extremely specific whilst the biochemical facts are much less so and tend to be somewhat more general and less up to date. An example of this is on page 140 where the authors state that 'Unlike DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase has a complicated subunit structure'. These are, however, only very minor limitations and, as was stressed earlier, the true strength of the book lies in supporting, extending and exemplifying the chemical principles which underpin the molecular events occurring in biochemistry. For the lecturer too, there is a veritable wealth of useful summarized information in bioorganic chemistry which, because of the vast literature in the field, can often be overlooked. In this respect, I was interested in the account of the production and use of chiral [3A60,170,1So] ATP for studying the reaction mechanisms of the kinases, with the sections on complexation chemistry and metal ions being equally enlightening. The book is lavishly illustrated, well-organized and enjoyable to read and is highly recommended for use by biochemical staff and students alike. Charles F A Bryce
Department o f Molecular and Life Sciences Dundee College o f Technology Dundee, UK
Longman Illustrated Science Dictionary by A Godman. pp 256. Longman-York Press. 1981. £2.95. ISBN 0 - 5 8 2 - 5 5 6 4 5 - 7 This little dictionary is well illustrated in colour and contains about 2000 definitions covering all branches of science. The main sections are physics, chemistry, biology, geology and health. In addition there is an Index. To look up the meaning of a given word it is necessary to find it in the Index and then go to the page given. The word, and words related to it, are defined on that page, along with pictures and cross-references. For example if you look up DNA, you find on the same page 'nucleotide', 'RNA', 'helix', and on the next page 'gene', 'haploid', 'homozygous', and so on. There is a danger of oversimplification: thus under DNA, we are told, 'DNA only occurs in the nuclei of ceils', but the rest of the definition is sensible. The level is fairly low. Useful for school revision, for tllose with little biological background starting biochemistry and related courses, and for nursing and nutrition students to look up basic chemistry. SI units and IUPAC chemical nomenclature are used.
Biochemistry Illustrated (Being an illustrated summary of the subject for medical and other students of biochemistry) by Peter N Campbell and A n t h o n y D Smith. pp 225. Churchill Livingstone. 1982. £7.50. ISBN 0 - 4 4 3 - 0 2 1 7 6 - 7 There are, of course, several comprehensive text books of biochemistry that are well supported by good coloured illustrations. Biochemistry Illustrated, by Peter Campbell and Tony Smith, of the Courtauld Institute of Biochemistry in London, has a different approach. It is a collection of illustrations, with accompanying notes that span the whole subject in relatively little space. The figures, in black and red, together with the explanatory notes, are set out to the right of each page while the left-hand margin provides bold headings and simple statements of fact. Overall the format is admirably clear: the authors have been well served by their artist, Sue Harris, their designers and their Hong Kong printers. The scope is broad and the organization of the material follows very traditional lines. There are sections on structures of amino acids, peptides, proteins, nucleic acids, coenzymes, carbohydrates and lipids. Metabolism gets a large share of the s p a c e - a b o u t 40% of the text. Nucleic acid and protein biosynthesis are given a full exposure (40 pages) and, in the reviewer's opinion, formed the most interesting part of the book. This was perhaps because it successfully managed a logical development beginning with very simple concepts and ending with an outline of the principles of recombinant DNA methodology. What is the place for such a book in the teaching of biochemistry? The authors suggest that it may have several roles. First as a succinct summary of the subject that might stimulate students to read more deeply in the larger texts. Secondly, for teachers in developing countries who might make use of the diagrams, and thirdly as a source book for those on the periphery of academic biochemistry, such as school teachers or physicians. The authors do not suggest that this 200-page volume can supplant the major text books for the first year student in medicine or science. It could do so only if it were tightly coupled to a lecture course. My guess is that students who buy it may find its main value as a useful revision text to reinforce and to aid understanding of knowledge that has been gained from other sources. Certainly teachers will find much that is useful among the illustrations and biochemists at all levels will learn something new from it. It would be easy for any reviewer to nit-pick. Occasionally one feels that some concepts needed no figure, eg the whiskered rodent (p 2) illustrating the 'whole animal', or the white male representing the human species (p 122), thereby scoring a gratuitous black mark from feminists, especially of the third
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 10(3) 1982
world. At the other extreme, the inevitably complex threedimensional representation of the structure of a dehydrogenase probably deserves a much more detailed commentary. About a hundred of the figures have been taken or redrawn from other sources (all duly acknowledged) but the majority are original. This occasionally makes for a degree of unevenness in style of illustration that would have been avoided if all the figures had been planned by the authors. The depth of coverage is also a little variable - very detailed, for example, on prostaglandin synthesis or in listing the effect of antibiotics on protein biosynthesis, yet omitting reference to core oligosaccharide, dolichol phosphate or tunicamycin when discussing the synthesis of glycoproteins. But, such criticisms apart, the authors are to be congratulated on what is a novel venture. It deserves success and the appearance of future editions will give them the chance to prune and graft where necessary. John Kenny
Bioorganic Chemistry: A Chemical Approach to Enzyme Action by H Dugas and C Penney. pp 508. Springer-Verlag, BerlinHeidelberg-New York. 198 I. $34.70/DM 59. ISBN 3 - 5 4 0 - 9 0 4 9 1 - 3 This is, without doubt, a book worth having on the shelves of a biochemistry departmental library. Its strength lies, as its title implies, with the chemical aspects of a number of discrete biochemical topics. As the authors point out in their preface, it was not their intention to cover all aspects of bioorganic chemistry but instead to deal in considerable detail with the mode of action of enzymes and cofactors. In addition to these in-depth treatments, they also take into account the fundamental chemistry of the amino acids, the purines and the pyrimidines discussing the ways in which these can be used in the chemical synthesis of proteins and polynucleotides. In these days when we seem to have a surfeit of good quality general biochemistry textbooks, the publication of such a specialist work is to be welcomed particularly when, as in the case of this text, it is well written and makes compelling reading. The way in which 1 would envisage an undergraduate biochemistry student benefiting from this text would be for them to carefully select sections which clarify and extend their course material in biochemistry rather than attempting to read the text from cover to cover. The exemplars used to illustrate the chemical generalizations are largely drawn from a biochemical context and as such the student would have fewer problems relating to the material. As might have been predicted from a book of this type, the chemistry is sound and extremely specific whilst the biochemical facts are much less so and tend to be somewhat more general and less up to date. An example of this is on page 140 where the authors state that 'Unlike DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase has a complicated subunit structure'. These are, however, only very minor limitations and, as was stressed earlier, the true strength of the book lies in supporting, extending and exemplifying the chemical principles which underpin the molecular events occurring in biochemistry. For the lecturer too, there is a veritable wealth of useful summarized information in bioorganic chemistry which, because of the vast literature in the field, can often be overlooked. In this respect, I was interested in the account of the production and use of chiral [3A60,170,1So] ATP for studying the reaction mechanisms of the kinases, with the sections on complexation chemistry and metal ions being equally enlightening. The book is lavishly illustrated, well-organized and enjoyable to read and is highly recommended for use by biochemical staff and students alike. Charles F A Bryce
Department o f Molecular and Life Sciences Dundee College o f Technology Dundee, UK