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Cellular antioxidant defense mechanisms
Free Radical Biology & Medicine, Vol. 7, pp. 109-110, 1989 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved.
0891-5849/89 $3.00 + .00 © 1989 Pergamon Press plc
Book Review CELLULAR ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE MECHANISMS Volume I, 222 pp., 1988. Price: $1 39.00 US, $165.00 Outside US
CELLULAR ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE MECHANISMS Volume II, 250 pp., 1988. Price: $139.00 US, $165.00 Outside US
CELLULAR ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE MECHANISMS Volume III, 252 pp., 1988. Price: $130.00 US, $155.00 Outside US CHING K. CHow, EDITOR CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida, 1988. Reviewed by William A. Pryor
Biodynamics Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-1800, USA
This three volume series presents, as do many of the new books by publishers like the CRC Press, a dilemma. On the one hand, the book is sharply directed to a narrow area and has well-known experts in that area as authors. The individual chapters are very short, sharply focused, and, in this 3-volume set, are so numerous that they cover the field extremely thoroughly. Thus, it is difficult to resist purchasing books like these, because they provide an extremely useful literature search, if nothing else, and perhaps fresh insights into the field as well. The difficulty is that these books are really outrageously expensive; the three volume series under review here costs nearly $400.00 for roughly 800 pages of science. I also feel one large book would have been more convenient than three shorter volumes. Except for this de rigueurl de r~gle, comment about price, these three books are very useful indeed. Professor Chow has done a good job of outlining the field and inviting leading authors to contribute. Each of the authors, in chapters that run from 10 to 20 pages in length and include on the average about 100 references per chapter, provides a review of a specialized area of free radical biology. Some of the chapters often have the tone of a "Methods in Enzymology" chapter; that is, practical and applied and with an emphasis on techniques. Other chapters are more general reviews of the field of particular interest of the author. Examples of chapters of the "Methods" type include those by Sawyer et al. on the generation of reactive dioxygen species, and by Rosen and his collaborators on spin trapping. Examples
of chapters that cover a mini area in a more expansive style include those by Dillard and Tappal on lipid peroxidation, Reddy et al. on vitamin E and selenium in the arachidonic acid cascade, Ward et al. on phagocytes and tissue injury, antioxidant proteins by Gutteridge and Halliwell, proteolytic enzymes by Davies, lipid peroxidation in membranes by Sevanian, relationships between vitamin C and vitamin E by Niki, DT diaphorase by Hochstein, Atallah and Ernster, aging by Porta, oxidative damage and respiratory diseases by Hoidal and Kennedy, connective tissue diseases by Emerit, inflammation by Grisham and Jones, as well as many other outstanding chapters. These three volumes include a total of 37 chapters by over 50 authors, many among the best known names in their respective fields. As such, it is impossible to review each of the chapters or even list all of their titles. The very variety of the chapters however, insures that the interest of virtually every worker in the field is represented by one or more chapters in this compendium. Although the books were published in 1988, the most recent references for which page citations are given seems to be 1986. Clearly, this series of books, with its large number of chapters by a variety of authors, suffered from problems that are endemic to books of this type. Authors that deliver their chapters late hold up the publication of chapters written months (or even years) before. Thus, the literature citations, particularly for the early-written chapters, can be quite dated. With the limitations of high price and somewhat 109
110
Book Review
outdated references taken into account, these volumes nevertheless can be recommended to those in the field. Many workers will find chapters in these books that
will provide practical and welcome assistance in performing literature searches or grasping a particular group's point of view in a mini-area of their specialty.
0891-5849/89 $3.00 + .00 © 1989 Pergamon Press plc
Book Review CELLULAR ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE MECHANISMS Volume I, 222 pp., 1988. Price: $1 39.00 US, $165.00 Outside US
CELLULAR ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE MECHANISMS Volume II, 250 pp., 1988. Price: $139.00 US, $165.00 Outside US
CELLULAR ANTIOXIDANT DEFENSE MECHANISMS Volume III, 252 pp., 1988. Price: $130.00 US, $155.00 Outside US CHING K. CHow, EDITOR CRC Press, Inc., Boca Raton, Florida, 1988. Reviewed by William A. Pryor
Biodynamics Institute, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803-1800, USA
This three volume series presents, as do many of the new books by publishers like the CRC Press, a dilemma. On the one hand, the book is sharply directed to a narrow area and has well-known experts in that area as authors. The individual chapters are very short, sharply focused, and, in this 3-volume set, are so numerous that they cover the field extremely thoroughly. Thus, it is difficult to resist purchasing books like these, because they provide an extremely useful literature search, if nothing else, and perhaps fresh insights into the field as well. The difficulty is that these books are really outrageously expensive; the three volume series under review here costs nearly $400.00 for roughly 800 pages of science. I also feel one large book would have been more convenient than three shorter volumes. Except for this de rigueurl de r~gle, comment about price, these three books are very useful indeed. Professor Chow has done a good job of outlining the field and inviting leading authors to contribute. Each of the authors, in chapters that run from 10 to 20 pages in length and include on the average about 100 references per chapter, provides a review of a specialized area of free radical biology. Some of the chapters often have the tone of a "Methods in Enzymology" chapter; that is, practical and applied and with an emphasis on techniques. Other chapters are more general reviews of the field of particular interest of the author. Examples of chapters of the "Methods" type include those by Sawyer et al. on the generation of reactive dioxygen species, and by Rosen and his collaborators on spin trapping. Examples
of chapters that cover a mini area in a more expansive style include those by Dillard and Tappal on lipid peroxidation, Reddy et al. on vitamin E and selenium in the arachidonic acid cascade, Ward et al. on phagocytes and tissue injury, antioxidant proteins by Gutteridge and Halliwell, proteolytic enzymes by Davies, lipid peroxidation in membranes by Sevanian, relationships between vitamin C and vitamin E by Niki, DT diaphorase by Hochstein, Atallah and Ernster, aging by Porta, oxidative damage and respiratory diseases by Hoidal and Kennedy, connective tissue diseases by Emerit, inflammation by Grisham and Jones, as well as many other outstanding chapters. These three volumes include a total of 37 chapters by over 50 authors, many among the best known names in their respective fields. As such, it is impossible to review each of the chapters or even list all of their titles. The very variety of the chapters however, insures that the interest of virtually every worker in the field is represented by one or more chapters in this compendium. Although the books were published in 1988, the most recent references for which page citations are given seems to be 1986. Clearly, this series of books, with its large number of chapters by a variety of authors, suffered from problems that are endemic to books of this type. Authors that deliver their chapters late hold up the publication of chapters written months (or even years) before. Thus, the literature citations, particularly for the early-written chapters, can be quite dated. With the limitations of high price and somewhat 109
110
Book Review
outdated references taken into account, these volumes nevertheless can be recommended to those in the field. Many workers will find chapters in these books that
will provide practical and welcome assistance in performing literature searches or grasping a particular group's point of view in a mini-area of their specialty.