- Email: [email protected]
Elementary calculations in biochemistry and physiology
496
BOOK
REVIEWS
still very much alive and thriving, being used to good advantage for a wide variety of separations. Followed by an introduction into the history and theory of paper chromatography, the authors present a detailed description of the various techniques in use and also dwell on the quantitative aspects of the procedure. The chapters should provide useful information not only to the novice, but also to the expert, delving into a particular problem, These first four sections are followed by ten chapters dealing with specific subjects, covering techniques and separations for the following classes of compounds: Amines, amino acids, peptides, and proteins; carbohydrates; aliphatic acids; steroids, bile acids, and cardiac glycosides; purines, pyrimidines, and related compounds; indoles, phenols, and aromatic acids; naturally occurring pigments; pesticides; antibiotics and vitamins; miscellaneous organic compounds; and inorganic analysis. Each chapter covers significant references from the literature, some as recent as the middle of 1970, which are listed at the end of each section. A complete author and subject index appears at the end of the volume. The vast experience of the authors enabled them to select some of the most significant and effective methods for separations in a given problem. The necessary procedures are described in sufficient detail. This should make it unnecessary for the reader to have to refer to the original article. The various separations obtainable, including Rf values, are often conveniently presented in table form. This handsome book should prove indispensible to anyone working with paper chromatographic separations. ERNEST G. WOLLISH, 443 Essex Avenue
Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003 Elementary Calculations in Biochemistry and Physiology. By J. A. BARCLAY K. WHITE. Churchill, London (Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, exclusive U.S. agents) viii -I- 88 pp, $6.25. 1969. AND
Although this handbook in elementary calculations is intended to assist new students and ex-students with a better grasp of numerical calculations, it should have a wide appeal for all laboratory scientists who routinely observe, record, and evaluate data. The 12 chapters of the text, Measures of Composition, Systeme Internationale d’UnitCs, Numerical Accuracy, Errors of Observation, pH Scale, Equilibrium Constants, Electrode Measurements, Calibration Curves, Osmotic Phenomena, Respiration, Circulation and Work, Electrolyte and Water Balance, and NonCalculations, all contain clear and concise discussions of the respective topics and include excellent examples of practical applications of the methods of calculation. Chapter 3, “Numerical Accuracy,” should be required reading for all who record data, to remind us that, “No greater accuracy is possible than is allowed by the least accurate value involved.” The availability of digital calculators and, moreover, of digital computers capable of handling numbers from 1079 to 10-r” makes it ever more painful to part with illusory information, a process which the slide rule does painlessly for us. Chapter 4, contains a succinct discussion explaining with example, why the square root of the mean of deviations squared is a more desirable parameter of the best estimate of the error of observation rather than the arithmetic mean.
BOOK
497
REVIEWS
Misunderstandings, which do exist, when pH and hydrogen ion concentrations are compared should be cleared when chapter 5, pH Scale is studied. Non-Calculations, the topic of the concluding chapter is indeed apropos. This discussion draws attention to situations where a numerical solution to a problem is impossible because essential data are not included or the quantitative data are misleading. The book is quite free of errors, only one being detected where a year is reported in two locations, as 21.6Ms rather than 31.6Ms. K. D.
FLEISCHER,
Sterling
Winthrop Research Institute, Rensselaer, New York 12144
Biochemical Experiments. By G. BRUENING, R. GRIDDLE, J. PREISS, AND F. RUDERT. Wiley (Interscience), New York, 1970. iii + 314 pp. Paper bound. $7.95. The book under review constitutes a laboratory manual designed for instruction of undergraduate and graduate students. It sets out to guide the student in leaming the fundamental principles of biochemistry and the basic techniques involved through experiments covering the breath of biochemistry. The topics covered are photometric methods for protein determination, buffers and titrations, enzyme preparations, electrophoresis of proteins in polyacrylamide gels, terminal amino acids in proteins, synthesis of lipids in plants, radioisotopes in biochemistry, base ratios of yeast RNA, preparation and properties of thymus DNA, and electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation. The experiments which involve chemical and enzymatic analyses are performed by calorimetric, electrometric, electrophoretic, chromatographic, radioisotopic, viscometric, and respirometric techniques. Each chapter corresponds to one laboratory experiment; it is subdivided into an introduction, problems, references, an experimental section, questions with answers in the appendix and procedures with materials. The pages are perforated so that the student may hand in the notebook with answers to the questions on the experimental work. Throughout the book the wealth of recent information is fairly critically presented, and a guide to much of the older work is provided by the references. The book is planned to do a job and will prove of inestimable value to the user and should go a long way in introducing the student to the fascinating field of biochemistry. GEORGE WIENER,
Pfizer, Inc., Brooklyn,
New York
11206
Laboratory Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Volume 2. Edited by T. S. WORK AND E. WORK. Amer. Elsevier, New York, 1970. v + 400 pp. $24.00. This book is the second of a projected series of publications on laboratory techniques. The first volume contains articles on “Electrophoresis of Proteins in Polyacrylamide and Starch Gels,” “An Introduction to Gel Chromatography,” and “Immunochemical Techniques for the Identification and Estimation of Macromolecules.” The second volume contains sections on “Automated Enzyme Assays” and “Cellulosic Ion-Exchangers.”
BOOK
REVIEWS
still very much alive and thriving, being used to good advantage for a wide variety of separations. Followed by an introduction into the history and theory of paper chromatography, the authors present a detailed description of the various techniques in use and also dwell on the quantitative aspects of the procedure. The chapters should provide useful information not only to the novice, but also to the expert, delving into a particular problem, These first four sections are followed by ten chapters dealing with specific subjects, covering techniques and separations for the following classes of compounds: Amines, amino acids, peptides, and proteins; carbohydrates; aliphatic acids; steroids, bile acids, and cardiac glycosides; purines, pyrimidines, and related compounds; indoles, phenols, and aromatic acids; naturally occurring pigments; pesticides; antibiotics and vitamins; miscellaneous organic compounds; and inorganic analysis. Each chapter covers significant references from the literature, some as recent as the middle of 1970, which are listed at the end of each section. A complete author and subject index appears at the end of the volume. The vast experience of the authors enabled them to select some of the most significant and effective methods for separations in a given problem. The necessary procedures are described in sufficient detail. This should make it unnecessary for the reader to have to refer to the original article. The various separations obtainable, including Rf values, are often conveniently presented in table form. This handsome book should prove indispensible to anyone working with paper chromatographic separations. ERNEST G. WOLLISH, 443 Essex Avenue
Bloomfield, New Jersey 07003 Elementary Calculations in Biochemistry and Physiology. By J. A. BARCLAY K. WHITE. Churchill, London (Williams and Wilkins, Baltimore, exclusive U.S. agents) viii -I- 88 pp, $6.25. 1969. AND
Although this handbook in elementary calculations is intended to assist new students and ex-students with a better grasp of numerical calculations, it should have a wide appeal for all laboratory scientists who routinely observe, record, and evaluate data. The 12 chapters of the text, Measures of Composition, Systeme Internationale d’UnitCs, Numerical Accuracy, Errors of Observation, pH Scale, Equilibrium Constants, Electrode Measurements, Calibration Curves, Osmotic Phenomena, Respiration, Circulation and Work, Electrolyte and Water Balance, and NonCalculations, all contain clear and concise discussions of the respective topics and include excellent examples of practical applications of the methods of calculation. Chapter 3, “Numerical Accuracy,” should be required reading for all who record data, to remind us that, “No greater accuracy is possible than is allowed by the least accurate value involved.” The availability of digital calculators and, moreover, of digital computers capable of handling numbers from 1079 to 10-r” makes it ever more painful to part with illusory information, a process which the slide rule does painlessly for us. Chapter 4, contains a succinct discussion explaining with example, why the square root of the mean of deviations squared is a more desirable parameter of the best estimate of the error of observation rather than the arithmetic mean.
BOOK
497
REVIEWS
Misunderstandings, which do exist, when pH and hydrogen ion concentrations are compared should be cleared when chapter 5, pH Scale is studied. Non-Calculations, the topic of the concluding chapter is indeed apropos. This discussion draws attention to situations where a numerical solution to a problem is impossible because essential data are not included or the quantitative data are misleading. The book is quite free of errors, only one being detected where a year is reported in two locations, as 21.6Ms rather than 31.6Ms. K. D.
FLEISCHER,
Sterling
Winthrop Research Institute, Rensselaer, New York 12144
Biochemical Experiments. By G. BRUENING, R. GRIDDLE, J. PREISS, AND F. RUDERT. Wiley (Interscience), New York, 1970. iii + 314 pp. Paper bound. $7.95. The book under review constitutes a laboratory manual designed for instruction of undergraduate and graduate students. It sets out to guide the student in leaming the fundamental principles of biochemistry and the basic techniques involved through experiments covering the breath of biochemistry. The topics covered are photometric methods for protein determination, buffers and titrations, enzyme preparations, electrophoresis of proteins in polyacrylamide gels, terminal amino acids in proteins, synthesis of lipids in plants, radioisotopes in biochemistry, base ratios of yeast RNA, preparation and properties of thymus DNA, and electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation. The experiments which involve chemical and enzymatic analyses are performed by calorimetric, electrometric, electrophoretic, chromatographic, radioisotopic, viscometric, and respirometric techniques. Each chapter corresponds to one laboratory experiment; it is subdivided into an introduction, problems, references, an experimental section, questions with answers in the appendix and procedures with materials. The pages are perforated so that the student may hand in the notebook with answers to the questions on the experimental work. Throughout the book the wealth of recent information is fairly critically presented, and a guide to much of the older work is provided by the references. The book is planned to do a job and will prove of inestimable value to the user and should go a long way in introducing the student to the fascinating field of biochemistry. GEORGE WIENER,
Pfizer, Inc., Brooklyn,
New York
11206
Laboratory Techniques in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. Volume 2. Edited by T. S. WORK AND E. WORK. Amer. Elsevier, New York, 1970. v + 400 pp. $24.00. This book is the second of a projected series of publications on laboratory techniques. The first volume contains articles on “Electrophoresis of Proteins in Polyacrylamide and Starch Gels,” “An Introduction to Gel Chromatography,” and “Immunochemical Techniques for the Identification and Estimation of Macromolecules.” The second volume contains sections on “Automated Enzyme Assays” and “Cellulosic Ion-Exchangers.”