- Email: [email protected]
Protein Biosynthesis
188 between Open Universiteit, Netherlands, and Thames Polytechnic, UK. This is the second book which focuses on cells in the series. Its concern is with basic aspects of the cell biology of prokaryotes and eukaryotes (animal and plant) but includes molecular aspects although in a summary and applied fashion. The companion book dealt more specifically and in more detail with molecular aspects of cells. Frequent reference is made to this latter book and to another (Principles of Cell Energetics) in the same series. Although the book is written with potential biotechnologists in mind (those interested in learning, or required to learn, about the biological basis of techniques now in use to replace or enhance traditional chemical ones), its contents could also be of value in a variety of basic biology courses which emphasize applied biology. The authors (listed on page vi and more specifically in the Contents page) are: C K Leach (who wrote the first chapter, that on the architecture of prokaryotic cells), G D Weston (who wrote the next six chapters, on organization of eukaryotic cells, membranes, the cytoskeleton and the plant cell wall, chloroplasts and mitochondria, the nucleus and organization and expression of genetic material, and protein synthesis and the genetic code, respectively), and J Sampson (who wrote the last two chapters, on cell growth and division, and from single cells to multicellular organisms, respectively). Leach and Weston are associated with Leicester Polytechnic and Sampson with the University of Leicester, both in the UK. The text is brief and mainly descriptive or expository of current knowledge or understanding on the chapter topics. Occasionally, the process by which the knowledge or understanding presented has been derived is also indicated. The biochemical topics frequently contain errors in spelling, terminology and molecular structure, or incomplete stoichiometry in reactions, while the Krebs (spelt Kreb's throughout) cycle represented contains succinate as a precursor of succinyl CoA. These weaknesses are unfortunate, since the design and intent of the text is basically sound. Two strategies are employed to encourage self-instruction. These are, firstly, thinking or activity questions (from 1 to 11 per chapter) indicated by an 'open-door-to-learning' symbol, with answers that follow directly in the text, and secondly, selfassessment questions (SAQs, from 7 to 14 per chapter) which involve calculation, tabulation of information or comparison, interpretation of laboratory results, labeling of parts of a diagram, identification of true or false statements, or fill-in-theblank type of activities. Answers to the SAQs are presented at the end of the book. An interesting feature is the presence of key words or phrases in the left hand margin of the text near where they first occur or are described. In the absence of a glossary of terms, these represent a useful summary of the vocabulary or concepts presented on each page. The diagrams are mostly black-and-white line drawings. They are numerous, clear and instructive. Unfortunately, about a quarter of them need attention (mostly for spelling errors or incomplete reaction stoichiometry). A brief summary and learning objectives (in behavioral terms) follow each chapter. There are no bibliography or literature references. The value of a book for self instruction depends largely on the accuracy, clarity and lack of ambiguity of all of its contents (text, self-instruction strategies, illustrations, answers to SAQs in this case). These are frequently guaranteed by very close proofreading and by similar quality checking by independent and knowledgeable readers. The former should have detected the large number of spelling errors and the instances of poor grammar. The latter should have detected several ambiguities and inconsistencies which can confuse the serious users of this book. Both would have enhanced appreciably the value of the book for its intended users. F Vella
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 20(3) 1992
Microcomputers Approach
in
Biochemistry:
A
Practical
E d i t e d by C F A Bryce. pp 307. I R L Press at O x f o r d University Press. 1992. £19.50 ISBN 0-19-963252-9 This is the fourth book in the Practical Approach Series that deals with computer applications in the life sciences, and the wealth of contents indicates that there is, indeed, a great deal of activity in this area, from Computer Assisted Learning to sequence storage and access. The present book has nine chapters by a total of 11 authors and gives a very good overview of the state of microcomputing in biochemistry. Whether it really gives a 'practical approach' is doubtful for the reason that it is doubtful whether one can specify recipes in computing in the same way that one can in preparative and analytical techniques. Chapter 1, 'Productivity tools in biochemistry' gives a very useful overview of such things as spreadsheets, statistics programs and graphics programs, as well as warnings about viruses. Chapter 2 is on 'Programming languages' and here again gives a succinct overview of the most popular (at present) microcomputer languages. It then goes on to describe authoring languages. Chapter 3 is on 'Enzyme Reactions' but is actually more about molecular modelling in the early part. It then goes on to fitting kinetic data and non-linear regressions. At the end of this chapter there are about 34 pages of program listings. I was somewhat surprised to see this: I had thought that all now agreed that to type in such listings was rarely error-free and that the best thing was for people to exchange diskettes. Chapter 4 is a very valuable account of nucleic acid and protein sequence management and will, I would have thought, be extremely useful to new postgraduate students. Similarly, Chapter 5, on computer-assisted recombinant D N A design and analysis will prove very valuable in many research laboratories. Chapters 6 and 7 deal with the analysis of one- and twodimensional electrophoretic patterns. This is a difficult area because the majority of people are stuck with the tools supplied by commercial manufacturers, and on the whole do not know what their tools, and especially the programs, do. It is important for light to be thrown on these processes. Chapter 8 is on Expert Systems and would be a good introduction to this area which can only become more important. The final chapter describes networking as applied to the global e-mail networks for example. Here again, a helpful, brief account is available for new users such as postgraduates. I can see 'Microcomputers in Biochemistry' becoming extremely valuable especially, as I have said, to new postgraduates, and to novices to this business. It is not a book in which to look up specific recipes but rather a place to find out briefly how many of the computing 'tools' used in biochemistry departments might be used, or indeed of exactly what they are. The editor has done a good job in selecting knowledgeable chapter authors who for the most part have good writing styles. E J Wood
Protein Biosynthesis by H R V A r n s t e i n and R A Cox. pp 112. I R L Press at O x f o r d University Press, Oxford. 1992. £6.50 ISBN 0-19-963040-2 Proteins play a central role in the structure and function of every living cell. The mechanisms by which different members of the twenty proteogenic amino acids are joined together in an orderly and specific sequence to form a particular functional polypeptide on the basis of information present in the cell's genetic
189 programme are now quite well understood, the major groups of players having been delineated and in some cases described in some detail. This little book in the In Focus series provides a concise but frequently information-dense outline of some of the major actors in the process. The major part of the book deals with the charging of tRNA by aminoacyl tRNA synthetases, ribosome structure (specifically of E coli), the ribosome cycle and translation of the genetic message, and protein folding and post-translational modifications of polypeptide chains. Also reviewed briefly are targeting and translocation of proteins, and translational control of gene expression. There is a glossary and an index (which I would have liked to be longer). The chapters are well organised and each ends with a list of publications for further reading, and references to work cited in the text. The numerous illustrations are colorful, clear and instructive. Students who are majoring in biochemistry and graduate students working in the area of protein biosynthesis should find the book a useful overview of the fundamentals and a pointer to some recent developments. F Vella
The Connoisseur's Guide to the Mind How We Think and How We Learn and What it Means to be Intelligent
came upon a word or phrase related to the mental processes about which I wanted to learn what Schank has to say. This approach often made me backtrack for the evidence, in the gourmet sections, that was the substrate for the author's analysis of some aspect of the topic of mind, thinking, learning and intelligence. The book contains a good index in which - - apart from the headings 'Bordeaux', 'restaurants', and 'wine' and the numerous page references included under them - - most headings are connected with mental processes or characteristics. Because of this, I could have approached the book backwards, by reading only those bits I was directed to by the page references in the headings I had selected. Not only would this have been rather tedious, but it would have made me ignore the evidence for Schank's statements or conclusions about the mental activities involved. As a scientist, this simply would not do for me. In writing the above, I find myself analyzing my own thought processes which were engaged, or elicited, by my problem of writing about this book. After all, each one of us has only one mind that we can submit to analysis (our own), and this is what Schank does in his book. One other thing I found myself doing. I went to a lot of effort to analyze and make sense of a lot of things I am not particularly interested in so as to learn about those things I am interested in. There are lessons here for all educators, aspiring connoisseurs of good food and wine, or simply of biochemical education. F Vella
by R C Schank. pp 272. S u m m i t B o o k s , NY. 1991 ISBN 0-671-67855-8 Imagine an author (holder of three professorships concurrently - - in Computer Science, in Psychology and in Education - - at the same prestigious American university) who has already published almost a dozen books and many more articles on artificial intelligence, learning and creativity and who simply loves to analyze and explore the mental processes he employs in thinking, learning and remembering. Imagine also that he considers himself (nay, is) a connoisseur of food and wine and has had numerous opportunities to travel to many interesting places where he could indulge himself in these pleasures. Now imagine further that this author brings these interests and pleasures together in a gala celebration of good food, good wine and thinking about how he learned about good food and good wine. Now stop imagining, because you have formed an idea of this book and of what it is all about. Although I like good food and good wine (and who doesn't?) I cannot be called an expert judge of either. However, I am interested in the mind and of necessity in how we think, how we learn and in what constitutes intelligence. I am also interested in the teaching/learning process and in applying what I have learned about thinking, learning and intelligence (because my objective is to encourage or develop these in my students) to my teaching activities. This is why I read (I should really write studied) this book and very rewarding I found it. Whether Schank explores the association of expectations with knowledge in the thinking process, or scripts and scenes and storytelling as a part of the memory and recall process, or the connection between these (or many other topics) to the teaching/learning process, he expresses himself clearly, directly and interestingly. I started to read this book in the usual way, that is, right from the beginning (after I had, of course, read all that was put on the dust cover, including four very laudatory quotes from persons I have good reason to trust) and plodded methodically page after page. I soon found myself in a seeming morass of information about restaurants, good wine, friends of the author, adventures he had in many restaurants in many p l a c e s . . , material that I was not specifically interested in. Occasionally, I found myself skimming (or even skipping) the gourmet parts of a chapter till I BIOCHEMICAL
EDUCATION
20(3) 1992
Biochemical Journal Reviews E d i t e d by W H Evans. pp 241. P o r t l a n d Press, L o n d o n . 1992. £12.50 ISBN 1-85578-020-8 This is a collection of the reviews (15 of them) published over the course of a year in the Biochemical Journal. It provides a valuable teaching aid at a reasonable cost over quite a wide range of biochemistry and molecular biology. Many of the diagrams are now enhanced by the skilful use of a second colour, and a few of the articles have colour plates of molecular structures. The papers are divided broadly into subject areas, eg Gene Structure and Expression (5 reviews), Cell Biology and Development (3 reviews), Proteins (4 reviews), Membranes and Bioenergetics (1 review) and Regulation of Metabolism (2 reviews). There is no index, but there is a list of reviews previously published in the BJ 1988-1990. In the present volume the pages are re-numbered from the originals. Areas covered include pulmonary surfactant proteins, adenovirus oncoproteins, protein-DNA recognition, transcription factors, regulation of gene expression by insulin, glycosylation mutants and protein transport, dioxin toxicity, interaction of ribosomes and cytoskeleton, muscle contraction, blood coagulation and the complement system, caidesmon, ras proteins, magnetic resonance of membranes, regulation of muscle protein turnover and control of heart ATP synthesis.
Seven Decisions When Teaching Students by D Bligh, D J a q u e s and D W Piper. pp 281 + bibliography and index. E x e t e r University T e a c h i n g Services, D e v o n , U K . 1981. ISBN 0-905314-04-2 The teaching of post-secondary students, if motivated by genuine interest in promotion of learning and the acquisition of
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 20(3) 1992
Microcomputers Approach
in
Biochemistry:
A
Practical
E d i t e d by C F A Bryce. pp 307. I R L Press at O x f o r d University Press. 1992. £19.50 ISBN 0-19-963252-9 This is the fourth book in the Practical Approach Series that deals with computer applications in the life sciences, and the wealth of contents indicates that there is, indeed, a great deal of activity in this area, from Computer Assisted Learning to sequence storage and access. The present book has nine chapters by a total of 11 authors and gives a very good overview of the state of microcomputing in biochemistry. Whether it really gives a 'practical approach' is doubtful for the reason that it is doubtful whether one can specify recipes in computing in the same way that one can in preparative and analytical techniques. Chapter 1, 'Productivity tools in biochemistry' gives a very useful overview of such things as spreadsheets, statistics programs and graphics programs, as well as warnings about viruses. Chapter 2 is on 'Programming languages' and here again gives a succinct overview of the most popular (at present) microcomputer languages. It then goes on to describe authoring languages. Chapter 3 is on 'Enzyme Reactions' but is actually more about molecular modelling in the early part. It then goes on to fitting kinetic data and non-linear regressions. At the end of this chapter there are about 34 pages of program listings. I was somewhat surprised to see this: I had thought that all now agreed that to type in such listings was rarely error-free and that the best thing was for people to exchange diskettes. Chapter 4 is a very valuable account of nucleic acid and protein sequence management and will, I would have thought, be extremely useful to new postgraduate students. Similarly, Chapter 5, on computer-assisted recombinant D N A design and analysis will prove very valuable in many research laboratories. Chapters 6 and 7 deal with the analysis of one- and twodimensional electrophoretic patterns. This is a difficult area because the majority of people are stuck with the tools supplied by commercial manufacturers, and on the whole do not know what their tools, and especially the programs, do. It is important for light to be thrown on these processes. Chapter 8 is on Expert Systems and would be a good introduction to this area which can only become more important. The final chapter describes networking as applied to the global e-mail networks for example. Here again, a helpful, brief account is available for new users such as postgraduates. I can see 'Microcomputers in Biochemistry' becoming extremely valuable especially, as I have said, to new postgraduates, and to novices to this business. It is not a book in which to look up specific recipes but rather a place to find out briefly how many of the computing 'tools' used in biochemistry departments might be used, or indeed of exactly what they are. The editor has done a good job in selecting knowledgeable chapter authors who for the most part have good writing styles. E J Wood
Protein Biosynthesis by H R V A r n s t e i n and R A Cox. pp 112. I R L Press at O x f o r d University Press, Oxford. 1992. £6.50 ISBN 0-19-963040-2 Proteins play a central role in the structure and function of every living cell. The mechanisms by which different members of the twenty proteogenic amino acids are joined together in an orderly and specific sequence to form a particular functional polypeptide on the basis of information present in the cell's genetic
189 programme are now quite well understood, the major groups of players having been delineated and in some cases described in some detail. This little book in the In Focus series provides a concise but frequently information-dense outline of some of the major actors in the process. The major part of the book deals with the charging of tRNA by aminoacyl tRNA synthetases, ribosome structure (specifically of E coli), the ribosome cycle and translation of the genetic message, and protein folding and post-translational modifications of polypeptide chains. Also reviewed briefly are targeting and translocation of proteins, and translational control of gene expression. There is a glossary and an index (which I would have liked to be longer). The chapters are well organised and each ends with a list of publications for further reading, and references to work cited in the text. The numerous illustrations are colorful, clear and instructive. Students who are majoring in biochemistry and graduate students working in the area of protein biosynthesis should find the book a useful overview of the fundamentals and a pointer to some recent developments. F Vella
The Connoisseur's Guide to the Mind How We Think and How We Learn and What it Means to be Intelligent
came upon a word or phrase related to the mental processes about which I wanted to learn what Schank has to say. This approach often made me backtrack for the evidence, in the gourmet sections, that was the substrate for the author's analysis of some aspect of the topic of mind, thinking, learning and intelligence. The book contains a good index in which - - apart from the headings 'Bordeaux', 'restaurants', and 'wine' and the numerous page references included under them - - most headings are connected with mental processes or characteristics. Because of this, I could have approached the book backwards, by reading only those bits I was directed to by the page references in the headings I had selected. Not only would this have been rather tedious, but it would have made me ignore the evidence for Schank's statements or conclusions about the mental activities involved. As a scientist, this simply would not do for me. In writing the above, I find myself analyzing my own thought processes which were engaged, or elicited, by my problem of writing about this book. After all, each one of us has only one mind that we can submit to analysis (our own), and this is what Schank does in his book. One other thing I found myself doing. I went to a lot of effort to analyze and make sense of a lot of things I am not particularly interested in so as to learn about those things I am interested in. There are lessons here for all educators, aspiring connoisseurs of good food and wine, or simply of biochemical education. F Vella
by R C Schank. pp 272. S u m m i t B o o k s , NY. 1991 ISBN 0-671-67855-8 Imagine an author (holder of three professorships concurrently - - in Computer Science, in Psychology and in Education - - at the same prestigious American university) who has already published almost a dozen books and many more articles on artificial intelligence, learning and creativity and who simply loves to analyze and explore the mental processes he employs in thinking, learning and remembering. Imagine also that he considers himself (nay, is) a connoisseur of food and wine and has had numerous opportunities to travel to many interesting places where he could indulge himself in these pleasures. Now imagine further that this author brings these interests and pleasures together in a gala celebration of good food, good wine and thinking about how he learned about good food and good wine. Now stop imagining, because you have formed an idea of this book and of what it is all about. Although I like good food and good wine (and who doesn't?) I cannot be called an expert judge of either. However, I am interested in the mind and of necessity in how we think, how we learn and in what constitutes intelligence. I am also interested in the teaching/learning process and in applying what I have learned about thinking, learning and intelligence (because my objective is to encourage or develop these in my students) to my teaching activities. This is why I read (I should really write studied) this book and very rewarding I found it. Whether Schank explores the association of expectations with knowledge in the thinking process, or scripts and scenes and storytelling as a part of the memory and recall process, or the connection between these (or many other topics) to the teaching/learning process, he expresses himself clearly, directly and interestingly. I started to read this book in the usual way, that is, right from the beginning (after I had, of course, read all that was put on the dust cover, including four very laudatory quotes from persons I have good reason to trust) and plodded methodically page after page. I soon found myself in a seeming morass of information about restaurants, good wine, friends of the author, adventures he had in many restaurants in many p l a c e s . . , material that I was not specifically interested in. Occasionally, I found myself skimming (or even skipping) the gourmet parts of a chapter till I BIOCHEMICAL
EDUCATION
20(3) 1992
Biochemical Journal Reviews E d i t e d by W H Evans. pp 241. P o r t l a n d Press, L o n d o n . 1992. £12.50 ISBN 1-85578-020-8 This is a collection of the reviews (15 of them) published over the course of a year in the Biochemical Journal. It provides a valuable teaching aid at a reasonable cost over quite a wide range of biochemistry and molecular biology. Many of the diagrams are now enhanced by the skilful use of a second colour, and a few of the articles have colour plates of molecular structures. The papers are divided broadly into subject areas, eg Gene Structure and Expression (5 reviews), Cell Biology and Development (3 reviews), Proteins (4 reviews), Membranes and Bioenergetics (1 review) and Regulation of Metabolism (2 reviews). There is no index, but there is a list of reviews previously published in the BJ 1988-1990. In the present volume the pages are re-numbered from the originals. Areas covered include pulmonary surfactant proteins, adenovirus oncoproteins, protein-DNA recognition, transcription factors, regulation of gene expression by insulin, glycosylation mutants and protein transport, dioxin toxicity, interaction of ribosomes and cytoskeleton, muscle contraction, blood coagulation and the complement system, caidesmon, ras proteins, magnetic resonance of membranes, regulation of muscle protein turnover and control of heart ATP synthesis.
Seven Decisions When Teaching Students by D Bligh, D J a q u e s and D W Piper. pp 281 + bibliography and index. E x e t e r University T e a c h i n g Services, D e v o n , U K . 1981. ISBN 0-905314-04-2 The teaching of post-secondary students, if motivated by genuine interest in promotion of learning and the acquisition of