Physical Biochemistry: Principles and Applications. By David Sheehan (Univ. College Cork, Ireland). John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2000. 368 pages. Hardcover Price: GB£80.00. ISBN 0-471-98662-3

Received: 22 December 2000

An accessible and easy-to-read text for students requiring a broad overview of the key techniques used to characterise the structure and function of complex biomacromolecules such as proteins and DNA. It bridges the gap between general biochemistry textbooks and the more specialist texts covering individual techniques.

Topics covered include chromatography, spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, electrophoresis, X-ray diffraction, centrifugation and biocalorimetry. New developments are placed in context by describing the physical principles on which they depend, examining the range of biophysical applications most widely used and, emphasising the overall similarities of experimental approach.

Written by a biochemist with extensive teaching experience, the book:

* describes the advantages and disadvantages of each technique and compares one technique to another;

* introduces experimental approaches in a non-mathematical way, using practical examples; and

* provides a bibliography, including useful web sites, at the end of each chapter.

This book will be invaluable to undergraduates and postgraduates studying biochemistry, molecular biology and related disciplines.

*Editor's Note: The brief summary and the contents of the books are reported as provided by the author or the publishers. Authors and publishers are encouraged to send review copies of their recent books of potential interest to readers of Molecules to the Editor-in-Chief (Dr. Shu-Kun Lin, MDPI, Saengergasse 25, CH-4054 Basel, Switzerland. Tel. +41 79 322 3379, Fax +41 61 302 8918, E-mail: [email protected]). Some books will be offered to the scholarly community for the purpose of preparing full-length reviews.

© 2000 by MDPI (http://www.mdpi.org).