179
Cell Biology. Second edition
E d i t e d by C A Smith a n d E J W o o d . pp 540. C h a p m a n and
Hall, L o n d o n . 1996. £24.99 I S B N 0-412-631504
This book aims to provide an introduction to the enormous body
of information that can be considered to be of a cellular
biological nature for junior undergraduates and diploma
students.
I was immediately struck by the book's somewhat unusual
format and I will review this matter first. Each chapter begins
with a list of objectives, indicating what students should be able
to do after reading it, and finishes with an overview: a half-page
review of the chapter contents. The objectives are sound and the
reviews very appropriate. All chapters are replete with diagrams;
there are more pictures per page than in any book I have seen
before. This was generally helpful, but a few diagrams were
unclear. The book uses footnotes profusely and these are of two
types. References to further reading are one type and each
reference includes a useful description of its contents. A glossary
of terms is presented at the back of the book, but when each
item appears for the first time in the text, a shortened version of
its glossary entry is included as the second type of footnote.
Very extensive efforts are made to relate facts in the text to
examples that students can readily identify with. This is achieved
by a combination of notes in the page margin and a series of
clearly demarcated boxes within the body of the text. A problem-
solving attitude is encouraged in the reader by the posing of
formal questions. One set of these appears throughout, with
answers given at the end of each chapter. Another
set----consisting of blank filling, multiple choice, short answer
and essay questions--are posed at the end of each chapter, with
answers at the end of the book.
The overall structure has obviously been carefully thought
out, but I found it a little difficult to get used to: my attention
was drawn to too many places and it was easy to become
distracted. The in-text questions contributed to this because,
although their topics are relevant, the information needed to
answer them is not usually provided in the text. Thus the
questions do not always test an understanding of the material in
the text, a point which also applies to the end-of-chapter
questions. In my view, questions within the text are obtrusive
unless they are designed to give feedback on the understanding
of material already covered.
The marginal notes are mostly 10-15 lines long and are not
obtrusive in the main. However, occasionally they are much
longer than this and at least one applies to an unnumbered
figure in the text. The boxes are similarly variable and one could
ask 'When is a box not a box?' Box 3.2 contains only eight lines
of script, whereas the marginal note on p 94 of the same chapter
contains more than four times as many words. In contrast, Box
2.7 is two pages long.
In order to maintain progress through each chapter I found
myself ignoring the boxes, marginal notes and questions until I
had completed reading the text. Students would benefit from
some guidance on this point.
So much then for the structural organisation, now to the
information content. As in the first edition, Chapters 1 and 2
provide a general outline of cells and viruses with an expanded
treatment of membrane fusion. Basic descriptions of how to
cultivate animal and plant cells now occupy a chapter on their
own (Chapter 3). The packaging of chromatin and the operation
of the nuclear pore complexes are described in an expanded
Chapter 4, and Chapter 5 covers membranes with increased
emphasis on integral proteins.
Mitochondria and chloroplasts are discussed in Chapter 6
with particular attention being paid to ATP production, with
much new material added from recent studies of prokaryotes.
Updated treatments of the cytoskeleton and the extraeellular
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 25(3) 1997
matrix are provided in Chapters 7 and 8, but plant cell walls now
get a very well illustrated chapter on their own (Chapter 9).
The treatment of plant hormones has been expanded from a
small chapter sub-section in the first edition into a whole chapter
(Chapter 11), while animal hormones and particularly receptor
biochemistry are retained in Chapter 10. Revised material on
nerves, neurotransmitters and their receptors is described in
Chapter 12, while recently acquired knowledge of contractile
proteins is included in the extended Chapter 13, on muscle
contraction.
Immunological defence systems are covered in Chapter 14,
but an extended treatment of plant and insect systems is now
included. Chapter 15, which describes differentiation and
development, has been amended to show how many more
hypotheses are testable now that the fruits of the application of
molecular biological approaches are becoming available. Cell
death is, fittingly perhaps, the topic of the last chapter (Chapter
16) which includes an updated description of the cell cycle.
I was very impressed with the book overall; it is certainly a tour
de force. The material was interesting to read, surprisingly up to
date and, through the references, provided leads into the litera-
ture which will be valuable for both teacher and taught. Specific
errors were almost non-existent, reflecting the quality of the
editorial work. Despite this, I feel a word of caution should be
inserted. This edition has four more chapters and almost 200
more pages than the first, so will the next edition contain over
700 pages? There appears to be an almost inexorable move to
include more and more topics in textbooks, with the result that
they become so cumbersome and heavy as to make them very
uncomfortable to use. We must not forget that students often
need to carry their textbooks! Be that as it may, the present text
constitutes an excellent buy at £24.99 and is sufficiently up to
date to provide a valid introduction to the topic for several years
to come.
G Weston
Color Atlas of Biochemistry
by J K o o l m a n and K - H R 6 h m . pp 435. T h i e m e , Stuttgart.
1996. $29.90 I S B N 3-13-100371-5
On seeing the title of this book, most interested persons will
wonder (as I did) what a color atlas of such a complex subject as
modern Biochemistry looks like. After all, there is no model that
I know of (other than a colored road atlas or an atlas of
anatomy) which can help us. On handling a copy however, one
quickly discovers (as I did) what makes the book so excitingly
and refreshingly different. In effect, its heart consists of some
180 artistically conceived color plates of which some contain
several sections. Most of them were derived by computer
graphics, their contents being color-coded throughout to give as
unified a presentation as possible. They are accompanied by
explanations on the facing page, and are followed by ten
metabolic charts that have no explanatory text. The plates are
multicolored, tasteful and elegant without being garish. They
make their point attractively, accurately, clearly and easily.
Chemical formulae are frequently represented by ball-and-stick
molecular models. Collectively, and frequently individually,
these plates set a standard for Biochemistry books that is hard to
beat.
Two books that are similar in approach are: Biochemistry
Illustrated (Campbell and Smith) and Metabolism at a Glance
(Salway). However, the presentation and coverage of both these
is very different and their illustrations do not have the appeal of
the plates in Color Atlas.
The authors' aims are to illustrate attractively and effectively
the dynamics of biochemistry so as to provide quick and efficient
visual information, and to serve as an up-to-date overview of this
rapidly moving subject. It is relevance to students of human
180
medicine and of biological sciences that determines the selec-
tion of information and topics included. To my mind they have
achieved these aims admirably while emphasising that Color
Atlas is more of a visual aid to learning than a comprehensive
coverage of subject matter.
Both authors are Professors in the Institute of Physiological
Chemistry at Philipps University of Marburg in Germany.
Koolman is described as interested in biochemical endo-
crinology and in the teaching of biochemistry, while R6hm's
interests are in enzyme catalysis, protein chemistry and the
application of computers in Biochemistry. Credited with
creating the color plates that are such an important part of this
book is J~irgen Wirth, Professor of Visual Communication at
Fachhochschule Darmstadt, Germany. Kathryn Schuller of
Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia is listed as the trans-
lator. They and their publisher have produced a very impressive
work.
There are nine areas of Biochemistry covered by the color
plates and explanatory notes. These are (with number of plates
in parentheses): Basics (of Chemistry and Physical Chemistry)
(14), Biomolecules (28), Metabolism (42), Organelles (18),
Molecular Genetics (12), Tissues and Organs (42), Nutrition
(5), Hormones (10) and Growth and Development (5). These
are followed by the metabolic charts, an annotated enzyme list
(based on the IUBMB Enzyme Nomenclature 1992, and which
also includes prosthetic groups where applicable), a brief list of
suggested readings, and a comprehensive index 43 pages long.
This last ensures that the book will also be useful for quick
reference.
Size and easy portability (it fit easily and comfortably in my
coat pocket), format and integrated coverage should make this
flexibook very attractive to all students of Biochemistry. Its
modular organisation (one page of text that is focused on the
accompanying color plate) breaks this complex subject into
many small and easy to manage pieces that are ideal for study,
review or discussion. These characteristics permit use of the
book as a visual aid in the classroom where a presentation is
based on one or a few color plates in lieu of projected slides or
transparencies. Although this didactic approach is not common,
I have used it regularly for more than 20 years in a variety of
courses. It is appreciated by students, removes the need for them
to hurriedly copy complex projected slides, and teaches them,
amongst other things, how meaning is derived from pictorial
information presented in a variety of ways.
I found little to complain about (a very occasional spelling
error?) and much to recommend in this beautifully produced
and authoritative learning aid. I feel certain that Color Atlas of
Biochemistry will be very popular among European students,
especially those who favor a succinct but broad general treat-
ment of the subject. If it is not recommended (perhaps for
nationalistic reasons) to their North American counterparts, it
will be to the latter's loss.
F Vella
Life Chemistry Molecular Biology
by E J W o o d , C A Smith a n d W R Pickering. pp 224.
P o r t l a n d Press, L o n d o n . 1997. £16 I S B N 1-85578-064-X
This is a 224 page volume stated to be a study guide for post-16
students, as well as for undergraduates in the biological sciences
and students on vocational life science courses. Authors
approaching this readership, that is young people who still have
a large measure of choice in the subjects they can select for
further study, have a formidable problem. They have to present
a substantial body of concepts and information which as we all
know are initially daunting (and often not just initially) while at
the same time trying to interest their readers sufficiently to carry
on studying these. (I presume that one of the reasons for the
BIOCHEMICAL EDUCATION 25(3) 1997
Biochemical Society to take an interest in books for post-16s is
to lure them, however gently, into careers as biochemists/
molecular biologists; indeed, this aim is clearly stated in the
Preface). It must be tempting to adopt a bright and breezy style,
a 'don't worry about further details at the moment' sort of
approach, with much use of such colloquial language as is
perceived as being more user-friendly. Drs Wood, Smith and
Pickering have avoided any populist tendencies but have still
produced an extremely attractive and readable text. The first
impression on opening it is of an innovative format, with its A4
(or nearly) pages crammed with information in a clear black
type accompanied by diagrams, mostly in blue, and a number of
photographs*. The production team have adopted a faint print
style on many pages, for example putting a blue 3 sign behind
the testosterone formula on p65 and on p205, as part of a
discussion on the human genome project, the base sequence of
a bacteriophage takes up the whole space in faint type, but is
overlaid by boxes and diagrams dealing with data storage,
ethical issues, C elegans, and the necessity to sequence other
than human genomes.
One of the boxes on p204 with a photograph of yeast cells
refers to the end of the yeast genome project on 24 April, 1996;
considering that this book was made available for review in
December of the same year, production of it must have been
extremely fast. One could wish that all publishers showed the
same urgency.
Gene therapy is discussed on p208 and 209. What might be
perceived by some as the most relevant and exciting aspects of
biochemistry thus come only towards the end of the book, which
is why I write that the authors have not shirked the bread and
butter matters. Enzyme nomenclature, for example, might not
seem the most vital topic but is dealt with quite fully and in an
engaging manner on p73.
There seem to be very few mistakes/misprints; on p57 there is
a nitrogen instead of a hydrogen atom sticking out of guanine;
on p65 there appears to be a hydrogen missing from the
'oestrogen'---oestradiol, presumably. It would have been better
had it been specifically named, like its companions testosterone
and cortisone. However, I believe the last structure given is not
that of cortisone, but corticosterone. On p117 the carboxyl in the
alanine is portrayed as ionised, unlike the amino group; but the
reaction producing ammonium ion is only logical if the latter is
ionised too. I cannot see any other anomalies.
The three authors have also placed, at the end of the seven
sections (is there an insinuation of magic numbers here?) a
number of questions from past papers of school or junior college
examination boards in England. They have omitted the answers,
so that these young readers quite properly will have to plough
back over the text to discover these. Interestingly, a large
proportion of these questions are of the problem-based type,
with much reading and thinking to do before pen can be put to
paper. Some of these questions are from papers now six or seven
years in the past, which suggests that this approach to examina-
tions, which some instructors in the universities still regard as
quite innovative, has been commonplace at pre-university
level.
I notice that according to the title page, the profits from the
publication are to be gained by the Biochemical Society. This
should be greatly to its advantage, for the book will in all
probability be in great demand by students of the correct age
group and maturity.
J Candlish
* P h o t o g r a p h s include: a bottle of antifreeze; a biological detergent
package; a tub of margarine; a m a r a t h o n race; a n elephant; a transgenic
mouse; a pile of cow dung; the usual assortument of viruses constructed
out of ping-pong balls; and of course Sir Hans Kreb (as my students
believe to be his name) leaning on the bar of his Kreb's (as they write)
cycle. His name was, of course, Sir Hans Krebs.