Proteins, Enzymes, Genes: The Interplay of Chemistry and Biology
Fruton, a biochemist turned historian, has revised and updated portions of his previous book, Molecules and Life: Historical Essays on the Interplay of Chemistry and Biology (1972). Using contemporary scientific writings, he traces the historical developments leading to the emergence of biochemistry and molecular biology as a discipline, primarily after 1800. Not intended as a comprehensive history, the text focuses on the chemical study of proteins, enzymes, and nucleic acids, which is still a pretty broad topic. As a result, there is more breadth than depth. Somehow, Fruton loses the flow of writing he had in Molecules and Life. He does not follow any chronological sequence and jumps from topic to topic so much that the text is sometimes difficult to follow. The book's most valuable feature may be the bibliography, which runs over 180 pages. Recommended for graduate-level biochemistry collections.ATeresa Berry, Univ. of Tennessee Lib., KnoxvilleCopyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.