Principles of Medicinal Chemistry is an eminently readable textbook for beginning students of medicinal chemistry. It is not exhaustive, but it is "comprehensive enough to help students pass their courses in medicinal chemistry".

The present edition is the fourth edition. It shows the impact of the growing importance of several new aspects of the field. The new edition has required the addition of two more editors than the earlier edition. However, the number of pages has remained nearly the same, with the new edition being slightly larger in size (8 1/2 X 11) than the earlier version (7 1/2 X 10 1/2). Practically all of the chapters have been retained in the same order as in the third edition. Some others, like "Molecular Modelling", have moved up. What was covered under "Molecular Graphics" was an extremely limited review of substrate-drug interaction. The new chapter six is much more elaborate, with timely elevation of the subject to computational chemistry- involving molecular dynamics and geometry optimizations in drug candidate structures. There are two very useful tables in this chapter: Table 6-1 and Table 6-2 which provide the reader with a quick and ready summary of the methodologies used in modelling and the typical computer processors or systems used for this purpose. Otherwise MFLOPS and MIPS may be total strangers to students of medicinal chemistry. A very simple and impressive demonstration of modelling techniques is the comparative fit of Penicillin G versus Ceftazidine in the enzyme beta lactamase. There are some 32 references cited in this chapter that should enable the reader to obtain further more elaborate information on computational chemistry.

Another new chapter in the fourth edition is the one on "Anti AIDS Agents". In 1989, when the third edition was published, there were not as many anti-aids drugs as there are today. It is appropriate that a chapter is devoted to this new material. Enough preliminary information is provided in 14 pages (pp 862-876), along with 173 references from the current literature. The different classes and structural grouping of therapeutic agents are discussed. Reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, glucosidase inhibitors, viral binding inhibitors and miscellaneous anionic molecules are all presented with clarity.

Pharmaceutical Biotechnology (Chapter 28) is another new addition to the present volume. It is a useful, albeit brief, summation of the most recent developments in recombinant DNA technology, production and use of monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs), polymerase chain reaction, antisense technology, transgenic animals and biosensors. There are 208 citations from current literature. Brief outlines of hybridoma creation and monoclonal antibody production are diagrammed. A table provides information on currently marketed in-home test kits that are based on monoclonal antibody technology. Table 28-4 lists some rDNA-derived medicines that are in development. Other materials now available in the market such as Antihemophilia Factor (AHF); Granulocyte colony stimulating Factor (GCSF); erythropoietin; interferons and interleukin also are included. This chapter has made a good effort to introduce these topics in clear, simple terms to the student.

In addition to these totally new chapters, the book carries forward all the topics that were already included in the earlier edition. Analgesics, anaesthetics, adrenergic drugs and so on to neuroleptics and anxiolytic agents, vitamins and coenzymes, phototherapy and parasite chemotherapy are all retained with improvement.

The 52 different authors who have contributed these 43 chapters are to be congratulated, along with the editors, for the excellent job they have done in presenting a textbook that is not dull, which is not overwhelming by being exhaustive but being sufficiently comprehensive to provide an introduction to all the topics of importance in medicinal chemistry.