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Walter De
Gruyter: Berlin, 1997. (1st Eng. ed. of Brockhaus ABC
Biochemie. Walter de Gruyter, 1983.) 737 pp. ISBN:
3-11-014535-9. $168.
The third English language edition, last updated in
1988 from the original German language publication, provides
an alphabetical listing of biochemical and molecular
biological processes, compounds, and reactions, with bibliographic
references to the original literature. This edition is
extensively updated and expanded to encompass the continued
growth of our understanding of biological systems. It is nearly
100 pages longer than the previous edition and is beginning
to stretch the "concise" portion of its name.
While there is some unevenness in terms of both
coverage (e.g., 8 pages are devoted to the newly rewritten section
on photosynthesis and less than 3 pages are devoted to
oxidative phosphorylation) and topics (e.g., no entries are given
for antisense oligonucleotides or knockout genes), I find the
encyclopedia a valuable resource. It represents an excellent
entry point into the vast and expanding field of
biochemistry. Teachers of chemistry, biology, and biochemistry will find
it a valuable resource when a student shows up at their
door and asks "What do you know about?"
Martin J. Serra
Department of Chemistry
Allegheny College
Meadville, PA 16335
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