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Books in brief

The Pauling Symposium: A Discourse on the Art of Biology . Ramesh S. Krishnamurthy, editor. Corvallis: Oregon State U. Libraries, Special Collections, 1996. xvii + 242 pp. $25.00. This volume is the proceedings of a 1995 conference at which friends, colleagues and biographers discussed the mind and science of Linus Pauling. According to Francis Crick, Pauling thought constantly on the molecular level and his cardinal principal was to have lots of ideas and to throw away the bad ones; it was better, he said, to risk an occasional error in original research than to always be right, if prosaic. And where did these ideas come from? Pauling observed natural phenomena of all sorts intensely. He was never afraid to postulate bold new ideas without any foundation. William Lipscomb related a conversation between Pauling and a student, when the student asked how Pauling had derived his postulation of electroneutrality of atoms, Pauling said "I made it up." Lipscomb commented, "Linus Pauling was an individual whose work spanned and stretched the frontiers between traditional disciplines - chemistry, physics, mineralogy and biology - and opened up whole new areas of research for later generations of scientists." -MVO, excerpt from a book in Chemical Heritage 14:2 (1997)

Naked to the Bone: Medical Imaging in the Twentieth Century. B. Holtzmann Kevles, Rutgers UP, New Brunswick, 1997, 378pp $35.95 NJ. The author provides an interesting slant on the ways in which the discovery of x-rays changed life in the 20th century. She postulates that the discovery of x-rays led to a revolution in art and the effective emancipation of women. She asserts that the discovery of this new and completely unexpected physical phenomenon unshackled restrictive thinking and actions. The art of the early 1900's is full of unconventional and, for that time, radically wild approaches, and the impact of the discovery of x-rays on art is demonstrated by many of the book's illustrations. C.A. Kelsey, U. of New Mexico.

Structure-Based Drug Design. July, 1997 664 pages, illustrated $175.00, edited by Pandi Veerapandian. This unique, interdisciplinary reference describes recent advances in crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance, molecular modeling techniques, and computational combinatorial chemistry, and the application of three-dimensional structural information in the design of pharmaceutical drugs. It included contributions from C. E. Bugg, F. A. Quiocho, P. C. Weber and W. G.J. Hol.

The Crystallization Technology Handbook. (Edited by A. Mersmann, Tech U. of Munich, Germany. 704 pages, illustrated $195.00) focuses on the selection, design and operation of large-scale industrial crystallizers, illustrates scaleup, and offers an appendix listing the physical properties of over 170 organic and inorganic crystallization systems! Chapters include Fundamentals of Crystallization, Design of Crystallizers and Crystallization Processes, Control of Crystallizers, Reaction Crystallization, Additives and Impurities, and Crystallization from the Melt.

Crystals - A Handbook for School Teachers, by Elizabeth A. Wood (IUCr & Polycrystal, 1997, 44 pages, $2.00 paper) is Number 20 of the International Union of Crystallography Teaching Pamphlet Series, newly revised by J.P. Glusker and reprinted from the original 1972 version. The handbook gives a general introduction to crystals, lists simple ingredients required, takes the student through the process of growing crystals from solutions and melt, and observing crystals in everyday life, and provides help in what to do with the crystals and the lessons to be learned from the experiences.

X-rays: The First Hundred Years , by A. Michette and S. Pfauntsch, eds., (Wiley, 1996, reprinted in 1997, 262 pages, $69.95) is the printed version of a "seminar" held at King's College London on the 100th anniversary of the discovery of X-rays. In a very readable nontechnical style, the book's chapters include broad history, medical therapy and diagnosis, microscopy, microanalysis, diffraction, synchrotron radiation, lithography, astronomy, laser and plasma sources, and a short prognostication on the future. Included are many photographs and diagrams, and a 10 page glossary of terms. An excellent reference work for teachers of X-rays at any level.

A Practical Guide for the Preparation of Specimens for X-ray Fluorescence and X-ray Diffraction Analysis, edited by V.E. Buhrke, D.K. Smith and R. Jenkins (Wiley, 1997, approx. 333 pages, $79.95) is a compendium of practical information based upon eighteen years of workshops on sample preparation at the Denver X-ray Conferences, with nine chapters crafted by 24 contributors.

Biological Macromolecular Dynamics. Proceedings of a Workshop on Inelastic and Quasielastic Neutron Scattering in Biology, 1996. Editors: S. Cusack, European Molecular Biology Lab, BP 156, F-38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France and H. Büttner, M. Ferrand, P. Langan, P. Timmins, Inst Laue-Langevin, BP 156, F-38042 Grenoble Cedex 9, France. Investigations of dynamics in biological systems using inelastic and quasielastic neutron scattering, techniques , data treatment and analysis methods.
21 July 2008