Biophysical Chemistry: Techniques for the Study of Biological Structure and Function

Rating:
Summary: Very detailed explanation of the theory
Review: I got this book to learn more about various biophysical techniques. I have been doing research in this area for a few years and felt it was high time to get some formal explanations of the theory behind all the experiments that I do.
The book presents a detailed description and account of the theory of numerous techniques including absorption and emmission spectroscopy, NMR, CD, crystallography, chromatography, electrophoresis and many other methods.
Although the authors claim that readers need not have any experience in physical chemistry I think this is a little far fetched. Having just taken a course in quantum mechanics, I still struggled through some of the derivations. I think this is a good book for people who either have had prior experience with the field of biophysics, or have a strong mathematical background. This book is not a walk through the park. There are many equations and at times more advanced mathematical techniques such as fourier analysis or matrix algebra are used. If you want an introduction to biophysics, you're better off using an easier, less mathematically rigourous book. For example, if you're interested in spectroscopy, there is a simpler book called Biological Spectroscopy by Campbell and Dwek. However, if you are interested in the theory behind these important techniques and don't mind a little math, this is the book for you. Biophysics is an ever expanding and exciting field; this book can show you why!

Rating:
Summary: Indespensable series-most useful volume for serious biosci.
Review: I used the 1980 edition of this series at UC Berkeley when studying Biophysics there, then needed it for a class in molecular biology. The series takes the most precise examination of the functioning and theory with serious treatment employing calculus to describe dynamic processes in contrast to many other texts that offer only cartoons, photographs and simple math for the mathematically challenged undergraduate. After I graduated, the series was the only indespensable textbook for me in my research at Cetus Corporation where the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) was developed. The inventor of PCR (Kary Mullis) shared the Nobel prize for chemistry for the process in 1993. My research on HIV was illuminated by the Cantor & Schimmel series and I learned the fundamentals of unfamiliar methods by use of this particular volume of the series. It's no wonder that my original copy disappered. I look forward to getting the 1997 edition of this volume.