Proteins, Enzymes, Genes

Journal of the American Medical Association

Altogether, this is an important, authoritative book, of magnum opus proportions, which will be prove to be a much consulted reference for anyone interested in the history and philosophy of biomedical science.

New England Journal of Medicine

Broad coverage and an extensive bibliography make this book of great value as a point of departure for anyone who is interested in a particular aspect of the history of biochemistry or molecular biology. I can recommend this book as a superb choice for anyone interested in biochemistry or molecular biology who wants to know where it all came from.

Library Journal

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.--Teresa Berry, Univ. of Tennessee Lib., Knoxville Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.