74
BOOK
:REVIEWS
in t h e biosynthesis of a protein molecule. I n the living
cell, three different forms of ribonucleic acid (RNA)
t a k e their parts in this synthesis; one is the 'messenger'
carrying instructions for the amino-acid sequence from
t h e deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of the nucleus to the
site of protein synthesis. The D N A carries the h e r e d i t a r y
information of the cell a n d is copied at every cell reproduction. Our u n d e r s t a n d i n g of these processes is
being built up from very diverse experimental studies.
X - r a y studies of D N A fibres h a v e shown the helical
structure of the molecules w i t h paired purine a n d pyrim i d i n e bases, a n d allowed W a t s o n & Crick to suggest
the m e c h a n i s m of replication - - so t h a t the information
contained in t h e sequence of bases m a y be passed on
from p a r e n t to d a u g h t e r cell. Suitably crystalline R N A
fibres h a v e more recently been obtained a n d h a v e shown
these molecules to be largely helical too. Isotopic tracer
experiments h a v e been used to follow the fate of different
components o f the protein a n d nucleic acid synthesising
systems b o t h in vivo and in vitro. Genetic studies on
bacteria, w i t h chemically induced mutations, h a v e shown
t h a t the code word for one amino acid consists of three
bases in the D N A chain; biochemical experiments are
beginning to show which three bases constitute each
code word.
Dr Perutz, in his second and third lectures, has drawn
together a n d described in outline m a n y of the key
experiments in these different fields, and showed w h a t
is proved by each. I t is a m o s t useful survey, a n d fascinating to read; each a r g u m e n t m u s t be closely and carefully
followed, and probably m u c h more material has been
presented in this short space t h a n the n e w c o m e r can hope
to appreciate fully in one reading.
The first of the three lectures describes the results of
t h e X - r a y analyses of the crystal structures of the protein
molecules myoglobin and haemoglobin, the i n t e r p r e t a t i o n
of the electron-density m a p s at limited resolution, the
detailed architecture of these large and biochemically
i m p o r t a n t molecules, a n d the dependence of this architecture on their chemical constitution. The m e t h o d s of
the X - r a y analysis are n o t discussed at all; in fact very
little indication is given of the years of toil, on the p a r t
of Dr Perutz a n d his colleagues, which preceded these
beautiful results, years during which the i n t e r m e d i a t e
results were of interest to crystallographers b u t h a d very
little significance for biologists. B u t now there is a
wealth of information of great interest to biologist,
chemist, and crystallographer, and it is a pleasure to
hear (or read) Dr Perutz's account of this.
The book provides, therefore, an exciting introduction
to molecular biology (for the beginner who already has
some background of chemistry and biology), or, for the
reader already familiar w i t h a p~rt of it, ~ good ~urv~y
of the wider field a n d the relation of one d e v e l o p m e n t
to another. (It is n o t intended, however, to be an exhaustive review.) There is an appendix outlining a few
advances m a d e since the lectures were given, and a
useful list of references up to m i d 1962.
I~ARJORIE ~¢[. HARDING
Department of Chemistry
The University of Edinburgh
Edinburgh 9
Scotland
Dana's System of Mineralogy,
V o l . I I I . 7 t h ed.
:By C. FRONDEL. Pp. 334, w i t h 114 figs. a n d 50
tables. N e w Y o r k , L o n d o n : W i l e y 1962. Price $ 7-95.
Volume I I I of Dana's System of Mineralogy contains a
detailed description of t h e silica minerals, especially of
quartz, which occupies a b o u t three-quarters of the
contents. The rest of this volume is d e v o t e d to t h e
remaining polymorphs, including t h e new synthetic
high-pressure modifications, some of which h a v e subsequently been discovered as n a t u r a l minerals. The
m a i n concern of this h a n d b o o k is t h e detailed description
of the morphological, physical and chemical properties
of the minerals in question. The crystal forms observed
are broadly discussed. There is no d o u b t t h a t this
collection of d a t a on a single chemical c o m p o u n d is
m o s t valuable for all scientific research on this subject.
On the other h a n d the reviewer feels t h a t the structural
d a t a are n o t t r e a t e d quite in accordance w i t h their
general i m p o r t a n c e for all properties here discussed.
The description of the structures and the m u t u a l relations
of the p o l y m o r p h s is discussed in a formal m a n n e r only,
e.g. the parameters of the atomic positions are given,
b u t the i m p o r t a n t b o n d angle Si-O-Si is n o t m e n t i o n e d .
A more detailed crystal-chemical consideration of the
minerals in question would therefore be highly desirable
in the n e x t edition.
H. JAGODZINSKI
Mineralogisches Institut
Technische Hochschule
Kaiserstrasse 12
Karlsruhe
Germany
Globular protein molecules: their s t r u c t u r e
and dynamic properties. B y JACOB SEGAZ,
K~.TE DORNBERGER-SCHIFF a n d ANGEL KALAIDJIEV.
T r a n s l a t e d b y ANTHONY 'WOOSTER. Pp. x i i i + 150.
Berlin: V E B Deutsche Verlage der Wissenschaften.
1960. Price D M 19.80.
Many of us working on protein crystals h a v e in t h e past
speculated on the structure of protein molecules and h a v e
built models, m o r e or less precise, which seemed to us
to fit t h e k n o w n e x p e r i m e n t a l properties of proteins.
This book describes the d e v e l o p m e n t of one such model,
'the F a l t e n t r o m m e l ' model, by a biologist, J a c o b Segal,
an X - r a y crystallographer, K a t e Dornberger-Schiff, and
a biochemist, Angel Kalaidjiev. I n this model, the
p e p t i d e chains are imagined to occur in c o m p a r a t i v e l y
short lengths in proteins, packed anti-parallel to one
a n o t h e r and connected by diketopiperazine bridges
which involve the diamino and dicarboxylic acid residues.
The sheet-like structure t h a t results is folded r o u n d to
form a drum, giving a central hole, which m a y h a v e a
quite irregular shape, in the molecule. Large molecules
are t h o u g h t to consist of a n u m b e r of drum-like regions.
Physical and chemical evidence, e n z y m a t i c behaviour
and X - r a y analytical d a t a are discussed in relation to
the model.
I t seems to me, as I imagine it m u s t to m a n y other
BOOK
REVIEWS
X - r a y crystallographers, that this theory is so completely excluded b y the work of P e r u t z & K e n d r e w and
their collaborators, t h a t I find it difficult and saddening
even to look at the book, m u c h less can I face criticizing
it in detail, as I could, on a n u m b e r of grounds. B u t the
fact t h a t the authors do n o t themselves i m m e d i a t e l y
come to m y conclusions, in the Appendix which t h e y
write on the recent X - r a y analysis of haemoglobin a n d
myoglobin, raises a n interesting general problem for
X - r a y analysts. R, w h e n I last heard of it for myoglobin,
was over 40%, a n d y e t I do not d o u b t t h a t the structure
described b y K e n d r e w and his collaborators is essentially
correct. The coincidences between the electron-density
distribution t h e y find and t h a t required b y the a-helix
peptide-chain configuration and protein a n d p o r p h y r i n
75
chemistry seem to me e x t r e m e l y convincing. Add to
these the low-resolution similarity between the chain
structures of myoglobin and haemoglobin a n d the
evidence becomes, to me, overwhelming. B u t it does not
appear so to the authors of this book. Their difficulties
call for careful consideration of the w a y s in which the
evidence on complex structures is m a d e available for
critical examination. Should, for example, the whole
electron-density m a p for myoglobin a t 2 /~ resolution
be deposited in some central store ?
D. HODGKIN
Chemical Crystallography Laboratory
South Par]cs Road
Oxford
England
Books Received
The undermentioned works have been received by the Editors. Mention here does not preclude review at a later date.
Research in surface forces. E d i t e d b y B . V .
DERYAGIN. T r a n s l a t e d f r o m t h e R u s s i a n (translat o r ' s n a m e n o t given). P p . vi + 190. :New Y o r k :
C o n s u l t a n t s B u r e a u , 1963. P r i c e $27.50.
This publication, reproduced photographically from unjustified typescript, contains 28 papers presented at a
conference on surface forces held in the U.S.S.R. in April
1960. The papers are divided into five parts, w i t h the
headings General problems in surface forces, P o l y m e r
adhesion, Surface forces in t h i n liquid films, Surface
effects in dispersed systems, and Surface forces in aerosols.
The subject is only of marginal interest to crystallographers, the paper b y M. S. Metsik 'The role of surface
forces in mica crystals' being the only one m a k i n g
detailed use of structural considerations.
M6tallurgie
physique. B y BRUCE CHALMERS.
T r a n s l a t e d ' f r o m t h e A m e r i c a n ' b y G. DoRz~ a n d
D. DUTILnOY. P p . xviii + 430, w i t h 423 figs. P a r i s :
D u n o d , 1963. P r i c e 68 F.
The English edition was published b y Wiley. The F r e n c h
translation has a preface b y Prof. P. Lacombe, b u t
appears otherwise unchanged.
Special ceramics
1962. E d i t e d b y P. POP~.R.
P p . x i v + 4 8 2 , w i t h m a n y figs. L o n d o n a n d N e w
Y o r k : A c a d e m i c Press, for t h e B r i t i s h Ceramic
R e s e a r c h Association, 1963. P r i c e £ 5 . 5 s .
This book contains twenty-five papers presented a t a
s y m p o s i u m held in Stoke-on-Trent, England, in J u l y
1962. I n his preface the editor defines a special ceramic
as a heat-resisting material w i t h o u t prospects of short-
t e r m commercial profitability. Once the materials become
commercially established t h e y 'appear to cease to be
special b u t become electrical ceramics or refractories.'
The materials index covers a little over two pages, and
in it nitrides, borides, carbon and carbides, and compounds of h e a v y metals like thorium, u r a n i u m and tungsten are prominent.
X - r a y m e t h o d s are frequently mentioned, b u t none
of the techniques appear to be novel. A paper b y the
editor on the formation of non-oxide coatings b y pyrolysis
mentions boron nitride white as analogous to carbon
black.
Principles of zoological micropalaeontology.
B y VLADIMIR POKORN~. T r a n s l a t e d from t h e Germ a n b y K . A. ALLEN a n d e d i t e d b y J . W . NEALE.
P p . x v i ÷ 652, w i t h 549 figs. O x f o r d : P e r g a m o n Press,
1963. P r i c e 84s.
This book forms volume X of the I n t e r n a t i o n a l Series of
Monographs on E a r t h Sciences. The original Czech
edition appeared in 1954, b u t the English t r a n s l a t i o n
has been m a d e from the revised German edition of 1958.
The book is well p r i n t e d and well produced, a n d has
nearly 60 pages of indexes. I t will, however, be of interest
to geologists and biologists r a t h e r t h a n crystallographers.
X - r a y s are m e n t i o n e d in connexion w i t h chemical
composition and the distinction between calcite and
aragonite.
Fragilit6 et fragilisation des m6taux et alliages. B y D. ADENIS and P. BT,ANCHARD. Pp. xvi
+ 207, w i t h 118 figs. P a r i s : D u n o d , 1963. P r i c e 38 F.
This book discusses brittleness a n d e m b r i t t l e m e n t of
metals, a subject v e r y i m p o r t a n t in the prevention of