Average customer rating:
|
Human Aging: Biological Perspectives
Augustine G. Digiovanna Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0072926910 |
Book Description
With the growing size of the elderly population comes an increased interest in aging as a subject of research and study. Human Aging: Biological Perspectives is written for the one-quarter or one-semester introductory level course and is aimed at students with little or no science background. The main structure of the text follows a body systems approach. In addition to the introductory chapter and a chapter covering molecules, cells, and the theories of aging, each body system is covered in its own chapter.Customer Reviews:
Bio: Old but Good.......2006-08-20
Average customer rating:
|
Oxygen: The Molecule that Made the World (Popular Science)
Nick Lane Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0198607830 |
Book Description
Oxygen has had extraordinary effects on life. Three hundred million years ago, in Carboniferous times, dragonflies grew as big as seagulls, with wingspans of nearly a metre. Researchers claim they could have flown only if the air had contained more oxygen than today - probably as much as 35 per cent. Giant spiders, tree-ferns, marine rock formations and fossil charcoals all tell the same story. High oxygen levels may also explain the global firestorm that contributed to the demise of the dinosaurs after the asteroid impact. The strange and profound effects that oxygen has had on the evolution of life pose a riddle, which this book sets out to answer. Oxygen is a toxic gas. Divers breathing pure oxygen at depth suffer from convulsions and lung injury. Fruit flies raised at twice normal atmospheric levels of oxygen live half as long as their siblings. Reactive forms of oxygen, known as free radicals, are thought to cause ageing in people. Yet if atmospheric oxygen reached 35 per cent in the Carboniferous, why did it promote exuberant growth, instead of rapid ageing and death? Oxygen takes the reader on an enthralling journey, as gripping as a thriller, as it unravels the unexpected ways in which oxygen spurred the evolution of life and death. The book explains far more than the size of ancient insects: it shows how oxygen underpins the origin of biological complexity, the birth of photosynthesis, the sudden evolution of animals, the need for two sexes, the accelerated ageing of cloned animals like Dolly the sheep, and the surprisingly long lives of bats and birds. Drawing on this grand evolutionary canvas, Oxygen offers fresh perspectives on our own lives and deaths, explaining modern killer diseases, why we age, and what we can do about it. Advancing revelatory new ideas, following chains of evidence, the book ranges through many disciplines, from environmental sciences to molecular medicine. The result is a captivating vision of contemporary science and a humane synthesis of our place in nature. This remarkable book will redefine the way we think about the world.Customer Reviews:
The best book of it kind?.......2007-08-06
Another great book by Lane.......2007-05-12
Excellence in science writing.......2007-01-16
Wonderful.......2006-12-25
Oxygen - What a brilliant read.......2006-11-11
Average customer rating:
|
Magic Molecules: How Drugs Work
Susan Aldridge Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items: Accessories: ASIN: 0521584140 |
Amazon.com
Almost all of us have used medical drugs at some point to help make us well, or at least to help us feel better while we endure our illnesses. Yet most of them are mysterious to us, even those that are thoroughly understood by scientists. Susan Aldridge wrote Magic Molecules: How Drugs Work as a guide for scientifically literate consumers to help us understand these chemicals and their effects on our bodies. Looking at painkillers, antibiotics, cancer therapies, "smart drugs," and many others, she uses clear, plain language and illustrations to describe the mechanisms of these medications.But Magic Molecules is no encyclopedia. Aldridge includes fascinating discussions of related topics such as viral diseases, clinical trials, and the history of drug use, interwoven with her descriptions of the drugs we use each day. How does ibuprofen differ from aspirin? Why does chemotherapy make us sick? How come pregnant women have to be so careful with their medications? These questions and more are answered in this book that combines the usefulness of a reference text with the delightful charm of the best scientific works. --Rob Lightner
Book Description
We have all been drug users at one time or another. Drugs can be used as medicines, as food additives, for pleasure, and to protect our long-term health. With so many new drugs on the market and an ever-widening definition of what exactly makes a drug a drug, we should all be well informed about the drugs we use--how they work, their benefits, and their risks. This book is a unique guide for the general reader to the drugs of everyday life--from commonly prescribed medicines to recreational drugs (including illicit ones) and food supplements. The author examines how drugs interact with their targets in the body, where drugs come from, how they are developed, and what new kinds of drugs are on the horizon. She reviews all the major pharmaceutical medicines--painkillers, antibiotics, anti-cancer drugs, anti-depressants, heart drugs, tranquilizers, and hormones. Much more than a consumer handbook, this volume conveys the fascinating science behind drugs in an easily accessible way.Customer Reviews:
A review of Magic Molecules.......2000-02-01
Average customer rating: |
Handbook Of Infrared And Raman Characteristic Freq Of Organ Molecules
DAIMAY LIN-VIEN Manufacturer: Academic Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0124511600 |
Book Description
This necessary desk reference for every practicing spectroscopist represents the first definitive book written specifically to integrate knowledge about group frequencies in infrared as well as Raman spectra. In the spirit of previous classics developed by Bellamy and others, this volume has expanded its scope and updated its coverage. In addition to detailing characteristic group frequencies of compounds from a comprehensive assortment of categories, the book includes a collection of spectra and a literature search conducted to verify existing correlations and to determine ways to enhance correlations between vibrational frequencies and molecular structure. Particular attention has been given to the correlation between Raman characteristic frequencies and molecular structure.
Average customer rating: |
DNA and RNA Binders, From Small Molecules to Drugs (2-Volume Set)
Martine Demeunynck , Christian Bailly , and W. David Wilson Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover ASIN: 3527305955 |
Book Description
The development of molecules that selectively bind to nucleic acids has provided many details about DNA and RNA recognition. The range of such substances, such as metal complexes, peptides, oligonucleotides and a wide array of synthetic organic compounds, is as manifold as the functions of nucleic acids. Nucleic acid recognition sequences are often found in the major or minor groove of a double strand, while other typical interactions include intercalation between base pairs or the formation of triple or quadruple helices. One example of a binding mode that has recently been proposed is end stacking on such complex structures as the telomere tetraplex. In this comprehensive book, internationally recognized experts describe in detail the important aspects of nucleic acid binding, and in so doing present impressive approaches to drug design. Since typical substances may be created naturally or synthetically, emphasis is placed on natural products, chemical synthesis, the use of combinatorial libraries, and structural characterization. The whole is rounded off by contributions on molecular modeling, as well as investigations into the way in which any given drug interacts with its nucleic acid recognition site.
Average customer rating:
|
Three-Dimensional Electron Microscopy of Macromolecular Assemblies: Visualization of Biological Molecules in Their Native State
Joachim Frank Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0195182189 |
Book Description
Cryoelectron microscopy of biological molecules is among the hottest growth areas in biophysics and structural biology at present, and Frank is arguably the most distinguished practitioner of this art. CryoEM is likely over the next few years to take over much of the structural approaches currently requiring X-ray crystallography, because one can now get good and finely detailed images of single molecules down to as little as 200,000 MW, covering a substantial share of the molecules of greatest biomedical research interest. This book, the successor to an earlier work published in 1996 with Academic Press, is a natural companion work to our forthcoming book on electron crystallography by Robert Glaeser, with contributions by six others, including Frank. A growing number of workers will employ CryoEM for structural studies in their own research, and a large proportion of biomedical researchers will have a growing interest in understanding what the capabilities and limits of this approach are.Customer Reviews:
Crash Course in Single Particle Microscopy.......2002-02-21
Average customer rating:
|
Molecules At An Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Materials in Everyday Life
John Emsley Manufacturer: Oxford University Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0192862065 |
Amazon.com
Reading Molecules at an Exhibition is like listening to a charmingly eccentric British chemistry professor lecture over lunch. In fact, that's just what John Emsley is, and he's expanded his "Molecule of the Month" column series in the Independent into this gallery of molecular portraits, organized into loose themes such as "Testing Your Metal" and "Elements from Hell." He informs us about his favorite molecules through droll anecdotes and basic chemistry. Throughout the book, Emsley exhibits a reverence for industrially useful chemicals that comes across as a grumpy rejoinder to chemo-phobes: "Quit griping.... A little plastic wrap won't hurt you!" Not that he ignores the dangers of some molecules; in fact, he gleefully reports the tiny doses of things such as the nerve gas sarin sufficient to kill you. Other compounds are the subject of Emsley's genuine admiration:For those who still have to live in shacks of corrugated iron and plywood, a temporary answer is to spray the building with polyurethane, which makes them livable in [sic] by keeping out insects and the heat of the Sun, and making them soundproof.... Nor will the investment be wasted when people are rehoused: they can cut the polyurethane into panels with a knife and use it as insulation in their new new [sic] home.While Molecules sometimes reads like a paean to the green revolution (which we now know has been responsible for bioaccumulation of carcinogenic pesticides in food webs and the appearance of chemical-resistant insect pests), Emsley does make a strong point for efficient recycling and reuse of the plastics and chemicals we produce in such staggering quantities. And one can forgive him his enthusiasm for technological developments in chemistry. After all, chemicals really are amazing, and it's rewardingly fun to find out how they fit into our diets, our biochemistry, and our daily lives, especially when the education is hidden in fact-filled essays suitable for party entertaining. --Therese Littleton
Book Description
What is it in chocolate that makes us feel good when we eat it? What's the molecule that turns men on? What's the secret of Coca-Cola? In this fascinating book, John Emsley takes us on a guided tour through a rogue's gallery of molecules, some harmful some pleasant, showing how they affect our lives. There are eight galleries in all, full of individual portraits on molecules that are to be found on a daily basis in the home, the environment, and in our bodiesDSfrom caffeine to teflon, nicotine to zinc. Find out how Mozart met his death, how Hitler could have saved the Third Reich from defeat, and many more interesting snippets in this highly entertaining, and often surprising book. 'A broad audience, regardless of whether it has a background in chemistry, will enjoy browsing and reading it.' Nature 'a fine example of popular science writing at its best. It is educational, interesting, may prove inspirational and therefore deserves to find a very wide readership.' THES 'highly readable and entertaining' New ScientistCustomer Reviews:
Entertaining and educational tour-de-force in chemistry.......2007-05-21
chemistry .......2007-01-02
Molecules at an Exhibition: Portraits of Intriguing Material.......2004-11-12
Serves its purpose. Interesting in small doses........2004-03-16
great for teachers.......2003-05-16
Average customer rating:
|
Bones, Stones and Molecules: "Out of Africa" and Human Origins
David W. Cameron Manufacturer: Academic Press ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 0121569330 |
Book Description
Bones, Stones and Molecules provides some of the best evidence for resolving the debate between the two hypotheses of human origins. The debate between the 'Out of Africa' model and the 'Multiregional' hypothesis is examined through the functional and developmental processes associated with the evolution of the human skull and face and focuses on the significance of the Australian record. The book analyzes important new discoveries that have occurred recently and examines evidence that is not available elsewhere. Cameron and Groves argue that the existing evidence supports a recent origin for modern humans from Africa. They also specifically relate these two theories to interpretations of the origins of the first Australians. The book provides an up-to-date interpretation of the fossil, archaeological and the molecular evidence, specifically as it relates to Asia, and Australia in particular.Customer Reviews:
Multiregionalism Debunked.......2006-08-19
Valuable reference for academics and laymen alike.......2004-09-05
Great read, showcasing the latest fossils!.......2004-07-29
Average customer rating: |
Neurobiology: Molecules, Cells and Systems
Gary Matthews Manufacturer: Blackwell Publishing ProductGroup: Book Binding: Hardcover Similar Items:
ASIN: 0632044969 |
Book Description
The second edition of the successful Neurobiology text by Matthews. The text ranges from molecules to systems and uses various systems to illustrate each major concept.
Average customer rating: |
Of Molecules and Men (Great Minds Series)
Francis Crick Manufacturer: Prometheus Books ProductGroup: Book Binding: Paperback Similar Items:
ASIN: 1591021855 |
Book Description
There is probably no one who has a deeper understanding of life's biochemical basis than Francis Crick (b. 1916). In 1962 he jointly won the Nobel Prize (with James D. Watson and Maurice H.F. Wilkins) in physiology/medicine for breakthrough studies on the molecular structure of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). In 1966 he published this collection of popular lectures in which he explained the importance of this discovery in layman's terms, emphasizing its wide-reaching implications.Crick begins with a critique of vitalism, the notion that an intangible life force beyond the grasp of biology distinguishes living organisms from inanimate things. In his second lecture he explores the borderline between the organic and inorganic, presenting an elegantly clear description of DNA's basic structure and function in relation to RNA and myriad enzymes.
In his third lecture Crick anticipates events and trends that have in fact come to pass in the past four decades, including the increasing use of computer technology and robotics in mind-brain research, explorations into right-side versus left-side uses of the brain, and controversies surrounding the existence of the soul.
OF MOLECULES AND MEN is fascinating not only for its historical significance but for its continued relevance to ongoing discussions of many crucially important issues in life science.
Books:
Recommended Books