MOLECULAR ENZYMOLOGY, BECAUSE OF ITS CHEMICAL AND MATHEMATICAL content, is often regarded as a formidable and forbidding topic by undergraduates on a biology or biochemistry course, As a result of teaching enzymology to undergraduates for a number of years, we recognize the areas which appear to cause the most common difficulties in conceptual understanding. We feel that a book treating those areas by means of a logical approach carefully developed from basic principles fills a gap in the multiplicity of enzymology texts currently available. In writing this book we h;:lVe had in mind the needs of Honours Biochemistry students, in particular those who may take a special interest in enzymology. The text covers the main bulk of the material required in the second and third years of such courses. In addition, those taking courses in Biological Chemistry may well find the book to be of central interest. The book begins with a description of the fundamentals of catalysis, illustrating these with simple chemical reactions which may be supposed to serve as models of catalytic processes.
Protein structure is discussed in terms of the fundamental forces which determine the shape and dynamic behaviour of protein molecules. The approach emphasizes those features thought to be most intimately involved in the catalytic function of enzyme molecules, and is illustrated with specific examples.