This book is organized into five parts: I. Introduction and Background: An introductory chapter followed by chapters that review the properties of aqueous solutions and the elements of thermodynamics. II. Biomolecules: A description of the structures and functions of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. III. Mechanisms of Enzyme Action: An introduction to the properties, reaction kinetics, and catalytic mechanisms of enzymes. IV. Metabolism: A discussion of how living things synthesize and degrade carbohydrates, lipids, amino acids, and nucleotides with emphasis on energy generation and consumption. V. The Expression and Transmission of Genetic Information: An exposition of nucleic and structures and both prokaryotic and eukaryotic molecular biology. This organization permitts us to cover the major areas of biochemistry in a logical and coherent fashion. Yet, modern biochemistry is a subject of such enormous scope that to maintain a relatively even depth of coverage throughout the text, we include more material than most one-year biochemistry courses will cover in detail. This depth of coverage, we believe, is one of the strengths of this book; it permits the instructor to teach a course of his/her own design and still provide the student with a resource on biochemical subjects not emphasized in the course.
