The present book might be regarded as a sequel to my previous work,
Bioinorganic Chemistry: An Introduction (Allyn and Bacon, 1977). The
latter is essentially a collection of chemical and physical data
pertinent to an understanding of the biological functions of the various
elements and the proteins dependent on them. The ten years since its
publication have seen an enormous increase in research activity in this
area, hence of research papers. A number of monographs and review series
on specific topics have also appeared, including the volumes in the
series of which the present volume is a part. Nevertheless, a gap has
developed between the flood of information available at a detailed level
(papers and reviews) and a general description of the underlying
principles of biofunctions of the elements as presently conceived. It is
hoped that this book will help bridge this gap and at the same time
provide an overview of the entire Biochemistry of the Elements series.
Specifically, the work attempts to focus on "why" questions, especially,
"Why has an element been chosen by organisms for a specific
biofunction?" and "Why does an element behave the way it does in
biological systems?" It therefore complements my 1977 book and, together
with Laboratory Introduction to Bio-Inorganic Chemistry (E. -I. Ochiai
and D. R. Williams, Macmillan, 1979), completes a trilogy on the topic
of bioinorganic chemistry. This book consists of five parts. Two
chapters constitute Part I.