This is the second of three volumes of Methods in Molecular Biology that
deal with Physical Methods of Analysis. The first of these,
Spectroscopic Methods and Analyses dealt with NMR spec- troscopy, mass
spectrometry, and metalloprotein techniques, and the third will cover
X-ray crystallographic methods. As with the first volume. Microscopy,
Optical Spectroscopy, and Macroscopic Techniques is intended to provide
a basic understand- ing for the biochemist or biologist who needs to
collaborate with spe- cialists in applying the techniques of modern
physical chemistry to biological macromolecules. The methods treated in
this book fall into four groups. Part One covers microscopy, which aims
to visualize individual molecules or complexes of several molecules.
Electron microscopy is the more familiar of these, while scanning
tunneling microscopy is a new and rapidly developing tool. Methods for
determining the shapes and sizes of molecules in solution are described
in Part Two, which includes chapters on X-ray and neutron scattering,
light scattering, and ult- centrifugation. Calorimetry, described in
Part Three, provides the means to monitor processes involving
thermodynamic changes, whether these are intramolecular, such as
conformational transition, or the interactions between solutes or
between a solute and its sol- vent. Part Four is concerned with optical
and infrared spectroscopy and describes applications ranging from the
measurement of protein concentration by UV absorbance to the analysis of
secondary struc- ture using circular dichroism and Fourier-transform
infrared spec- troscopy.
