The application of circular dichroism (CD) to various problems involving
con- formation of proteins and other biopolymers is emphasized in this
revised and enlarged second edition. The usefulness of CD and ORD in
helping to solve structural prob- lems is demonstrated by many examples,
and the most essential data are tabulated. The author is sincerely
grateful to the editors of the series Molecular Biology, Bio- chemistry
and Biophysics, especially to Professor GEORG F. SPRINGER, M.D., for
their interest in this edition, as well as to the many reviewers for
their constructive criticism of the first edition of this book. Our
previously unpublished work reported in this second edition was
supported in part by grants from the R. A. Welch Foundation (grant
G-051) and U.S. Public Health Service (grant CA-01785). Houston,
September 1973 B. JIRGENSONS Preface to the First Edition Great advances
have been made in the application of physical methods in the study of
the structure of proteins and other biological macromolecules. Optical
rotatory dispersion has been successful in solving structural problems,
and a vast amount of literature has accumulated on this subject. Several
review articles appeared between 1961 and 1965, but significant progress
has been made since 1965. Important new studies, especially on the
Cotton effects in the far ultraviolet spectrum, have rendered many
previous publications obsolete so that a concise monograph should be
useful at this time.