EDITORIAL REVIEWS
Product Description Why are leaves green and blood red? The answer lies with one family of pigments, the porphyrins and their relatives. These pigments are also responsible for the fundamental energetic processes that make life as we know it possible. The properties of these colorful molecules are now being investigated for use in a wide range of applications, from cancer therapy to microelectronics. The Colours of Life is intended to be an introduction to the porphyrins and their role in life.
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 1 review)
This is perhaps the only current text on porphyrins. This is perhaps the only current textbook on porphyrins, most other books being severely outdated. I use this book to provide my graduate students a quick introduction to porphyrin chemistry. The book's main strength, in my opinion, is that it places comparable amounts of emphasis on chemical and biological aspects. Regarding the chemical aspects (at least), I would have preferred a somewhat more advanced level, that would have allowed a bit more detailed and rigorous discussions on, say, synthesis, metalloporphyrin electronic structure, etc. Thus, I feel that a special topic course on porphyrin chemistry could not be primarily based on this book, but this book certainly deserves being on the required reading list. The book is fun to read. There are no other recent books covering the same subject. It's certainly a worthwhile purchase for anyone with more than a passing interest in porphyrin chemistry. July 20, 1998