Outlines of biochemistry : the organic chemistry and the physico-chemical reactions of biologically important compounds and systems / Ross Aiken Gortner.

  • Ross Aiken Gortner
Date:
1929
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Outlines of biochemistry : the organic chemistry and the physico-chemical reactions of biologically important compounds and systems / Ross Aiken Gortner. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ate the assistance which chemical knowledge and chemical technic can offer to the solution of the major problems. When, in 1913, Professor R. W. Thatcher was called to the Uni- versity of Minnesota, he inaugurated a course of lectures on “Phyto- chemistry” and taught the course until he became Dean of the Depart- ment of Agriculture in 1917, at which time Dr. C. A. Morrow assumed charge of the lecture work in “Phytochemistry” and supervision of the parallel laboratory course in “Biochemical Laboratory Methods.” Dr. Morrow remained in charge of both courses until his unfortunate illness in the spring of 1922, following which illness the responsibility for the lecture work was assumed by the present author, and upon resumption of active duties Dr. Morrow was left free to devote his entire energies to the development of the associated laboratory phases of the work. His success in this task is attested by the practical com- pletion of the manuscript of the laboratory manual, “Biochemical Laboratory Methods,” which appeared posthumously from the press of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., in 1927. The course of lectures upon which the present volume is based must not therefore be regarded as the product of a single individual, for it embodies primarily the efforts of three men who have actually taught the course, and in addition the advice, cooperation, and criticism of all other persons who from time to time have been members of the Staff of the Division of Agricultural Biochemistry. During the year 1925-26 the present author prepared a series of mimeographed lecture outlines as an aid to the students in the class- room. These outlines were somewhat revised in the summer of 1927 and issued to the students in bound mimeographed form. The present volume follows, in general, the topics as presented in these outlines, although the scope of the field has been greatly expanded. All of the reactions and interactions which we call life take place in a colloid system, and the author believes that much of the “vital energy” can in the last analysis be traced back to energies character- istic of surface films and interfaces. This belief is the justification for the detailed consideration of colloid systems which forms the first section of the volume. In the subsequent sections dealing with proteins, carbohydrates, fats, etc., those organic compounds characteristic of living tissues, particular attention has been paid to structural organic chemistry and organic and physico-chemical reactions. No attempt has been made to produce a “handbook” of biochemical compounds or a “descriptive biochemistry” detailing the chemical properties, crystal structure, etc., of the various compounds. There are already many volumes covering
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