Preface to the English Edition
The basic idea of the book and the disposition of
chapters has not been changed from that of the
German edition of 1990. The rapid progress in
general and comparative biochemistry, however,
had made it necessary to actualize the text and
incorporate the many new facts and ideas that
have emerged since summer 1988 when the German edition was completed.
In preparing the revised version, I have
researched completely the original literature up
to the end of 1991. As in the German edition, the
references given in each chapter always refer to
the latest works, and this could allow the reader
access to earlier papers. Of a total of more than
4600 references, about 2100 were published later
than July 1988 and so were not contained in the
German version. As it was not possible to augment the total number of references, because of
space limitations, a corresponding number of
older references have been omitted.
I wish to thank Springer Verlag for generous
cooperation during the preparation of the English
edition. I feel particulary grateful to Dr. Patrick J.
King who has succeded admirably in translating
the author's sometimes rather individual German
into good English and so has helped to propagate
further ideas of comparative biochemistry.
Mainz, Spring 1993
KLAUS URICH
The basic idea of the book and the disposition of
chapters has not been changed from that of the
German edition of 1990. The rapid progress in
general and comparative biochemistry, however,
had made it necessary to actualize the text and
incorporate the many new facts and ideas that
have emerged since summer 1988 when the German edition was completed.
In preparing the revised version, I have
researched completely the original literature up
to the end of 1991. As in the German edition, the
references given in each chapter always refer to
the latest works, and this could allow the reader
access to earlier papers. Of a total of more than
4600 references, about 2100 were published later
than July 1988 and so were not contained in the
German version. As it was not possible to augment the total number of references, because of
space limitations, a corresponding number of
older references have been omitted.
I wish to thank Springer Verlag for generous
cooperation during the preparation of the English
edition. I feel particulary grateful to Dr. Patrick J.
King who has succeded admirably in translating
the author's sometimes rather individual German
into good English and so has helped to propagate
further ideas of comparative biochemistry.
Mainz, Spring 1993
KLAUS URICH