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Linear Dichroism and Circular Dichroism: A Textbook on Polarized-Light Spectroscopy (Special Publication)

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Every biochemist has probably more than once been puzzled by questions how to investigate the interactions and structures in various systems of biological molecules, for example, how to probe protein-DNA, DNA-drug or protein-drug interactions. In recent years the techniques of Linear Dichroism (LD) and Circular Dichroism (CD) have emerged as particularly suitable tools to study such systems under conditions that preserve the species in their natural state, for example, in solution as compared to crystal. These techniques can be used as complementary tools to classical X-ray crystallography and NMR and, when the latter are difficult or impossible to implement, LD and CD can lead the investigator forward to important discoveries in simplistic model systems where conditions may be systematically varied. "Linear Dichroism and Circular Dichroism Spectroscopy" provides a comprehensive overview of the state of knowledge and latest development in the field.
What struck me when reading this book was the quantum leap the spectroscopy of linearly polarized light (LD) seems to have taken, now apparently being able, at least under favourable conditions, to even solve 3-D structures of complex systems in solution or membranes. In earlier textbooks on optical activity and circular dichroism, such tools have at best only been capable of detecting conformational changes but not necessarily able to identify them in structural terms. Strikingly, the strength of LD, in comparison to CD, is its simple relationship to how molecules are oriented in a sample - the absorption being simply proportional to cosine square of the angle between the light polarization and the light-absorbing "antenna" in the molecule - this is also basis of the method Site Specific Linear Dichroism by Molecular Replacement, the idea of which is to systematically collect orientations of a set of chromophores each, one at a time, replaced by site-directed mutagenesis in, for example, a big protein-complex structure.
The book begins with a pedagogical introduction of the mechanism of interaction of the polarized light with the matter to be studied. It is richly illustrated with real-life spectral data not only for biologically more common systems such as DNA and proteins, but contains also polarized spectra of a variety of small organic and inorganic compounds that can be of interest either as ligands to the bio-macromolecules or, for example, as building blocks for nanotechnology. The book provides the reader with an experimentally detailed recipe on almost any conceivable application, from how to construct your own measuring or orientation devices to how to recognize and avoid common pitfalls and artifacts when measuring and analyzing spectra. The way the book is organized makes it easy to read for a non-expert: the presentation starts with simpler and more qualitative applications in the beginning and gets gradually more detailed in later more advanced chapters. The book is also very useful for a theoretician, who will appreciate the authors' use of mathematical language to link the observed phenomena with the laws of quantum mechanics.
The book can be well used as an encyclopedic reference guide both for the beginner spectroscopist as well as for a more experienced researcher. In my opinion, it is also suitable as a stand-alone text book for a graduate or post graduate course in optical spectroscopic techniques or as a supporting literature for a biophysical chemistry course.