Protein Condensation. By J. D. Gunton, A. Shiryayev and D. L. Pagan. Pp. xii+364. Cambridge University Press, 2007. Price (hardback) £70 (US$ 135). ISBN 978-0-521-85121-3.

This book deals with the phase transitions, self-assembly and aggregation of proteins in solution. Its primary purpose is to bring to an interdisciplinary audience the state of the art in current research. The book discusses issues related to the production of high-quality protein crystals from solution, in which the bottleneck is crystal nucleation. The main challenge is to determine the initial solution conditions so that optimal crystal nucleation occurs. The book also discusses diseases that occur because of undesired protein condensation, as, for example, sickle-cell anemia, cataracts and Alzheimer's disease. Current experimental and theoretical work on these diseases aims to understand the diseases at a fundamental molecular level, in order to prevent the undesired condensation from occurring. Contents: 1, Introduction; 2, Globular protein structure; 3, Experimental methods; 4, Thermodynamics and statistical mechanics; 5, Protein–protein interactions; 6, Theoretical studies of equilibrium; 7, Nucleation theory; 8, Experimental studies of nucleation; 9, Lysozyme; 10, Some other globular proteins; 11, Membrane proteins; 12, Crystallins and cataracts; 13, Sickle hemoglobin and sickle cell anemia; 14, Alzheimer's disease; 621 References; Index.