Author Description

This book helps readers better understand the background concepts and practical application of spectrophotometry and spectrofluorimetry. Optical spectroscopy underpins the day-to-day operations of most laboratories in the chemical, biological, and medical sciences. This edition contains substantially updated chapters addressing the principles of most of the more common applications, such as: spectrophotometry, spectrophotometric assays, spectrofluorimetry, time resolved fluorescence and phosphorescence studies, circular dichroism, and pre-equilibrium spectroscopic techniques. In all chapters, the emphasis is placed upon the practical aspects, with protocols to guide readers through test experiments. Several chapters introduce subjects that have traditionally depended upon spectroscopy, such as basic enzyme kinetics, ligand binding, data handling, and the more recent interest in the study of protein and DNA stability. Finally, the concept of 'global analysis' is introduced to provide the reader with an insight into this method of utilizing the vast arrays of experimental data provided by current instrumentation.