Since the first edition of Biochemical Thermodynamics in 1979, the application of thermodynamics to the study of biochemical and biological systems has continued to advance and has given rise to an expanding body of literature. These advances have arisen largely for two reasons.

Since the first edition of Biochemical Thermodynamics in 1979, the application of thermodynamics to the study of biochemical and biological systems has continued to advance and has given rise to an expanding body of literature. These advances have arisen largely for two reasons. Firstly, the development of more sensitive and more versatile calorimetric equipment has extended the range of direct enthalpy measurements to smaller heat effects in a wide variety of systems. Secondly, rapid and significant advances have taken place in the field of molecular biology. Such developments have prompted the design of new and sophisticated experiments and also led to a better understanding of thermodynamic data in molecular terms. As with the first edition, the volume starts with studies on peptides and model systems and passes on to macromolecules and systems of increasing complexity. Apart from the sections dealing with basic thermodynamics most of the chapters are completely new and relate to literature which has appeared since the first edition.