When Topology Meets Chemistry: A Topological Look at Molecular Chirality

ISBN-13: 9780521664820 / Angielski / Miękka / 2000 / 256 str.

Erica Flapan

Opis

In this superb topology text, the readers not only learn about knot theory, 3-dimensional manifolds, and the topology of embedded graphs, but also their role in understanding molecular structures. Most results described in the text are motivated by the questions of chemists or molecular biologists, though they often go beyond answering the original question asked. No specific mathematical or chemical prerequisites are required. The text is enhanced by nearly 200 illustrations and 100 exercises. With this fascinating book, undergraduate mathematics students escape the world of pure abstract theory and enter that of real molecules, while chemists and biologists find simple and clear but rigorous definitions of mathematical concepts they handle intuitively in their work.

Recenzje

'If you are a chemist … looking for applications of low dimensional topology in the natural sciences, this is a book you should own … serves as an excellent introduction to the field for a topologist looking for interesting applications of topology in science. The book is well produced with many useful diagrams and with exercises that range from easy to intriguing. This book is definitely on my 'buy list'.' Stuart Whittington, SIAM Review

Spis treści

1. Stereochemical topology; 2. Detecting chirality; 3. Chiral moebius ladders and related molecular graphs; 4. Different types of chirality and achirality; 5. Embeddings of complete graphs in 3-space; 6. Rigid and non-rigid symmetries of graphs in 3-space; 7. Topology of DNA.