The idea for publishing these books on the mechanism of action and on the biosynthesis of antibiotics was born of frustration in our attempts to keep abreast of the literature. Gone were the years when we were able to keep a biblio- graphy on antibiotics and feel confident that we could find everything that was being published on this subject. These fields of investigation were moving for- ward so rapidly and were encompassing so wide a range of specialized areas in microbiology and chemistry that it was almost impossible to keep abreast of developments. In our naivete and enthusiasm,...