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Thirteen years elapsed between the publication of the contributions to the first and second conferences on physicochemical mechanisms of nerve activity and muscular contraction. As emphasized in the introductory remarks by the editor, momentous developments have taken place and, "for the biologist in particular, completely new horizons have been opened that justify the hope of achieving one of his ultimate aims, namely, to understand the living cell on a molecular level in terms of physics and chemistry."
This series of papers provides an interesting, informative, and at times provocative exposition of the current thinking on the following subjects: physical and chemical aspects of nerve impulse conduction; neuromuscular and synaptic transmission; sensory receptors; muscle fibers and fibrils; excitation-contraction coupling, and mechanochemistry. Throughout, the general pattern of emphasis is on ion movements, electrical potentials, ultrastructure, and energetics. Twenty papers are included in this volume. Most intriguing to the reviewer were the presentations