''Biopolymers'' are polymeric materials of biological origin, including globular, membrane, and fibrous proteins, polypeptides, nucleic acids, po- saccharides, lipids, etc. and their assembly, although preference to respe- ive subjects may be different among readers who are more interested in their biological significance or industrial and/or medical applications. Nevert- less, characterizing or revealing their secondary structure and dynamics may be an equally very important and useful issue for both kinds of readers. Special interest in revealing the 3D structure of globular proteins, nucleic acids, and peptides was aroused in relation to the currently active Structural Biology. X-ray crystallography and multidimensional solution NMR sp- troscopy have proved to be the standard and indispensable means for this purpose. There remain, however, several limitations to this end, if one intends to expand its scope further. This is because these approaches are not always straightforward to characterize fibrous or membrane proteins owing to extreme difficulty in crystallization in the former, and insufficient spectral resolution due to sparing solubility or increased effective molecular mass in the presence of surrounding lipid bilayers in the latter.

When considering the biological significance and industrial and medical applications of biopolymers, it is crucial to know details of their secondary structure, dynamics and assembly. The biopolymers include globular, membrane and fibrous proteins, polypeptides, nucleic acids, polysaccharides and lipids. Solid state NMR spectroscopy has proved to be the most suitable and unrivaled means for investigations of biopolymers. The major advantage of solid state NMR spectroscopy is that the resulting line widths can be manipulated experimentally and are not influenced by motional fluctuation of proteins under consideration as a whole.

Solid State NMR Spectroscopy for Biopolymers: Principles and Applications provides a comprehensive account on how the conformation and dynamics of such biopolymers can be revealed by solid state NMR spectroscopy. Special efforts have been made towards the historical and chronological consequences of a variety of applications and the dynamic aspects of the biopolymer system. In particular, the authors emphasise how important it is to record the most simple DD-MAS (one pulse excitation with high power decoupling) as a mean of locating very flexible portions of membrane proteins and membrane associated peptides. The authors also demonstrate that dynamic features of membrane proteins with a timescale of fast (108 Hz) and intermediate (104 -105 Hz) fluctuation motions can be revealed easily by specific suppression of peaks.

The complexity and heterogeneity of biological systems has posed an immense challenge in recent years. An increasingly important tool for obtaining molecular and atomic scale information on a range of large biological molecules and cellular components is solid-state NMR. This technique can address fascinating problems in structural biology, including the arrangement of supramolecular complexes and fibril formation in relation to molecular folding, misfolding and aggregation. Advances in Biological Solid-State NMR brings the reader up to date with chapters from international leaders of this growing field, covering the most recent developments in the methodology and applications of solid-state NMR to studies of membrane interactions and molecular motions. A much needed discussion of membrane systems is detailed alongside important developments in in situ analysis. Topics include applications to biological membranes, membrane active peptides, membrane proteins, protein assemblies and in-cell NMR. This exposition of an invaluable technique will interest those working in a range of related spectroscopic and biological fields. A basic introduction invites those interested to familiarise themselves with the basic mathematical and conceptual foundations of solid-state NMR. A thorough and comprehensive discussion of this promising technique follows, which is essential reading for those working or studying at postgraduate level in this exciting field.