The Cell: bacteria, plants, animals -- Introduction to Biomolecules: amino acids, carbohydrates, lipids, nucleotides -- Macromolecules: Proteins, RNA, DNA, membranes -- Enzymes and mechanisms -- Enzyme Kinetics -- Coenzymes and Vitamins -- Introduction to Metabolism -- Carbohydrate Metabolism A: Monosaccharides -- TCA and Glyoxylate Cycles -- Electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation -- Carbohydrate Metabolism B: Di-,Oligo-, and Polysaccharide Metabolism -- Lipid Metabolism: Fatty Acid Synthesis and Degradation -- Amino Acid Metabolism -- Purine and Pyrimidine Nucleotide Metabolism -- Photosynthesis and the Calvin Cycle -- DNA,  RNA, and Protein Metabolism.

This textbook, Essentials of  Biochemistry is aimed at chemistry and biochemistry undergraduate students and first year biochemistry graduate students. It incorporates the lectures of the authors given to students with a strong chemistry background. An emphasis is placed on metabolism and reaction mechanisms and how they are studied. As the title of the book implies, the text lays the basis for an understanding of the fundamentals of biochemistry.