Book excerpt: Hardbound. This volume covers the dramatic advances which have been made in the lasttwo decades in the understanding of isoprenoid biosynthesis at thechemical, biochemical, and molecular genetic level. Tens of thousands ofisoprenoid metabolites - from pinenes to cholesterol, from ubiquinone tocarotene, from phytols to prenylated proteins, from dolichols togibberellins - have been isolated from essentially all forms of life, including prokaryotes, eukaryotes, and archaebacteria: from Escherichiacoli to mammals, from extremophiles and fungi to marine and terrestrialplants. All of these isoprenoids can be derived from a single, five-carbonacyclic precursor, isopentenyl diphosphate. Early chapters in this Volumedetail the key findings that have led to an understanding of the metabolicpathways leading to isopentenyl diphosphate, including both the classicalroute involving mevalonic acid as well as the recently discoveredpyruvate-triose phosphat