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Title: Essential Cell Biology: An introducton to the Molecular Biology of the Cell by Bruce Alberts, Dennis Bray, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Robert, Peter Walter, Keith Roberts ISBN: 0-8153-2045-0 Publisher: Garland Science Pub. Date: 01 July, 1997 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $79.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.64 (14 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: An excellent introduction to cell biology
Comment: I used this book as a studying supplement during the cell biology module of my first-year biology course. It explains key cell biology concepts clearly, thoroughly and concisely. The text is very well written and has wonderful photographs and diagrams throughout. Updated and recent biological and biomedical findings are used to further tie in the concepts of cell biology. Those that prefer a more detailed source of information should look to Molecular Biology of the Cell, but for beginners, Essential Cell Biology is an excellent place to start.
Rating: 3
Summary: A fairly useful introduction to cell biology
Comment: This is a beautifully presented book. My students like it enormously, because of the conversational style, the illustrations, and the overall readibility -and this is perhaps the highest aim a textbook can aspire to achieve.
However, I find that the authors have gone too far in their attempt to abridge and simplify their previous opus -Molecular Biology of the Cell (MBOC): some topics are insufficiently or superficially discussed. Also, the style is slightly verbose at times. Finally, I think that the book could benefit from some reorganization.
The following examples illustrate my point.
*Osmosis is given a very brief mention.(p 382).
*The repulsion for anything mathematic continues the tradition started by MBOC. The Nernst equation, is given just a little box in page 393. The Donnan effect doesn't even have a walk-on part.
*The discussion of action potential contains the usual story of the voltage gated K+ channels, when these channels are not found in myelinated mammalian neurons.
*Myelin itself is not even mentioned.
*The discussion on G protein-linked receptors -a key topic- is very superficial.
*Membrane potential is introduced in a rather convoluted fashion. Furthermore, the concept is used several times before it is finally explained.
*Certain sections may leave the reader confused. For example p53 is described as a gene regulatory protein which arrests the cycle when DNA damage occurs (p 580). But when tumor suppressor genes are discussed, only retinoblastoma is given as an example, which would tend to convey the mistaken idea that p53 is not a tumor suppressor gene.
Rating: 5
Summary: A lively and clear introduction to cell biology
Comment: I read this book during the summer prior to me senior year in high school, and literally could not put it down. I read the whole work cover-to-cover in a week.
Going in, my background in biology was an introductory cell biology course and my background in chemistry was an introductory chemistry class. That I had little formal training in the sciences was irrelevant when reading this; it explains all the concepts so clearly that I think even a person with no background in science at all could understand it. The diagrams and photos are well-done and highly pertinent.
This is not to say that this book is only for non-scientists. Indeed, I even used knowledge gleaned from this fantastic book to teach my teachers a thing or two. Perhaps the section on muscle contraction is the best written of all - no other book I have ever seen comes close to this in clarity, and this section was one that I recommended to my Anatomy and Physiology teacher for clarification about a few concepts.
I am soon to be a sophomore in college, and this book continues to inspire me on my path to be a professor (I study chemistry with an emphasis on chemical biology). This book was invaluable even in a rigorous microbiology course, not to mention other introductory courses.
In summary, I rarely leave home for extended periods without this text (literally). If there is ONE BOOK that you should buy for studying cellular and molecular biology, let it be this one (or, if you are so inclined, its larger brother, Molecular Biology of the Cell).
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Title: Molecular Biology of the Cell by Bruce Alberts, Alexander Johnson, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, Peter Walter ISBN: 0815332181 Publisher: Garland Science Pub. Date: March, 2002 List Price(USD): $110.00 |
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Title: Molecular Cell Biology by Harvey F. Lodish, Arnold Berk, Paul Matsudaira, Chris A. Kaiser, Monty Krieger, Matthew P. Scott, S. Lawrence Zipursky, James Darnell ISBN: 0716743663 Publisher: W H Freeman & Co. Pub. Date: August, 2003 List Price(USD): $126.40 |
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Title: Organic Chemistry (5th Edition) by Leroy G. Wade ISBN: 013033832X Publisher: Prentice Hall Pub. Date: 26 August, 2002 List Price(USD): $141.33 |
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Title: General Chemistry : Principles and Structure by James E. Brady ISBN: 0471621315 Publisher: Wiley Text Books Pub. Date: 01 January, 1990 List Price(USD): $116.95 |
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Title: Biochemistry by Charles M. Grisham, Reginald H. Garrett ISBN: 0030223180 Publisher: Brooks Cole Pub. Date: 19 October, 1998 List Price(USD): $143.95 |
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