Rating: 
Summary: the best biochemistry textbook I have ever read
Review: I am a biochemistry student in China. I love this book very much. I think every biochemistry student should read this book. I only mean the English edition. The Chinese language edition of Lubert Stryer's biochemistry is very difficult to understand because of the poor translation.
Rating: 
Summary: DE-STRYER
Review: I am a third semester student of veterinary medicine and have as such used Stryer as the requiered reading for my biochem course. I find the book confusing and difficult to overlook. The way chapters are divided do not make much sense. Espcially the devision of the DNA parts. The language is also somewhat complicated particullary for one to whom english is not the main language. The facinating little anecdotes and what not about digitalis and Benjamin Franklin could just aswell have been notes insted of a part of the text. In genral a confusing book.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent introduction to modern structural biochemistry.
Review: I had the pleasure of using this book as a primary text in an introductory biochemistry class taught by Dr. D. Christianson at the University of Pennsylvania. The book was a lucid, well-researched introduction to this broad science with up-to-date examples. The criticism that it includes too much for an introductory course is entirely ill-founded; with a good instructor and an interest in the subject, certainly any student can learn a great deal from this text.
Rating:
Summary: The best biochem text on the market!
Review: I have used Stryer's Biochemistry in my undergraduate biochem course. I found it to be an excellent supplement, if not an occasional replacement, to classroom instruction. I then used it in my dental biochem course in dental school, and once again, I found it to be the best reference there is! It is well written and easy to understand. The illustrations, tables, and other figures served as an excellent reinforcement.
Rating: 
Summary: The best Biochemistry Book for Serious Readers
Review: I have used this book for 14 years in courses and as a reference. It is so comprehensive that any reasonable question that is fair game for a general reference is answerable. I couldn't agree more that it is not as cohesive as it could be and could use revision by someone who is a sharp editor but not necessarily an expert biochemist. Too bad this does amplify the need for a good instructor and surpress its utility as a self taught course. However, anyone with a basic chemistry background could stumble through it, gain the desired level of expertise. In my undergrad couse, those of us who mastered the subject (without exception people who had seen the material before, or as the book lends itself, those who hadn't been exposed, but succeeded by turning the course into a religious experience.) Some of the most capable students failed because of the sheer volume of material vs. their overall time demands. Thus, as an owner's manual the book is a 3, as a textbook, a 9.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book for Starters!
Review: I have used this book for my Undergraduate program.I highly recommend it for anybody for a considerable in-depth knowledge on every aspect of basic biochemistry. It has variety, has very good, colorful illustrations, not too flashy, but one that's just right. It will be really helpful if you can read the whole book and absorb it!!!
Rating:
Summary: The best biochem book that I've used!!
Review: I'm using this book for an undergrad biochem text, and I have never been very good at it, but this book is very helpful because it's easy to read and very well organised. It makes studying easier because it explains in a way that isn't complicated, and is concise so that it doesn't take forever to get through one section. I'd recommend it to any undergrad studying biochem.
Rating:
Summary: One step forward, one step back from previous edition
Review: OK, it seems that the new authors of the 5th edition actually took to heart soem of the amazon.com critiques of the 4th edition. The chapters are more structured, and the worst chapters of the previous editions have been completely overhauled. There is a modest increase in the amount of quantitative materrial, although its quality still cannot rival some other biochem textbooks targeting the same audience (e.g. the wonderful Mathews, van Holde and Ahern text).The 5th edition also succumbed to a malaise common to most textbooks when they are taken over by a different set of authors: an absolute overkill of "new pedagogical features". Icons, boxes, keywords, conceptual insights, structural insights etc. belong well to a study guide, but here they just interrupt the flow of the exposition unnecesarily. The simplicity of layout and the illustrations was one of the strengths of previous editions, and it seems to be lost here. Also, without questioning the importance of the structural data that accumulated over the past decade, I am very doubtfull of the pedagogical value of their extensive use to explain basic biochemical concepts: way too often they just add additional complexity that moots the point the authors are trying to convey. Just look at the figure 10.21 - without the accompanying animation, it is about the poorest (least illustrative) depiction of the T to R transition in hemoglobin I have ever seen. Overall, it is an updated text that will please Stryer fans. Those using other textbooks (Mathews, Lehninger) will have no reason whatsoever to switch to this one.
Rating:
Summary: A must for the graduate and post graduate students.
Review: Stryer has once again in his style has come up with a biochemistry text book which includes all the major achievements in the previous years. The chapters have been rewritten and new material added in each chapter. The figures and illustrations have been redrawn and are very simple to understand. The simplicity in descriptions by stryer makes him one of the most read authors among biochemists.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, comprehensive and precise
Review: Stryer's biochemistry is a very well-known text in the field. This book contains hundreds of topics but the author explains them so concisely and understandably. It may not be a good text book for a beginner to start learning some biochemistry language ( I recommend Lehninger's for this purpose) but for someone in the field, this text can serve you more than a simple reference. I hope the new edition of this text will come up soon and I am quite sure that Stryer will do a great job editing his creation with many new concepts this edition does not cover. Overall, this text deserves an five-star comment.
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