Molecular Biology of the Cell

Rating:
Summary: Better than Lodish
Review: This text by Alberts et al remains better than Molecular Cell Biology by Lodish et al. It is both comprehensive and clear to follow. It remains the standard for upper level undergraduate and first year graduate level courses. It is quite outdated, however, and a 4th edition is needed.

Rating:
Summary: Overrated =P
Review: Maybe the following comment is a result of the fact that the UCI dept mandates that the students buy the book for the BIO 109 course. Whatever the case, this is one of the worst bio books I've ever read. Their explanations were confusing and there were major typos/mistakes w/in the flow charts they presented in the chart.

Rating:
Summary: Better, but not the best
Review: The 4th edition is much better than the 3rd mainly due to its readability (the color is nice too). The ease of use and understandability is still not up to the level of Nelson and Cox's "Lehninger." MBC does cover more basics than the Lehninger, but it is less intuitive and more diffucult to read.

Rating:
Summary: One of my absolute favorite textbooks...
Review: In graduate school for Neuroscience I had to take a class on molecular biology and biochemistry which was required of all med students whether Ph.D. or M.D. or both. We had five different teachers in the class, three of whom were foreign. Since I was the first Deaf person to take Neuroscience there, they weren't prepared for me...and I ended up taking the class without interpreters! I had to lipread the teachers. If it hadn't been for this particular textbook, I would never had made it through! I am not kidding anyone by saying this. YOu can take a class with just this textbook for information and still pass with flying colors. That is how well this text is written. For once, the book was written with the student in mind, not the peers of the authors. It was written to teach the same information that the authors had in such a way as to make it understandable. Not only did I use this text in this class but in most of my classes at med school. When I started working on HIV encephalitis in my chosen lab for two years, I was not surprised to find this book on the shelves...and we all referred to it constantly. I applaud the authors for a job well done, and if I ever write a textbook, this will be the one I use to follow as an appropriate way to write curriculum. The amount of pictures and graphs were especially great for teaching Deaf students and I intend to use it for such. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

Rating:
Summary: 4ed of molecular biology of the cell
Review: A new fourth edition of B. Alberts, et al. book Molecular Biology of the Cell, ISBN 0815332181, Garland Publishers is listed in the medscape bookstore for future publication. I don't know what price Amazon will list it at when it comes out.

Rating:
Summary: The best textbook I've ever used
Review: This beautiful textbook does not talk down to its readers. Many of the subjects discussed are difficult, but the authors do an outstanding job of explaining things clearly, and the illustrations are superb. The authors cover an amazing amount of material (the book is a little uneven - the parts on replication, translation, transcription, and development are all top-notch, while the chapters on signalling and the cytoskeleton range from decent to poorly written and confusing at times), and the book really does inspire the reader to learn more about the field. This work makes Baltimore et al's book look cartoonish by comparison. Excellent.

Rating:
Summary: This book is one of the best books I have ever read.
Review: I am studying mathematics and computer science, but love biology very much. In Russia I bought Russian translation of the 2nd ed of this book. It was in three volumes. It was so beautiful to read that I couldn't stop even when I had to prepare for the (math) exams. The book provides the Big Picture of the subject, is scientifically deep and up-to-date, and is easily understandable for a (educated) non-specialist. It has plenty of extraordinary illustrations. The authors, editors and translators, thank you all very much!

Rating:
Summary: Beware if you're looking for the new edition
Review: I purchased this edition hoping that it had been updated since the 1995 edition. However, this is the same book as the 1995 edition, except it has a CD-ROM to accompany it. In my opinion, the only people who will find the CD-ROM useful are beginning students of molecular biology. The illustrations in the book are good to begin with which largely negate the need for this CD-ROM.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: An marvellous and expansive comprehensive textbook about cellular and molecular biology. This edition is updated throughout to keep pace with recent research advances, particularly in signal transduction, gene regulation, control of cell division, and developmental biology. It also features an increased emphasis on immunology and cancer and DNA techniques.

Rating:
Summary: This is a bible for all biology majoring students
Review: The content in this book is well up to date, and almost all the fundumental knoledge about biology, not only molucular biology, are available. The diagrams shown here are very comprehensible and clear. This book helps all the people who is majoring biology-oriented fields, from beginneres to experts! Buy one!