Eckert Animal Physiology: Mechanisms and Adaptations

Rating:
Summary: A physiology instructor weighs in on this book
Review: I have been teaching University-level physiology for over 10 years. I have used at least a dozen books, from the "essentials" to the "encyclopedic". For a one-semester course on physiology that emphasizes recurring mechanisms from a cellular and organ-level perspective, with a great introduction to ecological physiology thrown in, Eckert cannot be beat. In my experience, the vast majority of students respond better to Eckert's illustrations than to the endless flow charts that appear in most of the other books. It nicely fills the niche between "just the basics" essentials texts (which are simply not rigorous enough for biology majors) and the "every little detail" encyclopedic texts that most students find bewildering. If I had to learn animal physiology from just one textbook, this would be it; and I'd save the cell & molecular details from one of THOSE specialty texts instead. The ONLY criticism I have about Eckert is its nearly complete lack of consideration of the immune system.

Rating:
Summary: A physiology instructor weighs in on this book
Review: I have been teaching University-level physiology for over 10 years. I have used at least a dozen books, from the "essentials" to the "encyclopedic". For a one-semester course on physiology that emphasizes recurring mechanisms from a cellular and organ-level perspective, with a great introduction to ecological physiology thrown in, Eckert cannot be beat. In my experience, the vast majority of students respond better to Eckert's illustrations than to the endless flow charts that appear in most of the other books. It nicely fills the niche between "just the basics" essentials texts (which are simply not rigorous enough for biology majors) and the "every little detail" encyclopedic texts that most students find bewildering. If I had to learn animal physiology from just one textbook, this would be it; and I'd save the cell & molecular details from one of THOSE specialty texts instead. The ONLY criticism I have about Eckert is its nearly complete lack of consideration of the immune system.

Rating:
Summary: Scholastic perfection
Review: I've been in an accredited university for fifteen years studying the intricacies of physiology. I have never come across a book that was executed to such perfection. The photos are astonishing in their clarity and intimate setting. The narration is concise and very clear, almost to the point where you want to phone the author and congratulate him on his accomplishment. If you are thinking of pursuing any kind of biological/medical field than I highly recommend this fine piece of art. It will soon be Shakespearean in its influence. Don't trust the simple words of my fellow plebian reviewers; this book is the second coming of the Bible.

Rating:
Summary: a good book about general animal physiological mechanisms
Review: It's a good book about animal physiological mechanisms. The explanations about fine mechanisms of animal adaptations to a wide range of environments are very good. It's not too good about the molecular mechanisms of the physiological processes. Lodish or Alberts, for exemple are better.

Rating:
Summary: This book is a total waste
Review: Poor illustration, lengthy text,and not very well updated

Rating:
Summary: A Horrible book!
Review: The author can not explain the molecular aspects of biological processes well. The figures were fine but there are so many books that are far better than this. The author seriously needs to take some writing classes. I had to use another book in conjunction with this one, inorder to make sure I got the concepts correct. Compared to the other book, Eckert Animal Physiology is nothing!

Rating:
Summary: Terrible review questions!
Review: The review questions at the end of each chapter are too far-fetched from the chapter readings.