Medical Microbiology

Rating:
Summary: OF COURSE THERE ARE DEFECTS
Review: Reading Murrays Microbiology prooved to be harder than i thought
I will focus my review in one "setback" because the previous reviewers seem to eagerly praised all the good points :
Of course the how-do-diseases-look-like pictures are extremly helpful but there are only few of them .On the top of that there is the total absence of illustrations for visual learning(so visual learners stay away!)

The very plus of this book is the summary boxes.Microbiology is a tough field with millions os info a student needs to know.At least that way the writters point out the basic that definately must be learned first.Otherwise it may be very easily to get lost in tones of information.
Furthermore i would like to mention the fine artwork and especially the front cover.It may sound dump but its a "psycological triggering".It worked for me!

Rating:
Summary: Very thorough book, must buy
Review: The first thing to understand about this book is that it is a textbook and a difficult one. The difficulty for the beginning student or general reader is not a fault of the authors. Rather it is because medical microbiology itself is a daunting subject full of organisms that can only be seen fuzzily with an electron microscope, if at all, organisms involved in processes and behaviors that are foreign to our everyday experience. Add the fact that most of the material covered here is not part of a non-specialist curriculum either in high school or college, and effectively speaking the untrained reader is starting from scratch.

Well, why do that? First of all, because the material itself--how viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other infectious organisms enter the body, replicate, and cause disease--is fascinating and of immediate relevance to our lives. Second because (to my knowledge) there is little or nothing else available to the general reader that goes beyond a sketchy introduction to the subject. One is forced to read a text book. Fortunately this is a good one and it is thorough.

The text covers the range of infectious disease from viruses to tapeworms. The amount of technical information presented is daunting, and the sheer expanse of terminology a challenge (why is there no glossary?). The text is lavishly illustrated with photos and electron micrographs of the pathogens, as well as numerous schematic drawings showing how microorganisms cause disease, how they replicate, their chemical structure, their morphology, etc.

The instructional schematic drawings I found less valuable than the electron micrographs, but I suspect for the student of microbiology it might be the other way around.

What you'll get out of this handsome book depends on how much time and energy you are able to devote to it. I started reading this in the hope that I would, perhaps by osmosis, pick up some feel for life at the micron level, and I did. Obviously if I had been able to study the text with the help of an instructor, I would have learned a lot more.

Rating:
Summary: How pathogens cause disease
Review: The first thing to understand about this book is that it is a textbook and a difficult one. The difficulty for the beginning student or general reader is not a fault of the authors. Rather it is because medical microbiology itself is a daunting subject full of organisms that can only be seen fuzzily with an electron microscope, if at all, organisms involved in processes and behaviors that are foreign to our everyday experience. Add the fact that most of the material covered here is not part of a non-specialist curriculum either in high school or college, and effectively speaking the untrained reader is starting from scratch.

Well, why do that? First of all, because the material itself--how viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other infectious organisms enter the body, replicate, and cause disease--is fascinating and of immediate relevance to our lives. Second because (to my knowledge) there is little or nothing else available to the general reader that goes beyond a sketchy introduction to the subject. One is forced to read a text book. Fortunately this is a good one and it is thorough.

The text covers the range of infectious disease from viruses to tapeworms. The amount of technical information presented is daunting, and the sheer expanse of terminology a challenge (why is there no glossary?). The text is lavishly illustrated with photos and electron micrographs of the pathogens, as well as numerous schematic drawings showing how microorganisms cause disease, how they replicate, their chemical structure, their morphology, etc.

The instructional schematic drawings I found less valuable than the electron micrographs, but I suspect for the student of microbiology it might be the other way around.

What you'll get out of this handsome book depends on how much time and energy you are able to devote to it. I started reading this in the hope that I would, perhaps by osmosis, pick up some feel for life at the micron level, and I did. Obviously if I had been able to study the text with the help of an instructor, I would have learned a lot more.

Rating:
Summary: Very thorough book, must buy
Review: This book covers every medical microbiology topic that is needed for class exams or the USLME. The book is intensely filled with very elaborated information that any medical student needs to pass his or her exams. My study group and I also used the following for class exams and the USLME and found it extremely helpful. I also purchased this book on amazon which is the following:
Microbiology Study Guide: Key Review Questions and Answers by Patrick Leonardi (ISBN: 0971999635)
The questions in this study guide were on target with my class exams and was an excellent reference for the USLME. Buy both books. Most definitely!!

Rating:
Summary: pretty decent
Review: This is a great book for students...because it's not heavy! Seriously, the chapters are short and concise,heavenly stuff when you're cramming the night before exams.The writing is clear and focused...it doesn't meander off into extreme details. The illustrations are self explanatory...and the pictures are graphic and gross...like they should be in a infectious disease textbook. Too bad there aren't more of them!

Rating:
Summary: Murray - Medical Microbiology
Review: This is an excellent text for the medical student. I used it with success in my clinical microbiology course and can recommend it to any other medical students looking for a comprehensive microbiology text.

This text is well written with a logical sequence and provides detailed information without being superfluous. The only drawback for the non-American student (like me) is that all the epidemiological data is American and some important microbial causes of diseases not endemic in the USA are not included.

All in all, an excellent introductory text for clinical microbiology and infectious disease.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful book on Medical Microbiology! A++
Review: Title says it all. Excellent book for the microbiology student looking at infectious diseases. This book also comes with good use of pictures to describe diseases and their effects. I also would recommend Sherris Medical Microbiology - probably is slightly better, but has no pictures of what infectious disease symptoms look like, would need Atlas of Infectious Diseases the co-inside with that book.

Rating:
Summary: IT'S SUPERLATIVE!
Review: Without questions, this superlative text ranks among the finest and the most up-to-date package on medical microbiology. It demonstrates that this interesting branch of medicine can be both versatile and concise. The book is full of valuable illustrations which students can depend on for quick revisions. Ubiquitous tables, colourful charts and figures all help to accelerate comprehension. Also, there are two additional sections whose chapters handled Immunology and Parasitology in significant detail.
No single textbook may be without shortcomings, but I sincerely recommend this one.