Rating: 
Summary: A descent book for beginners
Review: Before making any critics about this book I should stress upon the fact that the authors well deserve a four star rating for this most readable book, both for the writing style and for the contents. Almost everything written is clear, concise and well presented. The captions are of high quality and if you ever buy this book feel sure that you are not wasting your money! I am referring in particular to chapter 16: Genetics of Bacteria and Bacteriophages which in reality is quite tricky but here presented with simple words. You may not have to read it more than once for you will understand it right from the first lecture. For in-depth study though you might need something more advanced!
However I did not really appreciate the way the fluctuation test of S.Luria and M.Delbruk was presented nor was the following work of J.Cairns and B.Hall in chapter 14: Gene mutation, DNA repair and Transposable elements. There seems to lack the true essence of it. Furthermore the existence of mutational hotspots is limited to a subsection only of chapter 14 and a few lines on the work of S.Benzer. Even B.Lewin in Genes VII gives a better treatment of mutational hotspots. Finally I would have expected a chapter on Mutations to talk about mutator mutations as possible ways to increase or decrease the spontaneous mutation rate but no such references were made.
Despite these few things, if you love genetics or need an introductory course be sure that this book is meant for you!
Rating:
Summary: A descent book for beginners
Review: Before making any critics about this book I should stress upon the fact that the authors well deserve a four star rating for this most readable book, both for the writing style and for the contents. Almost everything written is clear, concise and well presented. The captions are of high quality and if you ever buy this book feel sure that you are not wasting your money! I am referring in particular to chapter 16: Genetics of Bacteria and Bacteriophages which in reality is quite tricky but here presented with simple words. You may not have to read it more than once for you will understand it right from the first lecture. For in-depth study though you might need something more advanced!
However I did not really appreciate the way the fluctuation test of S.Luria and M.Delbruk was presented nor was the following work of J.Cairns and B.Hall in chapter 14: Gene mutation, DNA repair and Transposable elements. There seems to lack the true essence of it. Furthermore the existence of mutational hotspots is limited to a subsection only of chapter 14 and a few lines on the work of S.Benzer. Even B.Lewin in Genes VII gives a better treatment of mutational hotspots. Finally I would have expected a chapter on Mutations to talk about mutator mutations as possible ways to increase or decrease the spontaneous mutation rate but no such references were made.
Despite these few things, if you love genetics or need an introductory course be sure that this book is meant for you!
Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended text on genetics
Review: Concepts of Genetics is an outstanding book. It is the assigned text for a course in genetics that I am taking which is taught through the UC Berkeley Extension program. Course reading assignments cover all but two chapters and so far we have covered about 2/3 of them.I really like the authors' approach to the subject. They do an excellent job of describing complex material in a way that makes it clear and understandable. The many diagrams, drawings and tables are an integral part of the coverage and help significantly to clarify the written explanations. The authors also have a good sense for the history of genetics, describing clearly many key experiments that have been done to establish the key principles. The material has obviously been updated with most recent available results. The authors frequently point out areas of most intense current research. The text is definitely not light reading but if you want to learn the material, you will find it very well presented here.
Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended text on genetics
Review: Concepts of Genetics is an outstanding book. It is the assigned text for a course in genetics that I am taking which is taught through the UC Berkeley Extension program. Course reading assignments cover all but two chapters and so far we have covered about 2/3 of them. I really like the authors' approach to the subject. They do an excellent job of describing complex material in a way that makes it clear and understandable. The many diagrams, drawings and tables are an integral part of the coverage and help significantly to clarify the written explanations. The authors also have a good sense for the history of genetics, describing clearly many key experiments that have been done to establish the key principles. The material has obviously been updated with most recent available results. The authors frequently point out areas of most intense current research. The text is definitely not light reading but if you want to learn the material, you will find it very well presented here.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a good undergraduate text
Review: Have to agree with a previous evaluator....I am taking Genetics at a local college in an attempt to determine whether or not I wish to pursue graduate work in Molecular Biology. Very dry, unreadable, unimaginative. I'm certain there are far superior texts out there....I only wish my professor had chosen one of them. Again, as a previous reader stated, it makes the already difficult subject of genetics that more cumbersome to decipher! It is only the third week of the course so I can't say how I will fare in the class.....but I can unequivocally state that I hate the textbook, and certainly would not recommend it for an undergraduate course!
Rating:
Summary: Not a good undergraduate text
Review: Have to agree with a previous evaluator....I am taking Genetics at a local college in an attempt to determine whether or not I wish to pursue graduate work in Molecular Biology. Very dry, unreadable, unimaginative. I'm certain there are far superior texts out there....I only wish my professor had chosen one of them. Again, as a previous reader stated, it makes the already difficult subject of genetics that more cumbersome to decipher! It is only the third week of the course so I can't say how I will fare in the class.....but I can unequivocally state that I hate the textbook, and certainly would not recommend it for an undergraduate course!
Rating:
Summary: I am very pleased with my purchase:timely, great condition!
Review: I recieved the book in one day and it was in great condition!
Rating: 
Summary: OK, but could have been better
Review: I used this book in an intro genetics course. Now I can't say if it was the professor or the book that made me really dislike the subject, but I think that if it was a really good book I would have come out with a least a little understanding on what genetics is about; I didn't. Something was not right; genetics is supposed to be a booming field, interesting, and cutting edge in terms of research. I did not get this picture from reading this book. Now I must say that the book was easy to read in the sense that they don't try and pack too much material on one page, there are nice illustrations and color photograhs etc. The problem I had with it was that it didn't really explain how to do those complicated genetics problems, those ones where you'd have to predict the percentages of progeny that were pink, spotted, and had one ear if the parents had linked recessive genes on chromosome 17.25 (you get the gist) These were the kinds of problems that we had all year and I just never understood. The professor couldn't explain them, neither could the book, neither could my friends. All in all, genetics was a bad experience for me and this book did not make it any better. I am sure that there are many better texts out there, but I have just been so turned away from genetics that I haven't bothered to look.
Rating:
Summary: I am very pleased with my purchase:timely, great condition!
Review: I used this textbook in as an undergraduate student at Trenton State College. Not only did I find the course incredibly fascinating, the text book was a great complement to the material. I found it to be readable and by no means did it resemble a research paper as one reviewer commented. On a personal note, Dr. Klug, the author of the book, was infact my professor. I imagine that this may have influenced my appreciation of the text but in any case I enjoyed the book and course immensely. Also, for the reviewer who suspected that Dr. Klug was some snobby PhD, he was one of the best professors I had during my college career!
Rating:
Summary: I loved this book.
Review: I used this textbook in as an undergraduate student at Trenton State College. Not only did I find the course incredibly fascinating, the text book was a great complement to the material. I found it to be readable and by no means did it resemble a research paper as one reviewer commented. On a personal note, Dr. Klug, the author of the book, was infact my professor. I imagine that this may have influenced my appreciation of the text but in any case I enjoyed the book and course immensely. Also, for the reviewer who suspected that Dr. Klug was some snobby PhD, he was one of the best professors I had during my college career!
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