Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry (LANGE Basic Science)

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Summary: Not only a biochemistry text... molecular biology too!!!
Review: Not only is this an excellent text on biochemistry, it also gives you the essentials in molecular biology. The book has excellent illustrations and even focuses on many clinical aspects. The book, however is not an easy read; but then again, biochemistry and molecular bio are not easy subjects. I think this excellent text coupled with a high yield molecular biology book, and lippincott's ever so famous biochemistry would be more than enough for any medical student to ace biochemistry and molecular biology!

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Summary: Biochem Hell
Review: Not only is this book hard to read... it's also too detailed! I read other texts just to get a grip on concepts that are not really emphasized (and should be) in this little book.

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Summary: It Is Not A Textbook ! It Is A Referance Book!
Review: The book, at least from my point of view, is not a good book to grasp the core concepts of Biochemistry from at the beginning of your biochemistry course.Actually,it is a tool by which you can get a deep understanding of the subject by the aid of other books that can give you the full picture of Biochemistry. Its advantage is in that it covers in details many of the topics that other books usually do not cover. I remember many times finding myself opening the book looking for some details that some professors mention as extra bits which are not found in the other textbooks and present in this book. I recommend it as a reference book for medical students but not a textbook.

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Summary: Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry
Review: This edition is brilliant. The authors did a fantastic job in displaying such difficult information. The chapter summaries are key for holistic understanding, and the illustrations are very simplistic and highly memorable. Indeed, a job well done. It is perfect for any medical biochemistry course, and the added molecular biology completes the biochemical literature.

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Summary: Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry
Review: This edition is brilliant. The authors did a fantastic job in displaying such difficult information. The chapter summaries are key for holistic understanding, and the illustrations are very simplistic and highly memorable. Indeed, a job well done. It is perfect for any medical biochemistry course, and the added molecular biology completes the biochemical literature.

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Summary: Detailed information presented in a succinct manner
Review: This is the best biochemistry book for medical students on the market. Medical students need a biochemistry textbook that balances detail with brevity. Harper's biochem does this very well. The chapters are well organized, well written and quite short. The brevity of each chapter makes it easy to digest in one sitting. It also allows specificity as you do not have to scan large chapters looking for information. There is a good balance of diagrams and text and the diagrams are of good quality. The 26th edition is shorter than the 25th edition and the information is more condensed, some chapters have been removed and the information incorporated into existing chapters. Many of the excellent diagrams are retained from the 25th edition. I recommend this text to all medical students.

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Summary: Excellent!
Review: This textbook is the most useful and reliable one especially for students of medical school.@Other textbooks of biochemistry usually mention only biochemical matters, but Harper's always stands from the viewpoint of clinical medicine. Each biochemical facts are followed by clinical facts and cases and its clinical knowledge is really useful. This will help you study not only biochemistry but also internal meicine with full of new findings and knowledge. This book is my favourite and will be your favourite, too!

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Summary: Possible errors.
Review: To VictorW.Rodwell, Purdue University. Respected Sir, I suppose there are two possible errors in your textbook named "Harper's Biochemistry". 1-In chapter 3[WATER AND pH],page24,under the heading "pK values Depend on the Properties of the Medium": In the second last sentence where it says with a decrease in the dielectric constant the pK for an acid whose conjugate base is charged, LOWERS.I suppose the pK should INCREASE rather than decreasing. 2-In chapter 7[PROTEINS:MYOGLOBIN AND HEMOGLOBIN],page 70,under the heading "Adaptation to High Altitude": The last sentence says,increased concentration of BPG DECREASE P50.I suppose P50 should INCREASE. Please let me know whether i have overlooked some facts or whether these are geniune errors. Please inform me at the earliest at my Email adddress: [e-mail] Thanking you. Yours truly, Dr Bhaskar Purushottam.

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Summary: It is really a hard book to read
Review: We use the book as our biochemistry textbook. But it is very hard to read. I seldom can find satisfatory answer in this book, and sometimes even confused with the words. On the other hand, although the figure in the book is not enchanted, it is very clear. In summary, it may be a good book for someone who wants to review biochemistry, but not a good introductory book for students.