At the Bench: A Laboratory Navigator

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, readable and very useful lab guide
Review: "At the Bench: A Laboratory Navigator" by Dr. Barker is a marvelously crafted, enormously useful and entertaining guide for the laboratory neophyte. Dr. Barker has managed to distill the collective wisdom and intuitive flair of experimentalists of the last three decades into a a survival kit no bench worker should be without. While the purpose of the book is to introduce the wonders and terrors of the lab to the uniniatiated the wealth of useful information contained in this volume make it a valuable addition for the more sophisticated bench scientist. I don't know of a single volume which provides everything from buffer recipes to half-lifes of common isotopes, principles of centrifugation to growth media for bacterial strains, to name but a few examples.

The volume follows the new lab worker from his first day on the job through the ins and outs of assimilating into the lab. Tips are provided on who runs the show (the secretary and senior tech) to how to get started (do an experiment the first week). The reader is instructed on how to make friends, when to speak up and when to hold back. While much of this advise is simple common sense, having it made explicit is no doubt reassuring and worthwhile. Dr. Barker makes it clear that the integrity of the data are paramount, as they should be, and this message is explicit. The majority of the volume gets down to the nuts and bolts and getting the experiments done, describing equipment (and providing delightful drawings labelling everything from the shaker to the HPLC), instructing on good technique and providing the kind of useful tables to make sure what needs to get autoclaved does and what doesn't is sterile filtered.

Dr. Barker brings her clear passion for the lab and love of science to this volume, imbuing it with an enthusiasm which is infectious; it serves as a reminder to those of us who have become jaded that as Primo Levi said "The lab is the place for the young and returning there you feel young again with the same sense of excitement and anticipation you have at seventeen". This is a welcome addition to the manuals and guides available. It meets a need for the newcomer and would be worthwhile for the more experienced investigator as well.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money
Review: As a 5th year graduate student with extensive lab research experience at a well known reputatable school in New York City, I would not recommend in purchasing this book. It was in fact being given out for free to new incoming graduate students a few years ago at my school, a practice which since has been terminated due to a general consensus from the student body revealing a lack utility in the book. I actually told one of my colleges to "burn this book" because I felt that much of the information was actually detrimental to one's graduate school career. A main concern about the book was that many of the so-called standard protocols were outdated and eclipsed by the fact that in terms of practice, many research labs have their own adaptations of protocols (for good reason) which are proven better than the generic protocols listed in the book. You see...it is not good in science to hold steadfast to rigid ways, and in contrast one needs to adapt to the new social and academic climate. It is a time of flexibility and novel creative thinking. The face of science is finally changing, and it should rightly do so. This leads me to my second beef about this book. The introduction focuses mainly on "lab etiquette". I find that the ideals brought fourth by the book come from out-of-date "old school" principles and functions to brainwash the naive young researcher into life-long scientific servitude. This book only serves to perpectuate negative stereotypes of scientists in society as lacklustre dorks who do nothing but devote their life to research. Many scientists are like this...and you wonder why. The bottomn line is that I would not recommend this book to a graduate student, and not even to an undergraduate science student, unless you can find it used...and perhaps slightly singed around the edges.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Waste Your Money
Review: As a 5th year graduate student with extensive lab research experience at a well known reputatable school in New York City, I would not recommend in purchasing this book. It was in fact being given out for free to new incoming graduate students a few years ago at my school, a practice which since has been terminated due to a general consensus from the student body revealing a lack utility in the book. I actually told one of my colleges to "burn this book" because I felt that much of the information was actually detrimental to one's graduate school career. A main concern about the book was that many of the so-called standard protocols were outdated and eclipsed by the fact that in terms of practice, many research labs have their own adaptations of protocols (for good reason) which are proven better than the generic protocols listed in the book. You see...it is not good in science to hold steadfast to rigid ways, and in contrast one needs to adapt to the new social and academic climate. It is a time of flexibility and novel creative thinking. The face of science is finally changing, and it should rightly do so. This leads me to my second beef about this book. The introduction focuses mainly on "lab etiquette". I find that the ideals brought fourth by the book come from out-of-date "old school" principles and functions to brainwash the naive young researcher into life-long scientific servitude. This book only serves to perpectuate negative stereotypes of scientists in society as lacklustre dorks who do nothing but devote their life to research. Many scientists are like this...and you wonder why. The bottomn line is that I would not recommend this book to a graduate student, and not even to an undergraduate science student, unless you can find it used...and perhaps slightly singed around the edges.

Rating:
Summary: lab skills, and people skills too
Review: As other reviewers have already said, this is a wonderful book for navigating the laboratory, especially if you are like me, and have only a little lab experience. It covers everything from basic sterile technique and media-making to working with antibodies and radioactive materials.

At least as helpful as the introduction to lab skills is the introduction to people skills and proper lab etiquette. This book contains some invaluable resources for getting good work done, working well with others, and not stepping on anyone's toes in the process. Given how opaque lab society can sometimes be for newcomers, this is a wonderful resource.

While this book may a bit on the pricey side, it makes a great reference, and is sturdy enough to be lent out to colleagues, assistants, stuedents and new hires time and time again.

Rating:
Summary: Must get
Review: Describes in detail the world of a life science researcher. This is a book you'll want to buy in order to read, and re-read again. Many of the pages are of reference quality such that you'll want to consult again and again. Especially useful for students with little or no prior experience in a life science research lab.

Rating:
Summary: Must get
Review: Describes in detail the world of a life science researcher. This is a book you'll want to buy in order to read, and re-read again. Many of the pages are of reference quality such that you'll want to consult again and again. Especially useful for students with little or no prior experience in a life science research lab.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Start!!!!!
Review: If you are a first timer to the lab setting as I was 3 yrs ago, this is a great book to have as a reference. Kathy Baker covers lab etiquette, lab lingo, bacteria, mammalian cells, DNA, RNA and safety. Everything a good lab technician should know. Diagrams give you insight to unfamiliar equipment and she provides notable references if you need more information. The great thing about this book is that it provides you with the basic tools you need to get started at a low cost. Once you have read this book you'll be ready to take on more in depth literature without hesitation.

Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: This collection of information is impressive. It guides the novice worker in the biosciences through basic protocols, explains the bits and pieces of the laboratory, and provides assistance on staying organized and publishing. Well done!

Rating:
Summary: indispensable lab resource
Review: This is a wonderful resource for any lab that has rotating personnel. Often, experienced researchers don't have the time or interest to orient new people but it's all here, and I would be surprised if even an experienced scientist could read through this whole manual without finding useful information.

The author uses common sense and a casual style, and assumes that the reader knows nothing. Early chapters explore BASIC basics, like getting along with colleagues, getting started the first week, questions to ask, and safety procedures; lab setup and equipment; and organization. Later chapters discuss designing and setting up experiments, using a lab notebook, presenting data, making reagents, including storage and disposal, and working in a sterile environment. Final chapters detail work with eukaryotic cell cultures, bacteria, dna/rna/protein, radioactivity, centrifugation, electrophoresis and a light microscope. Along the way, the reader will learn how to format a journal article, work in a hood, or stay in touch with the PI. The only thing missing is library research, but since this is a bench guide that seems a forgivable omission.

Spiral bound and formatted for easy access and understandability, the volume concludes with a glossary and a good index. Black and white line drawings and pictures identify items found in labs and illustrate techniques from pipetting to making entries in a notebook.

This is not a textbook written by someone who's never worked in a laboratory; it is a sensible, intelligent guide -- the dream tour you'd like to have each of your technicians or students given if you only had the time! Also handy if a person is having problems and you want to refer them to written material. Any working lab could benefit from the addition of this volume. Fabulous.

Rating:
Summary: indispensable lab resource
Review: This is a wonderful resource for any lab that has rotating personnel. Often, experienced researchers don't have the time or interest to orient new people but it's all here, and I would be surprised if even an experienced scientist could read through this whole manual without finding useful information.

The author uses common sense and a casual style, and assumes that the reader knows nothing. Early chapters explore BASIC basics, like getting along with colleagues, getting started the first week, questions to ask, and safety procedures; lab setup and equipment; and organization. Later chapters discuss designing and setting up experiments, using a lab notebook, presenting data, making reagents, including storage and disposal, and working in a sterile environment. Final chapters detail work with eukaryotic cell cultures, bacteria, dna/rna/protein, radioactivity, centrifugation, electrophoresis and a light microscope. Along the way, the reader will learn how to format a journal article, work in a hood, or stay in touch with the PI. The only thing missing is library research, but since this is a bench guide that seems a forgivable omission.

Spiral bound and formatted for easy access and understandability, the volume concludes with a glossary and a good index. Black and white line drawings and pictures identify items found in labs and illustrate techniques from pipetting to making entries in a notebook.

This is not a textbook written by someone who's never worked in a laboratory; it is a sensible, intelligent guide -- the dream tour you'd like to have each of your technicians or students given if you only had the time! Also handy if a person is having problems and you want to refer them to written material. Any working lab could benefit from the addition of this volume. Fabulous.