Molecular Biology

Rating:
Summary: A good study supplement, but poor primary resource
Review: I am currently taking an upper division molecular biochemistry course. The professor recommended the Weaver text as additional reading. I have found the book useful in working through the theory and the methodology presented in the course. As some of the reviews have stated, the book rushes through some concepts and does not make good use of conceptual models; however as a supplement to the primary text-Molecular Biology of the Gene, Watson et al-the text is quite useful in understanding and applying the material. I would not recommend any professor using the text as a primary resource in an introductory course. A solid background in biochemistry is useful in fully understanding the text.

Rating:
Summary: Great for upperclassmen and graduate students
Review: I had the good fortune of taking Gene Expression from Professor Weaver himself and have to say that this is a fantastic book used in a fantastic class. I'm halfway through Medical School headed toward a residency in Medical Genetics and I still pull this book out from time to time to clarify salient points that I have forgotten through time. This is a great book for students with a strong background in molecular biology.

I might also add that Professor Weaver is a really nice guy, so it's good karma to buy his book. :)

Rating:
Summary: Not for me!
Review: I have not had the luck of being taught by dr. weaver and maybe due to this reason i had trouble with the book. as soon as i read about 15 pages, i realized that i could not...summarize what i just read! the book does it for you, but even after reading the book summary, i still had the feeling 'I DONT KNOW WHAT I JUST READ!' I had used a histology book that gave me a similar feeling. All my problems were solved simply by getting a different histology book.

This book does, at times, go into greater level of detail than alberts, but if you are like me, you will be no smarter after reading the book than you were before.

A preview of this book may not be enough to know whether this book is made for you or not, so make sure you have a couple of days on your return policy in case it doesnt work for you.

Rating:
Summary: A must for experimental scientists in training
Review: I have used this text as an undergrad and now as a grad student (in the interest of full disclosure, I am currently taking a class with Dr. Weaver and we are using this text; surprise, surprise). I found the use of experimental data to be extremely helpful, especially since molecular biology is an experimental field. It really gives one a feel for how we arrived at what we know and what was the thinking that led to it. That said, this is probably not an ideal text for an introduction to molecular biology. Students using this text should have some familiarity with genetics and cell biology. When I used this text as an undergrad (at a liberal arts college in Kansas) I was a little overwhelmed by the amount of experimental information at first, but I grew to appreciate it greatly. It allowed me to better develop analytical skills that are important for the field. On the whole, this has been probably one of the best books I have seen in this field.

Rating:
Summary: Good textbook but not for lower level undergrad students
Review: I strongly agree the opinion of a reader in Indiana, as you can see the following. I think this may not a good choice for undergraduate students who don't have a strong background of molecular biology. However, it would be good source for any new coming grad students. Because this book would give the grad students an opportunity how well to interpret the data and results in research papers. Sometimes when I read this book, I feel I'm doing a crtical reading on research papers. I've corresponded Dr. Weaver (he's a prof. in Dept. of Biochem and Mol Biology, Univ of Kansas now) for twice to give my comments and he said he's prepapring and revising for new edition which would be appeared next summer(2001). If you're a grad student who is looking for other styled book unlike "Genes VII", "Molecular Cell Biology" etc., I would recommend this one.

Rating:
Summary: Great for the GRE and introductory graduate courses
Review: The approach of this book is based on experimental data rather than the deduced facts. I have tride many books to prepare me for the GRE subject text in Biochem/cell/Molecular biology. However, many of the books were concentrating on plain facts rather than on experimental data. Some of the GRE question especially the longer and difficult ones are not concerened with memorized facts. Rather, they present to you experimental data in the form of graphs and charts and ask you questions based on them. Of all the books that I sampled this is the only one that provided the necessary levels of understanding for me to tackle such questions. This is also true in a life of a beginning graduate student who is required to make sense out of graphs, numbers and charts in per reviewed journal articles. This book is most useful for such individuals. For lower level undergraduates this book is best when used with in conjunction with another introductory text book such as Molecular Cells biology by by lodish.