What is DNA? A Biology Adventure

Rating:
Summary: Is "What is DNA?" answered"
Review: The book is an excellent overview of DNA theory, including rather substantive discussion of evolution and overviews of issues related to protein synthesis and cell physiology. For these areas alone the book is worth buying and reading.

The book also discusses somewhat interesting linguistic models that the author relates to cell biology. For those interested in such matters, it can be an interesting read. For those who have little use for this line of reasoning, these areas of discussion can be skipped, or skimmed. I recommend, however, that they be read, but with a skeptical mind.

The discussion of DNA, RNA, cell biology, and evolution are very well presented.

Rating:
Summary: Is "What is DNA?" answered"
Review: The book is an excellent overview of DNA theory, including rather substantive discussion of evolution and overviews of issues related to protein synthesis and cell physiology. For these areas alone the book is worth buying and reading.

The book also discusses somewhat interesting linguistic models that the author relates to cell biology. For those interested in such matters, it can be an interesting read. For those who have little use for this line of reasoning, these areas of discussion can be skipped, or skimmed. I recommend, however, that they be read, but with a skeptical mind.

The discussion of DNA, RNA, cell biology, and evolution are very well presented.

Rating:
Summary: Actually 3.75 Stars...
Review: This book answered many long-standing questions for me.

It is a nice, friendly introduction to the basics of DNA...and also cell biology. I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about such things. (I would recommend any of the three TCL books I've read as excellent introductions to their respective topics.)

However, the authors of this particular book also inject a lot of their own particular philosophy of knowledge. This philosophy attempts to view everything as a Language.

This is an appealing notion, actually, but I found the attempts to draw convincing analogies between various disciplines to be less than compelling. Interesting, yes, but not entirely convincing. And because the analogies were less than entirely convincing, I found them to be a distraction from my original purpose in buying this book: to learn a little about DNA.

(And, in case any TCL'er is listening, I would suggest an exploration of Godel's Theorem as a worthy topic. I bet you could make this important idea accessible, too.)