Customer Reviews

BSCS Biology, Student Edition: A Molecular Approach

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Biology doesn't have to be this hard.

On a basic level, this book does its job. It covers the material it should, has some decent diagrams, and some nice evaluation questions sprinkled throughout. Beyond that, though, this is perhaps the worst textbook I have ever used.

First off, this textbook is nearly incomprehensible. The content is presented in a way that's extremely difficult to understand. Organization and structure at the chapter, paragraph, and even sentence level makes no logical sense and makes the book particularly difficult to read. The book takes six sentences to cover something that can be explained in one, and it mentions in just one sentence something that would take a page to make clear. The authors try to get around this by labeling this as a book for "gifted or honors students," but they don't seem to understand that they should be covering more difficult material, not making the basic material more difficult to grasp.

Next, the authors have no visible passion or interest in biology. I'm not expecting exclamation marks throughout to show their excitement or a nice story with a rising action, climax, and falling action, but some sign of life from the authors would be nice. It sounds silly, but when you pick up this book, it will be painfully obvious that the authors are completely uninspired. They were bored writing this book, and it shows (unlike in any other textbook I've used).

This is truly a terrible biology textbook, and it killed any interest I may have once had in biology. It's a bit ironic that a book covering the study of life can be so lifeless.

Unfortunately, when this book is used for a class, it's usually a required purchase for students. I would highly recommend purchasing another biology book as well so that you can actually learn the material. You won't regret it.

I'm a sophomore at the University of Michigan that has taken introductory biology courses both in high school and in college. Recently I helped my high school freshman niece with her biology reading from this textbook. I can't believe such a poorly-written book is being used in classrooms.

The book is poorly organized, even within individual paragraphs. Some sections seem as if a coherent paragraph was written, then someone randomly copied and pasted groups of sentences around until the text became as confusing as possible. Complicated concepts are confusingly presented without adequate explanation. Arcane details are given more attention than the overall concepts. There were many sections where I'd have to reread the text multiple times before I finally grasped what the authors were attempting to convey.

I think it's pathetic that anybody should be introduced to biology with a book this confusing and frustrating. Biology is NOT this confusing, and it's certainly more interesting than the authors make it out to be. This book isn't just useless; it's counterintuitive.

My son had to purchase this book as it was required for school. It had some bad reviews on Amazon, but what can you do? He was required to have it. He tells me the reviewers were correct, this is a bad textbook and students should supplement their study with other Biology books, as we have. Don't buy this unless you have to!

I used this book in my Biology PreAP class, PreAP meaning prerequisite to AP Biology, and managed to always get the highest test scores in class(although I do get the highest scores in all my classes)! Its topics cover the cellular processeses almost as in depth as AP Biology and will no doubt build a strong foundation when entering AP Biology. And although it maybe very in-depth for a typical high school freshman--its actual targeted audience are gifted students at the sophomore level--especially when it comes to its most complicated subject of Biochemistry, it should come as simple and quite obviously logical if read carefully. Its biggest strengths are in the evaluation questions, which help you to build an effective writing strategy and study guide when it comes to writing those lengthy scientific essays in AP Biology exam. Of course, this book alone won't guarantee you a 5.0 in the AP Biology exam(as you do have to get a new book for AP Biology), but it is the book that will guide you to that goal!

I agree that the book was confusing. I would not recommend it. Even with help from teachers, I did not fully grasp the information taught to me.

I used this text for Honors Biology as a high school sophomore and the material was presented in a complicated fashion that makes it hard for a typical reader to understand. While I am generally a good student and can grasp new ideas quickly this text was complicated and in my opinion needs a lot of teacher aid in explaining, especially for first year biology.

As a honors biology student I am very good in science and genraly like all of the books that I have used. I would say, with out a doubt, this is perhaps the worst textbook ever written. The concepts are explaind so poorly and unclearly all they can do is confuse a student. The language is written as a college level textbook. I would encouarge anyone consdiering this textbook to look for a new one. You could not do any worse. Even teachers can not understand this book.

out teacher is sick and we have a permanent substitute. I find this book confusing and the teacher doesn't do a very well job at explaining it. There are plenty of facts and information, just too much at one time. I suggest making a photocopy of the pages you are reading and highlighting the facts to study...