Customer Reviews

Biology (5th Edition)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The title I give to my critique of this book is not a joke. I'm really serious about the phenominial ability of this fine textbook to be able to explain the concepts of biology so clearly. This wonderful textbook from Neil A. Campbell is a great biology textbook that explains the concepts of basic biology clearly and throughly. I love the way it touches on various subjects such as DNA,transcription, translation etc... in preparation for the student when he gets to higher level biology classes.

If a student uses this textbook he\she will be very prepared for other classes such as biochemistry, ecology and even some organic chemistry because this book is SO good in expressing the fundementals of basic biology and relating those fundementals to other sciences and disciplines. Additionally this awesome textbook has clear, colorful and beautiful art and photographic illustrations with EXCELLENT explanations underneath them that can help the student understand biological processes and mechnisims. I'm in pharmacy school right now and I still use this book as a reference guide for some basic concepts in biology that I may have forgotten.

It is big, fat and chock-full of great information on the basic concepts of biology. Don't let the large size of this book intimidate you. It is big for a reason. It is big because Neil Campbell and his collegues care about the making sure the student is exposed to what he needs to know in order to advance into higher levels of biology, chemistry, medical and pharmacy school.

An EXCELLENT BOOK!!! This book explains the hardest concepts of fundemental biology so well that even a drunk in a bar can understand it throughly. A great book.

It's a 5th edition book. From the looks of it, I don't think these guys need to make a 6th edition book unless they need to update it with new biological discoveries.

This is a nice book, though a bit tough for the unknowledgable person. This is supposed to be a general biology book, used by people without any prior knowledge of biology too, but I somehow don't know if they'll find it too easy. But other than that one drawback, i think that the rest of us will appreciate this book for what it's worth. It's nicely written, with a lot of illustrations and explainations. There are also many references to websites and stuff, so it's additionally useful. Depending on the book bought, there are some nice extras too. My version had a nice and very useful CD-ROM, with a lot of pictures and animations, and practice tests and etc. It also came with a free one year subsciption to an online biology website that was one of the best I've ever seen. Otherwise the subscription costs a lot. The text book by itself was good too, and I really had no need to read any outside material, I found it perfectly good. Everything considered, I really liked this book.

I'm a junior and I'm using this book for my AP bio class. Although this book is hard to read, there're excellent diagrams that help u understanding the concepts. Since the language of this book is hard and confusing, my biology teacher strongly recommends us to buy the student study guide for biology. If u're using this book for a class, maybe you should buy the study guide too. Because it is really helpful.

This is a nice book, though a bit tough for the unknowledgable person. This is supposed to be a general biology book, used by people without any prior knowledge of biology too, but I somehow don't know if they'll find it too easy. But other than that one drawback, i think that the rest of us will appreciate this book for what it's worth. It's nicely written, with a lot of illustrations and explainations. There are also many references to websites and stuff, so it's additionally useful. Depending on the book bought, there are some nice extras too. My version had a nice and very useful CD-ROM, with a lot of pictures and animations, and practice tests and etc. It also came with a free one year subsciption to an online biology website that was one of the best I've ever seen. Otherwise the subscription costs a lot. The text book by itself was good too, and I really had no need to read any outside material, I found it perfectly good. Everything considered, I really liked this book.

Just in case you bought one with CD, the CD installation software starts with Windows IE4 software installation. It would not work on most of the computers nowadays. However, the activities and quizzes are still valuable. They are in html format which can be opened with the latest Windows IE version or another internet browser such as Firefox. Just skip the installation software and open \home\home.htm file on the CD directly with the browser. Here is what I did in Windows XP, go to My Computer and click on View, Explorer Bar, Folders. Open the folder under your CD/DVD drive and drill down to "home" folder and double click to open home.htm. It should open automatically via the internet browser.

This book was used in my AP Bio class, where my teacher's constant reminders to "read the book" usually went unnoticed. This isn't because Campbell's book is necessarily boring or difficult to understand; in fact, the situation is quite the opposite. Campbell delves into the concepts of biology with more than adequate depth and breadth for the subject, offering both the basics and the details necessary to survive AP Bio (and, from the way my AP Exam went, college freshman Bio, too).

The sad fact and only noticeable drawback, however, is this: all of this information is found in an alarmingly large, heavy book, which can be off-putting to even the most avid readers. (Campbell does have a shorter, lighter book that makes for an easier read, but the "baby Campbell" sacrifices the detail necessary for AP Bio in order to make the book less difficult to get through.) Even with the large amount of material found in Campbell's book, it's an interesting read that covers just about everything biology-related.

Conclusion: The detail involved in every chapter makes this book an ideal pick for an AP Bio class, save for the fact that lazier students just won't ever want to pick the thing up.

Okay, maybe most are.
But this one is definitely an exception!

I was introduced to this text book in my high school's introductory biology class by my teacher's recommendation. I came to own it, however, in a rather unexpected way. (Luck!) The authors of "Biology" have pulled together the material very well. The book is more than just a general overlook of the concepts; but it never becomes over drenched in information; it never becomes bogged down on the details. Details are presented in a way that allows you to maintain grasp over the larger ideas, and it's all made to seem extremely fascinating. Exactly what a biology text book should be able to accomplish!

The book is organized very well. At the beginning of each chapter there is an interesting introduction to the overall topic, which presents you with some very interesting facts and questions to think about throughout the chapter. At the beginning of each chapter there is a more detailed overview and at the end of each chapter there an excellent review of the materials that have been covered. A lot of books of course have these features, but none that I've seen makes such efficient, concise and interesting entries. There are a number of review questions at the end of each chapter, I think that it's a good idea to invest in the "Student Study Guide for Biology" which supports the concepts in the book -- with a lot more questions.

Most importantly, this book is very easy to understand and work with. Unlike some textbooks which require background knowledge of the subjects, or external support to understand the material, this book does not make any presumptions. It's full of diagrams and pictures, and the text is illustrative; the attached CD is an excellent resource as it presents the material in an even more visual way.

This text-book was amazing. I used it as a supplementary resource for my last biology course and I believe I owe my perfect exam mark to it!

Campbell and coauthors do a wonderful job with this book! They've added several new chapters that weren't included in previous additions. You can't beat the diagrams and photos included with the text. The interactive study guide is also helpful in learning the material. I strongly recommend that any biology student or lover of science own this book for reference.

I am a high school biology teacher. I used the 2nd edition in college and now use this, the 5th edition, as a resource. This is a truly great book. The accompanying CD is also very good and worked without problems on a windows machine.

What I like about this book, is the support you get when you have bought the book. My teacher uses the CD-rom for presentations in our class, therefore making things visible. (Mainly because of the great animations, with a lot of detail) Even better is the support over the internet. In a few months we will talk with teachers from all over the world. The book has only one downside: it's prize. After all, I'm only a student....