Essentials of Molecular Biology [Hardcover]

George M. Malacinski (Author), David Freifelder (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0867208600 | ISBN-13: 978-0867208603 | Publication Date: January 15, 1998 | Edition: 3rd

Biological Sciences

Product Details

• Hardcover: 532 pages
• Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Pub; 3rd edition (January 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0867208600
• ISBN-13: 978-0867208603
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 8.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,606,105 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointing Introduction to a Fascinating Subject, April 19, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Essentials of Molecular Biology, Fourth Edition (Hardcover)

Unfortunately, I could not disagree with my fellow reviewer more...

I was introduced to this text while a student in Dr. Malacinski's own molecular biology class at Indiana University. While I learned a great deal from the class itself, I found this book to be utterly disappointing in more ways than one. While he is undoubtedly a great teacher, Dr. Malacinski is a terrible author. His explanations of even the simplest concepts are confusing at best and downright confounding at their worst. Often, the book uses long, languid syntax to explain basic ideas, and in doing so, loses track of the fundamental basis of the concepts it is trying to elucidate. It seems to me as though Dr. Malacinski's purpose in writing an introductory textbook would be better served by offering his readers short, direct, and to-the-point explanations (such as those offered in the "Student Companion.") The trichromatic layout of all the book's diagrams make their interpretation difficult, and do little to provide the reader with relief from the bland nature of the prose. The text's lack of detailed color photographs is equally maddening - more than once when attempting to study one of the book's photographs, I felt as though I were staring at a "magic eye" collage rather than an electron micrograph. Additionally, Dr. Malacinski's attempts of to interject his personal opinions and imbibe his readers with enthusiasm for the subjects being treated feel trite and unnecessary. The text skims over many fundamental issues relevant to the study of molecular biology - most notably in its almost non-existent coverage of proteins and their role in molecular biology. I was equally disappointed in the book's total lack of coverage (or even introduction to) more advanced concepts in the field, particularly eukaryotic molecular biology. Although aptly titled "Essentials of Molecular Biology," students intending to pursue more advanced studies in the fields of biochemistry and molecular/cell biology will be poorly served by the book's complete omission of these advanced concepts. Altogether, while this book is one of the few molecular biology textbooks specifically designed for use in a one-semester undergraduate introductory course, many of the "more advanced" textbooks available provide a more comprehensive and easily understandable treatment of the material covered in this text. To those with a sincere interest in learning about both the concepts and breadth of molecular biology, I recommend "Molecular Biology of the Cell" (4th ed.) by Alberts et al, "Molecular Cell Biology" (4th ed.) by Lodish et al, and "Biochemistry" (5th ed.) by Berg and Stryer as alternatives to this book.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It is to molecular biologists what DNA is to cell., September 13, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Essentials of Molecular Biology (Hardcover)

I read this book at the library and was highly impressed with the mode of explaination and representation. The book is highly informative giving the explaination with the best lucid way and the figures too are at the right places. How so ever the book would have been still more better if the method given at many places would have been clubbed with the major draw backs and precautionary steps.

All in one it is a very useful book to be obtained by the biologists working on the field

Vishal Shah

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a great textbook, June 29, 2011

By 

mingo57 - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Essentials of Molecular Biology (Paperback)

If your professor chooses to use this book, make sure you buy another Molecular Biology book to try and understand what is being said. Essentials of Molecular Biology explains some subject matter well, but a lot of the material covered is written in the scientific journal format.