Customer Reviews

Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, Third Edition

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you are looking for a good biochemistry text book for an introductory course in biochemistry, this book is highly recommended. Even though Lehninger passed away years ago, his famous book "Principles of Biochemistry" has stood as one of the best. Drs. Nelson and Cox from U of Wisconsin had updated this text 7 years ago when the second edition of the text was published. I used this text in my first year biochemistry class and I found that it was really help me learn this complicated yet fasinating materials. In 2000, the 3rd edition of text , still written by Nelson and Cox, is available in the market. I look through the book and I find that this book has been thoroughly updated while maintaining the excellent organization of the ordinary text. The CD-ROM is also included in this edition and there are lots of wonderful pictures and animation that can help you teach and learn biochemistry. Unlike Voets' text, this book is not chemistry oriented. So if you are looking for mechanism behind the metabolic process, Voet&Voet can serve as a better one. However, if you want to learn or teach biochemistry in general...this book is a book of your choice.

This text in Biochemistry is a great introduction. I was quite familiar with Lubert Stryer's masterpiece but I must confess this textbook goes one step further. The slant is towards the med student and the notes on medical aspects are just plain fantastic. It took me almost a year to finish the book but the effort was well worth it. Besides I have been out of touch with Biochem since my college days. Aspects of RNA metabolism are plain fantastic!! What is more the layout and sequence of topics is just right. I found that using this text in conjunction with "Basic Medical Biochemistry" by Marks, Marks, and Smith will give you the best mix. Don't pass on this gem. It truly is worth your time and perusal. The cost is steep but textbooks usually are. Grab it!!

An excellent book in biochemistry for a beginner in this subject. I especially like the the way the chapters are administrated. The book is best read from beginning to the end, because this will give you the whole picture in a educative fashion. It covers all the essential subjects of cellbiology needed for the medical student, as for instance metabolism and DNA. It also has advantages over other biochemistry books with its nicer apperance. With the pictures, medical notices and cellbiology material it covers all thats necessary. Good stuff and pleasant reading.

Lehninger is one name that most undergraduates who take biochemistry courses know too well. This simplified, well-structured version remains an asset to a great number of students. But, no matter from which source you are ordering it, be sure to specify the actual edition you want as precise as possible. There are several variants of this book in the market (including Amazon.com...)! Do not forget to enter the complete details (including the ISBN number) of this textbook while placing an order for it; or else, you may end-up with the kind of "Lehninger" you didn't ask for.

If you are a undergraduate or a graduate student who needs to learn some biochemistry from the ground up (without an instructor), this is the text for you. Lehninger really outdoes himself by creating a Biochemistry textbook that's not only colorful and pretty to look at but also wonderfully written. Of all of the science textbooks I've had to read to date, this was the best! Lehninger really does write the text so that it's like reading a novel, which allows for maximum absorption of the material he covers. Occasionally, I hit spots in my reading which were harder to understand, but that was because my own ignorance and not his. He begins the text with a review of the basics of general chemistry and organic chemistry which come into play with the biochemistry subject matter. Then he continues on, developing the student's foundations with describing protein structure and protein function, working his way up with enzymatic properties and activities. Carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids come next. The last section of the book is devoted to biochemical mechanisms, which is alot, but it is covered adequately for a beginner's textbook. The only major drawback: many of the answers to the chapter questions are wrong, hopefully, this will be addressed in the 4th Ed. If your school doesn't use Lehninger, protest, write treatises, do anything to convince your Biochemistry professor to use this text to teach you biochemisty! It's expensive, but once you have this textbook, don't ever sell it because if you're going into chemistry or biochemistry, it will be a priceless resource for your future studies!

This book is nicely illustrated, but you will be frustrated if you try to prepare for your examination based on this book. reaction mechanisms are not there, the details are scarce, and important points are too often omitted. only suitable for those who will only do one biochemistry course.

This book is one of the best biochemistry available. It presents an extensive amount of valuable concepts and information a highly readable manner. I used this text as an undergraduate and even as a gradduate student I find it impossible to part with it. The understanding biochemistry CD that is included with the book is also an excellent tool for revision. I found that the retention of information and ease of understanding is higher when the book is used in conjunction with the CD. It comes highly recommended for any serious students of biochemistry and as an invaluable reference.

I take exception to the lavish praise heaped on this textbook. This may be the best biochem text available, but, it has numerous flaws that I believe Lubert Stryer's "Biochemistry" does (did) not have. First, the authors have a poor writing style, which includes long winded, convoluted sentences containing several ideas that could have been put in shorter, simpler sentences. The result of this is unclear meanings, loss of continuity of ideas, and awkward sentence structure. Second, terms are used without definiton. Third, appositon is used inappropriately and is so over used as to lead to confusion and obscurity of meaning. Fourth, verb phrases are sometimes separated so far from the subject and main idea of the sentence that you find yourself rereading the sentence, not so much for meaning, but more so for sorting out the structure. I could go on. There is much to be said for short, direct, simple sentences such as was Stryer's style. In conclusion, this text may have the relevant information necessary for an undergraduate course in biochemistry, but in my opinion, it is not well written.

After many years, Lehninger continues to be the most authoritative book in Biochemistry. Biochemistry is a very fascinating subject that requires a lot of organization, what a student least wants is to struggle with the organization or wording of the book.
The topics on this book are logically developed and takes the reader hand through its contents in detailed manner. I would say that this is one of the few books that can be considered as a bible. I see a promising future for this book since no book as come close to Lehninger.

As a physics graduate student interested in biophysics research, I found this text an invaluable resource. I had intro chemistry as an undergrad and AP bio in high school, but no organic chemistry or any other background. This text contained a clear introduction to biochemistry and described a lot of the techniques I was reading about in scientific papers in language that a non-chemist could understand. I still refer back to it frequently.