Customer Reviews

Microbe

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

 

 

Reading the previous reviews, it is evident that each reviewer's rating directly reflected what they had been seeking in this book. Any textbook that attempts to cover the field of microbiology is destined to be "superficial." The terrain is vast, including all three domains of life as well as the viruses. In this case, the authors intention, as stated in the preface, was to emphasize concepts and to provide an interesting introduction to the field in a book of moderate length. They have indeed done that. If every college student, whatever their major field of study, understood the microbial world as presented in this book, we would be able to collectively make better choices in many areas which affect the well-being of our species and the planet, including medicine, agriculture, and resource management. And we would feel more at home on this living Earth.

I had to buy this book for a microbiology class, and I've now resorted to trying to supplement all the assigned readings with bits of last year's textbook borrowed from a friend. First, this book is very superficial - it doesn't have a serious amount of information on anything. It looks like a book for children compared to the old, traditional textbook. There is a graphic in the margins suggesting the reader visit a website for supplemental info every few pages, but I shouldn't have to be sitting at a computer to read a textbook. There are 3 inches of blank margin, why didn't they just print the information there? It wouldn't be "cutting-edge" enough?
Further, I hope the previous reviewer didn't try too hard to learn molecular bio from this, because it's riddled with errors. Our prof told us to cross out a whole page of fueling diagrams because they were so wrong it was beyond saving. Another page shows glycolysis making ATP in the first step (that's way more awesome than that old-fashioned glycolysis cycle I learned last year in biochem!) Another page says reduction when it means oxidation. Another page miscategorizes Pseudomonas as a hydrogen bacteria. And that's all in chapter 6 alone! There are also constant grammar and punctuation errors, which are inexcusable and distracting, but not as scary as all the wrong info.

I used this textbook as the basis for my Microbiology course this year as it presents core concepts in very readable language. I supplemented it with more specific, in depth reading and lectures on specific topics associated with each chapter. My students loved the book (though they hated the price!). This is not the typical encyclopedic microbiology text we are used to seeing and thank goodness!

After reading the available 'mixed' reviews, I purchased this book with a degree of trepidation, fearing a disappointment. As a physical chemist and a chemical engineer interested in prokarytoes as porous self-regulating chemical reactors with the unusual ability to self-construct, I found the book very readable, with a wealth of very interesting information, particularly for a non-microbiologist. The novelty and usefulness of this textbook is the balanced focus on a cell in toto, without any undue emphasis on microbial genetics, metabolism, or medical pathology. The great diversity of unusual 'chemical engineering' phenomena that microbes are capable of is mind-boggling and is well represented. The level of the book is also very suitable for my purpose, lying between a community college level and a graduate level textbooks. One aspect I miss is the absence of a 'historical' thread and of key original references to microbial literature, which could be perhaps added in future editions. I wonder if the authors would write a book in a similar style to Tanford's "Nature's Robots" but using microbes rather than proteins as the subject.

I've been teaching general microbiology with this textbook for three years. I have yet to find a general microbiology text that has EVERYTHING that I want, but this one is close. The authors provide a broad overview of microbiology and microbial diversity. Of course, in doing so, nothing is covered in explicit detail (although resources outside the text are frequently listed). Students will appreciate the price of this book, which is about half the price of most other microbiology texts. In addition, the publisher is the American Society for Microbiology, rather than a for-profit publishing house. One drawback is that the book is only available in paperback form, potentially limiting its lifetime as a reference (although students who sell their books after the class won't care).

The first chapters slowly introduce the reader to the world of microbes. They can quickly be read without a great effort. The central chapters on fueling, biosynthesis and building of macromolecules are clearly written with plenty of figures to support the text. I particularly like the clear presentation on how energy is trapped during phosphorylation. For someone not verse in molecular biology this is a clear approach to comprehend more complex metabolic pathways. There are many other chapters I have not covered. Many pointers to further information on the web is provided throughout the book. The authors even took the trouble to set a website for the book with even more info. I borrowed a copy from a friend (Ron!) -- I should probably get my own copy...

This book is really simple and it does a good job at explaining some of the basics. I used it as a foundation book in a grad-level class (as a reference for some basic concepts) and it seemed to work well. Just don't expect it to go into great detail about any one topic. Each chapter on metabolism or genetics could easily be a full semester on its own.


This thing is expensive and it isn't worth the money. The website is just links to external sites with papers and crude cartoons to explain concepts. These authors are making money hand over fist on rehashing basic concepts-welcome to college!

An average book that loses one star for costing way more than it needs to.