Customer Reviews

Microbiology the Easy Way (Barron's E-Z)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you have the aptitude to read full-strength science (the book is targeted at microbiology students), you will find this very affordable volume to be clear, complete, detailed, and well and richly illustrated.

This book (which comes with a guarantee, right on the cover, that it will improve your grades in 30 days or you get your money back!) is thoughtfully organized and covers all the main areas of microbiology, from cellular chemistry to microbial metabolism to genetics to applied microbiology to how disease works to the immune system, and much else. Each of the 29 chapters concludes with review questions, a self-test, and detailed answers to the review questions. This book is serious about boosting your command of microbiology. The author and publisher have done everything in their power to improve your knowledge (and grades) short of sitting your exams for you.

Each chapter is lavishly and clearly illustrated with blue-and-black drawings and diagrams. I'm looking at chapter 18, Nonspecific Defenses of the Host, about the nonspecific immune reponse. The drawings so far have been a closeup of the structure of the skin, with about 30 different types of tissue clearly labeled; a diagram of phagocytosis, or how a phagocyte ingests and digests an invading microbe; a diagram of margination and emigration, or how phagocytes can stick to the walls of blood vessels and roll along them till they find an intercellular crevice to squeeze through to get to infected tissue; a diagram of the fever response; and I see six more diagrams in the remainder of this chapter. They're all excellent--and that's just one chapter.

This is not popular science, it's hard science. This text takes you right down to the brass tacks of how these things work, the specific chemical mechanisms involved. If you're not a student of this type of material already, then you do need to have a strong scientific aptitude (feel comfortable with chemistry and biological terms and processes) to read this book. It contains a tremendous amount of information.

But in this world of genetic engineering, scary flu strains, and cloning, this is the kind of knowledge we should all have more of. I have rarely if ever found any book that I thought dealt with its material so completely, authoritatively, and clearly as this one does. And at this price it's an incredible deal.

If I haven't made it clear, I'm delighted with this book. I will eagerly look for other Barron's books in this series (if any), in the hope that they're anywhere near as good.

I do NOT recommend what some others have here -- using this book as your sole source of information for a class without reading your textbook is not going to cut it. Your teacher teaches out of the textbook assigned to your class, so the information covered on your test will be from that specific textbook.

This book, however is a fantastic supplement if you are having a hard time understanding what your textbook is saying on the difficult microbiological concepts. It raised my test scores by an entire letter grade on the very first test I took after purchasing it! Highly recommended, as well as Anatomy and Physiology The Easy Way.

At over 500 pages, this book contains an impressive amount of material for such a low price. Typical college-level introductory microbiology textbooks retail for about 10 times the price of this book (or more), and many don't offer a whole lot more in the way of relevant information or educational value. You won't be paying a premium for glossy pages and multicolor illustrations with this book. Some would argue that illustrating something like a gram stain using only blue, black and white will never be as effective as using full color, but I disagree. More importantly, the illustrations in this book are clear, well devised and logically placed. The text is also clear and easy to understand. In a few places I thought descriptions were a bit oversimplified, but it is hard to criticize the book for this since it is intended to make things as simple as possible. This book seems well suited for those who are learning microbiology for the first time, as well as those who want to refresh their memory on basic concepts of the science. I recommend Microbiology The Easy Way as a good supplemental learning resource for anyone with an interest in microbiology.

I am a nursing student and had to take Microbiology last semester. I was on a tight budget, so I took a chance and purchased this book instead of the recommended textbook. I studied my lecture notes and this book and made an A. The book is easy to understand and has pictures to help you understand certain concepts. The chapters are well organized and coincided with the chapters in the textook. Buy the book!

This book is great. I have never taken microbiology and it breaks it down to where a first time reader understands everything.

Its great to find a book that can give you the basics withuot having the word "dummy" in the title. A great resource for teachers and students alike.

Just got it two days ago and already on Chapter 3. Very comprehensive and yet Not Boring and Not Overwhelming. I think it is the way all the information has been organized that makes it easier to understand. I didn't know Microbiology book could be a fun read.

Warning, without biology background, the material could be hard to understand because it is very comprehensive. I just went through two quarters of Anatomy and Physiology and that made it much easier for me to understand the materials. With some college level biology and chemistry, it is easy and fun read.

I was originally looking for a Barron's version of flash cards for Microbiology, since I loved and was so successful with their version of Anatomy flash cards for my A&P I and II classes this last summer. But since there was no Barron's Microbiology Flash Card product and only this book, I went for it and made the purchase. This book is the down and dirty, concise, and extremely helpful every-day person's guide to Micro. Not full of fluff, and not weak on details. I found this book more helpful than the flash cards that WERE available in my school bookstore.... ("Microbiology", by Bryan Edwards Publishing). In the book, there are helpful diagrams, charts, and self tests after every section to help me ensure that I am getting the info I set out to learn when I sit down with it. No color pictures, so if you're up late and need lots of brilliant ocular stimuli while reading, put on your kids 3-D paper glasses and get back to reading! This is helping me in my class. Good luck to all of you!

I used this book extensively when I took microbiology last semester. It is not a replacement for your regular textbook, but it is an excellent place to go when your textbook is too complicated. When you need an idea or process spelled out in a simple, straightforward way, this is the place to look. I often had it open right next to my textbook.

Easy to read and does not assume a deep understanding of science. Good review for anyone in the bio-sciences as well as a good intro for the newbie. Diagrams and definitions are very helpful with out being overly simplistic!