Customer Reviews

Scientific American The Amateur Biologist

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In the Product details section, it says the reading level is for ages 4-8. Do not believe this. These are articles from the magazine "SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN" and are beyond this level. I would recommend it for High School and above. The book has less of step by step experiments and more on creating ways to get you started on whatever project you desire to do. It explains how to create equipment that could cost a lot of money and simplifies advanced techniques so that the projects are easier to do at home. This does not mean you have everything you need for the projects in your home, but that you will be able to improvise and do it cheaper than buying all your materials for a supply house. It also tells you where you can buy some of the more specialized equipment. This book ranges from cultivating algae to fruit flies to electrophoresis to studying metabolism and effects of high altitude. I highly recommended it for people who enjoy puttering in a homemade lab.

This selection of experiments demands a lot of "building." Admittedly you do build cool things-a machine for measuring insect heart beats, a home electrophoresis set-up, a high altitude chamber, a device for measuring metabolism in small animals, a video microscope system, etc. You spend a lot of time doing device construction. If you like bulding machines, they you will enjoy this book.

Very few of the experiments involve little or no construction--a couple of exceptions being a neat way to extract dna from stuff and a growth inhibitor-plant experimnet. Plus fun slime mold stuff.

I say, where are the fun things to do with bacteria? Or things you can do to your friends or pets without hurting them? There isn't nearly enough variety here.

Great experiments and great machines, but this selection may prove a bit daunting to the beginner or the younger child. Could be useful for some science fair experiments, though.