The Cartoon Guide to Genetics (Updated Edition) (Paperback)

~ (Author), Mark Wheelis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Having trouble deciphering your genetic code? Do dominant genes make you feel recessive? Let reigning nonfiction cartoonist Larry Gonick and microbiologist Mark Wheelis ease your way through Mendelian genetics, molecular biology, and the basics of genetic engineering. Gonick's drawings range from a moderately detailed look at ribosomes in action to loony pictures of dancing scientists, talking peas, and opinionated fruit flies. Matthew Meselson, co-discoverer of the "one gene-one protein" principle, says, "it puts textbooks to shame"--and he's right. --Mary Ellen Curtin

Review

"If you can't learn Mendelian genetics from this text, I guess you never will." -- -- New Scientist

"It puts textbooks to shame." -- -- Matthew Meselson, Professor of Biology, Harvard Univercity

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Collins Reference; Updated edition (August 14, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062730991
• ISBN-13: 978-0062730992
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #9,481 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

41 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Genetics makes sense at last!, May 4, 2000

By	Darren X (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

I am a reasonably intelligent person with no biology background, trying to make sense of genetics so I can understand discussions about genetic engineering, medicine, the Human Genome Project, creation-evolution, etc. I have tried to read the genetics sections of biology textbooks to understand what's going on, but I find it hard to get the big picture from those. This book is perfect... it starts right from the beginning, and builds carefully and simply all the way to recombinant DNA, glossing over a few hard details but not making any huge, puzzling leaps like other books seem to. My girlfriend, taking third year undergraduate genetics, was astonished at how much material was covered so clearly in such a small book. The book is also fascinating as a study of how science really works. I'm ready for more genetics now!

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A valuable overview and review, October 13, 2005

By	Yoshiro Aoki (Vancouver, BC / Osaka-Kobe, JP) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a student that has completed university-level biology over the past year (2004) with an `A' average, and presently studying the application of computer science to biological problems. I found this book laying in a professor's office so I borrowed it for kicks. What a surprise to find the principle concepts of biology arranged so well as to make a quick afternoon review of the basics possible. I really like modern university science texts, but sometimes the interrelationships of concepts are lost in the flood of information from them. This book lifts the academic information fog away from those interrelationships so that they may be clearly seen. Concepts traditionally separated by chapters of information are brought together in the space of a funny drawing or two in this book. I wish I had this book before I went through basic biology, because I think I would have gotten more out of the course with such an overview. But that didn't stop me from killing all hope of a curve at exam time:)
By the way, although this book was published in 1991 the content remains quite accurate to this date with few exceptions, most notably the 2 page emphasis on `one gene - one enzyme' (pp114-115). This has changed now with the discovery of alternative splicing just a few years ago. But overall, the book remains a very useful overview of an incredibly fascinating field of science.
5 stars

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Biology is FUN!, July 6, 2001

By	Ivi (Argentina) - See all my reviews

I loved this book. It was so much fun. I'm a medical school student and I just finished a Cell Biology class. The first time I read "The Cartoon Guide to Genetics" was 3 years ago, when I didn't know lots of Biology. Now as a student, I read it again and I was amazed to see that all the concepts I was learning at school were clearly explained in this book and in the most hilarious manner. As I was reading it, I couldn't believe I was actually laughing! Simply GREAT!