Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews: Biochemistry (Paperback)

~ (Author), Richard A. Harvey (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This popular study guide and review provide a quick survey of the field of biochemistry, covering the essentials that students need to know. Includes board-type questions to give students experience for what they will encounter in actual examinations. Now thoroughly revised and updated throughout, with much new material on cholesterol and steroid metabolism, nutrition and protein synthesis. Plus, the authors have included a unique cross-referencing system to the book's companion volume, Harvey and Champe's Lippincott's Illustrated Review of Pharmacology.

Product Details

• Paperback: 443 pages
• Publisher: Lippencott - Raven Publishers; 2nd edition (January 15, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0397510918
• ISBN-13: 978-0397510917
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (81 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #383,262 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of Lippincott's Boichemistry, April 21, 2006

By	Darrell Wu (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews: Biochemistry (Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews Series) (Paperback)

Excellent book. Clear figures. However, this book has the same problem most medical texts have, namely that is is too long. As a review book I would expect something much shorter, but that's not exactly the fault of the authors since biochemistry is a pretty big field. But at the current length, I would recommend reading the book by Marks Marks and Smith since it's only a couple of pages longer and it has more useful information; i.e. it is a book you can use during your second year for pathophysiology courses. For a review I would recommend the new text Rapid Review Boichemistry simply because it is short and to the point, with only high yield information, and a CD full of questions. However, Lippponcott's is still a very good book and can probably be used as your only resource for biochemistry in medical school if your school follows a standard medical biochemistry format versus a clinically oriented biochemistry class, which requires supplementing with other texts or lecture notes.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I finally understand!, May 24, 2002

By	Bergy - See all my reviews

This book is amazing. I took biochemistry in college and again my first year of medical school. I decided to use Lippincott to study for the biochem final. I really wish that I had picked it up sooner. I have a much better concept of how many of the systems work! It does an excellent job of differentiating confusing concepts while demonstrating how they are related.

Lippincott does an excellent job of explaining everything in a clear and organized manner. Perhaps more importantly, it ties together important integrated concepts, and will give references to from one section of the book to another for enzymes/coenzymes/reaction species/vitamins that are essential to various reactions--so that you can make the connection for how each thing works in different systems. I highly recommend this not just as a review book, but as a book to use concurrently with your course.

Of course, I should warn that the book has not been revised since 1994, and since biochemistry is a quickly changing field, there are definitely some inaccuracies or important omissions. But for a standardized exam (like the National Board Biochemistry Shelf Exam) it is wonderful.

This book is too detailed for use in studying for Step 1 of the Boards. Learn as much as you can the first time around during your biochemistry course, then study with First Aid.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Overkill for USMLE Step 1, February 4, 2006

By	p dizzy (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews: Biochemistry (Lippincott's Illustrated Reviews Series) (Paperback)

If you're buying this book to help augment your Step 1 studying, you're wasting your time. This book is way too detailed and low yield. Step 1 may ask a few questions on biochemisty, but those questions are usually simple compared to what this book contains. Occasionally an unlucky test taker gets a couple difficult biochem questions. Does that make reading this review text worth it? That's up to you, but if you do dive into this book, you'll be working very hard for very little potential gain in your step 1 score. I thought the section on biochemistry from First Aid was more than enough preparation for the exam. That said, this book can be super helpful for your regular college, graduate, or med school biochemistry course, especially if it is competitive and comprehensive. If you have already thoroughly studied this book for that course, keep the book and use it as reference while studying other things for Step 1. But don't reread this book for Step 1. It's just not high yield enough.