Product Description

The second edition retains all the beauty of the first, and it serves as an editorial model -- a guide that shows us how serious authors prepare a new version of a serious book.

The first edition was the work of seven authors, all of them outstanding scientists [note 2]. For the second edition, the team of authors has been expanded to include a science writer, Karen Hopkin, whose main responsibility (the Preface tells us) has been "to make the book clear, accessible, and fun to read."

As in the earlier edition, there is a digest of "Essential Concepts" near the end of each chapter, and the illustrations are grouped into panels that actually explain principles, structures, procedures and experiments, rather than just providing pretty distractions. Some of the material has been reordered, the coverage has been broadened to include some new findings and new methods, there is more emphasis on genetics, and there is an expanded, improved complement of questions that make students take time to think, to realize that a question often has more than one valid answer, and to recognize that alternative perspectives are available in almost any situation. All of these changes are welcome.

...There are 21 "How We Know" articles -- one in every chapter -- providing information about metabolic pathways, protein structures, replication, the genetic code, mitosis, and cancer, among other topics. These articles… [are] very important innovations. ...Each copy of the new edition is accompanied by a CD-ROM, and the CD-ROM is not a mere gimmick or toy. It is a valuable adjunct to the textbook, and it has two important functions. First, it carries the literature references for each chapter in the book. (The references don't appear in the book itself.) Second, the CD-ROM provides interactive illustrations, typically with voice-over narrations, that demonstrate such things as the structures of molecules, the movement of cells, and the processes of replication, translation and cell division.

What makes for a great science education is not the amassing of facts but the understanding of concepts, processes and syntheses, and the realization that all our information about nature must be subject to testing and revision. That is the kind of educational experience that students can acquire from the second edition of Essential Cell Biology.

I recommend this new edition for use in advanced high-school courses aimed at students who already have had a course in chemistry and a solid introductory course in biology. This fine book also belongs in the library of any high school that offers serious instruction in science. Teachers and librarians who did not get the first edition should look at this second edition pronto.

from The Textbook Letter, Volume 12, Number 2, 2005

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2205 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-25
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 740 pages

Review
"…An excellent example of designing a textbook… ...Clear, well illustrated, conversational in tone and enjoyable to read and browse through." -- E-Streams, October 2004

"…Fills a critical niche in the pedagogical process of introducing cell biology …does an excellent job in reaching its objective." -- The Quarterly Review of Biology, Volume 79, December 2004,

...an excellent example of designing a textbook for undergraduates and non-biology majors. It is clear, well illustrated, conversational in tone and enjoyable to read and browse through...
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–E-Streams, October 2004

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–The Textbook Letter, Volume 12, Number 2, 2005

The second edition retains all the beauty of the first, and it serves as an editorial model -- a guide that shows us how serious authors prepare a new version of a serious book. ...What makes for a great science education is not the amassing of facts but the understanding of concepts, processes and syntheses, and the realization that all our information about nature must be subject to testing and revision. That is the kind of educational experience that students can acquire from the second edition of Essential Cell Biology.

Customer Reviews

A perfect introductory textbook to molecular cell biology!
I recently bought the book "Essential Cell Biology: An Introduction to the Molecular Biology of the Cell" and studied it from cover to cover, including all the questions and answers. It was one of the greatest and most well-organized textbooks I have ever encountered. The language was very fluent, and especially some of the example questions were quite entertaining and witty. I haven't had any education neither in biology nor in molecular biology nor in biochemistry (my major is chemical engineering), still I didn't have any difficulties in understanding all the concepts presented in the book. The knowledge I gained from the book was a great help to me during the "GRE Subject Test in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology" which I took just yesterday. I am applying to graduate schools in the US for a Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology or Bioengineering, and the test I took yesterday was crucial for my applications, in which (thanks to Essential Cell Biology) I believe I did quite well for a person without a background in the subject except a two-months-long self-study. This is a great and concise introductory textbook to the molecular biology of the cell, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has an interest in this subject with no or little background.

A good basic text for non-majors
This is the "Baby Alberts," a condensed version of "Molecular Biology of the Cell by the same authors. It covers the basic premises well and the reader will not get bogged down in details that will only be useful to a senior student or graduate student. The CD that comes with it has some very nice videos and a few good animations of cell processes but it is not anywhere near as useful as the HyperCell 1998 CD, which has animations and explanations of all cell processes (Also from Garland Publishing). If you plan to make cell and molecular biology your major or career, however, you will be much better off buying the more comprehensive book; it has everything that is in this book and way beyond. It may save you money because you will probably buy it in the future anyway!

Book Does Not Make the Grade
I have read a good number of science texts, and this one just doesn't seem to be as good as the others. The explanations are adequate, though not to the level that Marieb's Anatomy and Physiology was or to the extent of Biology by Campbell and Reese. In class, the professor told us to refer to Campbell and to "Molecular Biology of the Cell" for better explanations.

The glossary is incomplete, and often key terms are just nt there. The index suffers from the same trouble, even when the chapters address the topic. Lastly the graphics, just don't seem to be as well planned as those in the texts mentioned above.

I understand that many do not have a choice given that most buy the book as an assigned text. My recommendation, therefore, is to save your old textbooks and to ask that your professor place a copy of Molecular Biology of the Cell on reserve at your school library.