Subjects:  1. Bacteriology    2. Biotechnology    3. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    4. Life Sciences - Biology - General    5. Life Sciences - Biology - Microbiology    6. Microbiology    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Science / Biology   

Editorial Review

This is the be-all and end-all of mushroom books! Truly an encyclopedia of mushroom facts and lore, lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs, literally everything you need to know about mushrooms, edible or not. Arora has taught mycology for close to twenty years and has hunted and photographed mushrooms across the North American continent. Threaded through the book are his wry and humorous observations and comments, making what could have been a rather dull, "just-the-facts, ma'am" reference book into a really enjoyable read. The stunning photographs of the incredible variety of fungi are fascinating and eye-opening, and while the author gives clear and factual information, the mysterious allure of mushrooms in their countless shapes, sizes and colors is only increased by this huge and delightful book. --Read more

Reviews (29)

A Must Have
I am a biology teacher and own two tracts of woods.I bought two cheaper books thinking, foolishly, that I would then be able to identify most mushrooms.Cheap and thin is easy to carry in the woods, but this is the "mushroom bible" all naturalists should own.Arora handles a jargon rich science exquisitely.His use of humor in a virtual textbook takes away the thick book intimidation factor.Academia could learn a lot from David's style.I wish all the pictures were in color, but that would increase the price and thickness of the volume tremendously.I will add a few other field guides with color pictures for referencing. I now have a hard time believing there are still copies available for sale.I don't know who in their right mind would sell such a volume.I'll have mine until the end.

actually good beginner book
I love this book.
This Book Is Great!
After reading this book, I have a hard time reading other mushroom books.This one is just such fun to read!I subconsciously am looking for other mushroom books to be less dry and as funny as this one, but it just ain't happenin'.I really recommend this book both for the information it contains and the pleasure that you get from reading it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. California    2. Gardening / Horticulture    3. General    4. Identification    5. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    6. Mushrooms    7. Nature    8. Nature/Ecology    9. Pacific States    10. NATURAL HISTORY, COUNTRY LIFE & PETS   

Subjects:  1. Antibacterial agents    2. Bacterial diseases    3. Bacteriology    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Chemotherapy    6. General    7. History    8. Immunopharmacology    9. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    10. Medical - Physicians    11. Pharmacology    12. Science    13. Science/Mathematics    14. Scientists - General    15. Sulphonamides    16. Therapeutic use    17. Science / General   

Reviews (5)

Not a good choice for the visual learner
If you are a "visual learner," then this is NOT, I repeat, NOT, the book for you- I cannot emphasise this enough!
Fantastic introduction to the subject
This is one of few college textbooks I've used that has actually HELPED me learn the course material.The book takes you from the basics (DNA structure and replication, etc.) all the way through some very complex concepts while never missing a beat.It's surprisingly readable and student-user-friendly whether you're a beginner or a certifiable gene jockey. My only complaint is the quality of the figures; some of them are very small and thus hard to read, and as one reviewer commented, they are sort of simplistic to the point of not being very thorough.Having full-color illustrations would be a big plus.
Very useful and informative
This book is great in developing the concepts and explaining in an easy but at the same time techinical way just what is involved in bacterial genetics.Teaching from the historical perspective you really get a sense of what these researchers were faced with and just how valuable their breakthoughs were.It doesn't try to be "hip" like so many other undergraduate textbooks out there, and for that they get full credit.The figures are a little simplistic though. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bacterial Genetics    2. Bacteriophages    3. Genetics    4. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    5. Life Sciences - Biology - Molecular Biology    6. Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics    7. Molecular genetics    8. Science    9. Science/Mathematics    10. Genetics (non-medical)    11. Molecular biology   

Subjects:  1. General    2. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    3. Life Sciences - Biochemistry    4. Life Sciences - Biology - Microbiology    5. Microbiology    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Microbiology (non-medical)   

Reviews (1)

Save your money - buy Bergey's manual
The book begins with a decent 6 page chapter on the "Initial Stages to the Identification of a Bacterial Culture," then has a condensed version of Bergey's manual, which theoretically could allow identification to the species level, provided the information is correct and complete.I got this book yesterday, and found an error on the first thing I looked up. (in table 7.1 - Streptomyces does produce aerial hyphae.)Read more

Subjects:  1. Atlases    2. Bacteria    3. Bacteriology    4. Identification    5. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    6. Life Sciences - Biology - General    7. Life Sciences - Biology - Microbiology    8. Medical    9. Microbiology    10. Science    11. Technology & Industrial Arts    12. Microbiology (non-medical)    13. Nature / Water Supply   

Reviews (3)

2nd best mushroom book
The pictures in this guide are not quite as nice as in the audubon version but is still easy to use and a nice handy size for carrying in a pocket

Still a standard field guide to fungi
This field guide is nearly twenty years old, but there are so few field guides to fungi that it still remains a standard reference. Like all Peterson field guides, it is handy and compact and can easily be taken into the field and pored over with the mushrooms in their wild habitat. The text is detailed and accurate and a "similar species" section is very useful. However, this guide uses painted plates whereas amateurs generally find it easier to identify fungi by photographs. I personally find photographs more accurate, but enjoy paintings in their own right. In this case the paintings are pleasing and quite faithful.
mushroom field guide
I found this book to be well illustrated. And although not as comprehensive as i'd hoped, it is still the most complete guide I have found. Overall, I feel it is well above average--and I'm quite hard toplease! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fungi    2. Identification    3. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    4. Mushrooms    5. Nature    6. Nature/Ecology    7. North America    8. Pictorial works    9. Botany & plant sciences    10. Microbiology (non-medical)    11. Mycology, fungi (non-medical)    12. Nature / Mushrooms    13. Plant life: general    14. Trees & wildflowers   

Reviews (1)

Better than the Original!!
This inspirational, emotionally-charged follow-up to "Bacillus Subtilis and Other Gram-Positive Bacteria: Biochemistry, Physiology, and Molecular Genetics," delivers the goods.One would expect the authors to be crushed by the weight of expectation for this sequel, but they have defied conventional wisdom and completely outdone themselves.I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bacillus subtilis    2. Bacterial Genetics    3. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    4. Life Sciences - Biology - Microbiology    5. Microbiology    6. Microorganisms    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Bacteriology    10. Biochemistry   

Reviews (7)

MMMMMMMMMMMMMGood
Lovely photographs, excellent identity descriptions, tons of useful information and I love the recipes -- plan to make every one of them.

Excellent Book For Novice Edible Mushroom Hunter
This is a concise easy to use book for people just starting to
Limited scope, horrible recipes.
I bought this book many years ago as the first of what is now a fairly large collection on the subject.As the title indicates, it concentrates on the EDIBLE fungi, so the reviewer who was dissappointed because he/she could ID only one of the 13 mushrooms he/she found has unfair expectations out of the scope of this work. That said, only the most popular edibles seem to be listed here, and variants on those species are not covered in much depth. It's ok for those who just want to be able to distinguish a golden chanterelle from a jack-o-lantern, or a morel from a thimble-cap so they can safely gather some edibles. The worst thing about this book, however, is it's unfortunate recipes. Every single recipe I've tried from it completely sucks. Either the cooking method is inappropriate to that particular mushroom (turning delicate specimins to mush, for instance, or inundating absorptive ones with oil), or strong flavors from other ingredients overwhelm the sometimes subtle flavors of the mushrooms themselves. I get much better results by trusting my cooking intuition and experimenting than I do by following these recipes. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bacteriology    2. Cookery (Mushrooms)    3. Cooking    4. Identification    5. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    6. Mushrooms    7. Mushrooms, Edible    8. Mushrooms, Poisonous    9. Nature    10. North America    11. Specific Ingredients - Vegetables    12. Cookery by ingredient    13. Cooking / Vegetables    14. Mycology, fungi (non-medical)   

Reviews (4)

classic text but no bargain
This is an excellent introduction to the fungi, however the cost is extremely prohibitive.The coverage is good, and its strong points are in morphological description and taxonomy.It is less impressive in molecular aspects of mycology.Given the high price of this volume, I highly recommend checking it out from a library to see if it meets your needs and expectations before deciding to purchase.And keep in mind that there are more affordably priced alternative pathways to introduce you to the fungi, such as The Fifth Kingdom by Kendrick.

Excellent reference text for fungi
The text is a good introduction to fungi with several excellent black and white pictures and illustrations.The text also contains an extensive glossary of mycological terms.However, as other reviewers have indicated, the text appears to be written for people with at least a general biology background.As a microbiologist, I find this book to be a perfect reference for fungi.

A classic introduction with a focus on plant pathology.
Last month I began browsing my 1962 edition of Introductory Mycology.Loand behold I read through the whole book over a weekend.This book was ourbible for the Mycology 100 course in grad school.I was noticing how goodthe narrative and drawings were in this classic.The book is not a glitzytome so common in textbooks today.Each class of fungi is dealt withseparately and there are extensive references at the end of each chapter.Of course because of the date of my edition some of the references aredated.However, the basic science here is solid and presented in apedagogical manner.The chapter on class Basidiomycetes deserves specialmention.The basidium development narrative is just superb. If you have aninterest in fungi and want to delve deeper into this important living groupthen get this book.It will serve you well for years to come just as ithas done for me. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Fungi    2. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    3. Microbiology    4. Mycology    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Mycology, fungi (non-medical)    8. Science / Bacteriology   

Subjects:  1. Atlases    2. Bacteria    3. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    4. Medical / Nursing    5. Medical bacteriology    6. Microbiology    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Bacteriology    10. Medical microbiology & virology    11. Reference works   

Subjects:  1. Development    2. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    3. Life Sciences - Biology - Developmental Biology    4. Life Sciences - Biology - Microbiology    5. Life Sciences - Cytology    6. Microbial Physiology    7. Microbial cell cycle    8. Prokaryotes    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics    11. Bacteriology    12. Cellular development   

Reviews (1)

A very practical reference on mycophagy and mycology
covers all the basics.. in detail.. includes basic taxonomic keys and useful materials. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bacteriology    2. Fungi    3. General    4. Identification    5. Mushrooms    6. Reference    7. Southern States    8. Mycology, fungi (non-medical)    9. Science / Environmental Science   

Subjects:  1. Anti-Bacterial Agents    2. Antibiotics    3. Antifungal Agents    4. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    5. Life Sciences - Biology - Microbiology    6. Medical / Nursing    7. Microbiology    8. Pharmacology    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics    11. Microbiology (non-medical)   

Subjects:  1. Enzymology    2. Life Sciences - Biology - General    3. Life Sciences - Biology - Microbiology    4. Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics    5. Science    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Bacteriology    8. Genetic engineering    9. Science / Biology   

Reviews (1)

A Thorough and Sophisticated Presentation of Pathogenicity
As an undergraduate student studying microbiology, I found the book to be extremely technical.I would have appreciated a more clinical approach to pathogenicity.Bacterial Pathogenesis can, however, serve as an excellentreference text concerning the details of pathogenicity on a molecularlevel.The book covers virulence factors and antibiotic in detail.21bacterial diseases are covered extensively, each having its own chapter. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bacteriology    2. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    3. Life Sciences - Biology - Molecular Biology    4. Medical / Nursing    5. Microbiology    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics   

Subjects:  1. Algae    2. Biotechnology    3. Life Sciences - Anatomy & Physiology    4. Life Sciences - Botany    5. Life Sciences - Cytology    6. Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Spirulina platensis    9. Bacteriology    10. Plant physiology    11. Plant reproduction & propagation    12. Science / Botany   

Subjects:  1. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    2. Life Sciences - Biology - Microbiology    3. Life Sciences - Evolution    4. Science    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Microbial physiology    7. Science / Microbiology   

Reviews (6)

Ok, the textbooks need to change!
Like most other students in medicine of any kind, especially those of us with a predeliction for books and information about viruses, bacteria, and our 'failing' fight against them, I was under the impression that Fleming discovered penicillin. I guess you could still say that, but he sat on it for over 10 years and never did have much to do with its development as an antibiotic. Typical. Our textbooks are inaccurate because in the rush to make money off of textbooks, publishers don't bother to actually use people who know the history of medicine, to research and read what is known now about such situations as the development of penicillin. Like the exclusion of Rosalind Franklin from recognition of her very valuable part in the understanding of the DNA molecule (thanks a lot to Watson), in most medical histories or books that med students read, Franklin's name never comes up.
Florey et al - Bringing Penicillin to the World
Eric Lax has written a fine and very readable book about the story of penicillin. I found myself not able to put it down. Eric Lax has put in perspective where the true credit should be for the discovery and commercialisation of penicillin, with the consequence the rise of the antibiotic industry.
This was a good book
The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: the Story of the Penicillin Miracle By Eric Lax was a really good book.It was very informative and, surprisingly, not deathly boring.Most people associate the discovery and production of penicillin with Alexander Fleming.Alexander Fleming was the first one to discover penicillin, but he gave up on it when he could not isolate the penicillin from its surrounding liquid.The real people to isolate, produce and test penicillin were, Howard Florey, Ernst Chain, and Norman Heatley.However, these great men were forgotten when it came time to name the champion of penicillin.This book tells about the real men behind the great miracle, their lives, how they went about studying and creating penicillin, and why they never received their proper credit.It is actually a little sad.The men didn't want the drug to get a lot of press attention due to the fact that it was still experimental and could still fail.So when Fleming was wrongly credited they did not correct it thinking the matter would soon die down.It did not and Fleming made no move to correct people either.In fact he benefited financially and award wise for something that he had basically nothing to with!The meaning behind the title is also a very interesting story, no, it does not mean that Dr. Florey discovered penicillin in his coat.The scientists worked on penicillin during a very dangerous time, World War II.With the always looming threat of a Nazi invasion, there was the possibility that they would have to destroy their work so it did not fall into enemy hands.Not wanting to lose all their precious work and have to start from scratch they devised a clever plan.The penicillin spores could lie dormant for many years and then be grown and studied.With the hope that at least one man from the group would survive, they all rubbed the spores into the cotton fibers of their clothing.Fortunately, the invasion never happened and they went on to discover the great miracle drug of their day. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Bacteriology    2. History    3. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    4. Medical / Nursing    5. Penicillin    6. Pharmacology    7. Popular works    8. Research & Methodology    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics    11. Scientific Methodology And Research   

Reviews (1)

Good Information, but Expensive and Brief
This book contains useful information on utilizing good bacteria, like the cultures contained in yogurt, to increase your level of health.The are interesting chapters on using probiotics to treat cancer and autism, but I was more interested from the standpoint of maintaining healthy digestion.If you have taken any antibiotics, there is a good chance that your intestinal flora is out of whack and that probiotics can help.
Read more

Subjects:  1. Alternative Therapies    2. Consumer Health    3. Diets - Better Health    4. Healing    5. Health & Fitness    6. Health/Fitness    7. Healthy Living    8. Immunochemistry    9. Life Sciences - Bacteriology    10. Microorganisms    11. Fitness & diet    12. Popular medicine