Reviews (100)

Well written and organized textbook
This was my textbook for Biology 101 & 102. This book was a pleasure to read. It is clearly written and not dry at all so it was easy to keep focus. Even in my upper level classes, I find myself referring back to it occasionally and am still impressed by it. An important point I would like to make is that, if you are using this as a course textbook, the CD is invaluable. The animated tutorials and chapter quizzes, (which are quite thorough), kept me one step ahead. That CD shaved hours off of my study time for each test.

Very Comprehensive
Actually found this one in my storage boxes and dusted it off for a look see. Holds up against contemporary text in classes now. When it says buy used from like $2, that's a helluva deal. For a science book over 10 years old, it still does a bang up job on subject of genes, ecology, mechanisms of evolution....the chapter on biological diversity is almost complete enough to be a zoology text.

Long, dense, and at first look tedious - but absolutely worth it.
This book was used in my AP Bio class, where my teacher's constant reminders to "read the book" usually went unnoticed. This isn't because Campbell's book is necessarily boring or difficult to understand; in fact, the situation is quite the opposite. Campbell delves into the concepts of biology with more than adequate depth and breadth for the subject, offering both the basics and the details necessary to survive AP Bio (and, from the way my AP Exam went, college freshman Bio, too).
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Subjects:  1. Biology    2. Life Sciences - Biology - General    3. Science    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Study & Teaching    6. Biology, Life Sciences    7. Science / Biology   

Reviews (25)

Brilliance and Ignorance Together For One Very High Price
This is by far the best that Campbell & Co. have produced.The text reads easily and with great clarity.The difference of this 7th edition over previous editions is significant, and nearly worth the price.However, paying nearly $150 for a text is ridiculous.The publishers obviously think they can command such a premium because this text is so closely linked with the current American public high school's Biology Advanced Placement test.In short, they feel they have taxpayers over a barrel on this and can 'get away with it'.Shameful.Also, Campbell and Reece are radical evolutionists.Do not expect balance or 'both sides of the argument' presented on any of the more controversial aspects of Darwin's theory.There is no debate as far as they are concerned.Though 'spontaneous generation' was disproven by Louis Pasteur and Francisco Redi over 150 years ago, Campbell and Reece cling to this notion with strange, obsessive passion that borders on the bizarre.Their arrogance on this important issue strongly detracts from what is an outstanding, and otherwise balanced resourse.Why not address some contrary points of view to Darwinian evolution and even (gasp!) admit many of the more infamous errors by overly enthusiastic biologists in the past (e.g. the "Nebraska Man" of the Scopes Monkey Trial was actually only two teeth; the "Piltdown Man" was a hoax that was taught as fact in American universities for nearly 40 years, etc...).Such arrogance quickly leads to blindness, and has no place in real science. But, in spite of these confusing departures from real science (science being that which is both observable and testable), the text has some outstanding qualities that make it one of the premier sources in the field.

Comprehensive, Expensive, Thorough,& Biased
This certainly is the definitive word for biology students.The 7th edition reads faster, with more clarity and interest, than the previous edition by far.Does this warrant the outrageous price ?Doubtful, but since public schools (i.e taxpayers) are footing the bill for the most part, the publishers do this with relative impunity.This latest edition has stunning photos and graphics, and these add greatly to the text's readability.The chapters are short and concise, and the review questions and self-test items are excellent.The CD Rom that accompanies the text is also excellent and highly recommended.The optional study guide is not however, as it has a thoroughly mediocre quality and superfluous nature.Of even greater offense is the "pay per view" website that is offered for additional resources.After paying $100 for a text, and then be expected to pay more for Web assistance is unabashedly mercenary.However the objective reader will find Campbell & Reece's greatest flaw in its blatant bias concerning the theory of evolution.The 'theory' is not treated as such, but as an obvious fact, with no contrary points of view to any of the controverisal aspects of the theory included whatsoever.This is no small matter.Campbell and Reece simply assume that the spontaneous generation of life indeed occurred at some time in the Earth's past (though this has never been demonstrated experimentally--ever) and that DNA and RNA rose via the random chance of fortuitous collisions of molecules over time, (again, with no experimental evidence to justify these claims), the serious reader must earnestly question why the theory is presented in each chapter with an almost obsessive fervor.

Beautiful book, mercenary publisher -- caveat emptor
This is a lovely textbook. It is very up-to-date and well organized. It ihas full-color printing throughout the text and great self-assessment questions. The CD-ROM (included) also has many helpful resources.
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Subjects:  1. Life Sciences - Biology - General    2. Science    3. Science/Mathematics    4. Biology, Life Sciences    5. Science / Biology   

Reviews (4)

Amazing photography -- no narrative -- great coffee table book
As other reviewers have said, the photography is top notch.I will focus my review on the difference between this book and his "classic", A Child Is Born.When I was deciding on my purchase I did not know which book would be better for my purposes, so I hope to shed some light on that for others.
Beautiful images of the human lifespan
Lennart Nilsson took the first image of a living human embryo in the 1960s and stunned the world.Now, Life is an absolutely amazing book of images documenting human life from DNA through fetal development and birth.The second half of the book focuses on the human body, it's organs, tissues the things that eventually threaten life - bacteria and viruses.
Brilliant photography...
The photography in this book is proof positive of the miraculousness of life and the beginning of a human soul.I heartily recommend this book for a deeper look at the creation of a baby and its subsequent growth. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Human Anatomy    2. Human biology    3. Individual Photographer    4. Individual Photographers And Their Work    5. Life Sciences - Human Anatomy & Physiology    6. Medical photography    7. Photography    8. Pictorial works    9. Science    10. Science/Mathematics    11. Subjects & Themes - General    12. Science / Human Anatomy    13. Science; photography   

Reviews (6)

Absolutely a Must Have for Anyone Involved with Electricity and Electrical Equipment

The Ultimate Reference in the Electrician's Trade
I can't say it better myself:"The purpose of this Code is the practical safeguarding of persons and property from hazards arising from the use of electricity" NEC 90.1(A)
Required reference for handymen and professional electricians
The National Electric Code, also knows as NFPA-70, is the standard that building officials use to define what is legal to use in electric services of all kinds.NFPA is the National Fire Protection Association.The Electric Code began almost as soon as Edison wired some of his new lights in New York, and the first electricity caused fire happened.Soon thereafter the National Fire Protection Association began writing safety codes aimed at preventing fires and promoting safe wiring techniques.Today, more than a century later, the Electric Code is republished every 3 years.As new inventions and new applications for electricity are ever expanding the code book expands and is revised to define the new applications. The 2005 edition has been updated to include recent developments in available materials and equipment.The code has 772 large pages detailing every electric installation from common house wiring to installation requirements for 35,000 volt transformers. The tables detailing how many conductors you can put in a conduit go on for 50 pages in the appendix.
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Subjects:  1. Construction - Electrical    2. Electrical Safety Codes    3. Electricity    4. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    5. Fire Safety And Prevention    6. Fire Science    7. Science/Mathematics    8. Technology    9. Technology & Industrial Arts    10. Electrical engineering    11. Electronics engineering    12. Explosives technology & pyrotechnics    13. Fire protection & safety    14. Occupational / industrial health & safety    15. Technology / Technical & Manufacturing Industries & Trades   

Reviews (43)

hands down, this behemoth deserves 5 stars
Yes, 1616 pages and 2 inches thick of madness can be intimidating, but this book is sheer awesomeness in lots of ways. Whether you are self-taught, actually taking the class, or just want a desk reference for cell bio, this is definitely the one to get.
The Canonical Work
This is a beautifully written textbook that presents the canonical version of what is currently known about cellular biology at the molecular level.The illustrations are clear and the text is easy to follow.The only shortcoming of the book is that, necessarily, it stays above the messy details in order to maintain clarity.The result, inevitably, is that some areas are glossed over (transcription activation is one example, but there are many others) and some areas appear to be understood when in reality there is a great deal of disagreement (for example, gene splicing).But these omissions are appropriate because the intention of the book is to provide an overview, not a specialist in-depth examination of every topic.This is a great primer for college students or educated people wanting to know just a little more detail about how life works.
Simply love it---a plethora of information
This book is a wonderful source of knowledge for anyone who is interested in cell biology; or if you are studying it--like myself.I give a 100% gaurantee that if you purchase this book you will be satisfied. I just finished reading the chapter on pathogens; wow so much information - it's truly ubelievable. That is what else I love about this book: it can be read sectionally. All one has to do is read the first three chapters to establish a foundation of the basic knowledge; you can skip that step all together if you know your stuff. Simply put: buy this book. Also, I forgot to mention that it includes a beautifully designed CD-ROM; it has animations that suppliment what you learned and more--not your average CD extra. The reason this review is so short and concise is because the other one I wrote didn't get saved--that was the long one with detail. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Cells    2. Cytology    3. General    4. Life Sciences - Biology - Molecular Biology    5. Life Sciences - Cytology    6. Molecular Biology    7. Science    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Cellular biology    10. Science / Biotechnology   

Reviews (98)

More Fact, Less Opinion Please
There are many areas of this book where this brilliant scientist documents science correctly and accurately, but unfortunately Dr. Collins also tries to pass off a lot of erroneous opinions as fact.Some specific examples follow. Great Book!!!
I have thouroughly enjoyed this book, although i could not give it past three stars.
Required Reading for Fundamentalists and Atheists
This gentle, well reasoned and insightful book should be required reading for all fundamentalists and atheists.I'm a Christian and since I hit my first biology class at age 13 I've wondered how to explain to all the folks in my denomination that they were wrong about evolution and that denying evolution was really a slap in the face of God, denying one of His most amazing acts because they don't like those nasty evolutionists.To believers he says, "The consequence (of being anti-evolution) can bring ridicule on the church, driving sincere seekers away from God instead of into His arms."On the other hand, those nasty evolutionists ought to read it as well.To them Dr. Collins says, "Keep in mind that the pure water of spiritual truth is carried in those rusty containers called human beings, so there should be no surprise that at times those foundational beliefs can be severely distorted."Yes, both Christians and scientists can be buttheads.Don't let that stand in the way of the truth.Read this book.(Did you hear me, Kansas State Board of Education?) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Apologetics    2. General    3. Philosophy    4. Philosophy & Social Aspects    5. Religion    6. Religion & Science    7. Religion - Commentaries / Reference    8. Religion - Socialissues    9. Religion And Science    10. Philosophy of religion    11. Philosophy of science    12. Religion / Philosophy   

Reviews (3)

Absolutely a Must Have for Anyone Involved with Electricity and Electrical Equipment

Great quality book - oodles better than the paperback version
I bought this book because I am studying to be an electrician.I like it considerably more than the paperback version it is far easier to find section headings and sub-headings when you are looking for something.The paper is strong and glossy-white (as opposed to gray and flimsy in the paperback) and headings are in bold type and indented.
BUY THE HARDCOVER!!
What a waste of time, money and energy!!
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Subjects:  1. Construction - Electrical    2. Electrical Safety Codes    3. Electricity    4. Engineering - Electrical & Electronic    5. Fire Safety And Prevention    6. Fire Science    7. Handbooks & Manuals    8. Science/Mathematics    9. Technology    10. Technology & Industrial Arts    11. Electrical engineering    12. Electronics engineering    13. Explosives technology & pyrotechnics    14. Fire protection & safety    15. Occupational / industrial health & safety    16. Reference works    17. Technology / Technical & Manufacturing Industries & Trades   

Reviews (9)

Guide for construction
Every engineer must have one copy of this book.This is an updated edition of the previous ones.Very detailed description and pictures about construction.

Good book
It's relatively well written and good for starter who are new to building construction.

Surpassed expectations
Being a student in Construction Management Edward Allen's book was assigned as our text book. The course entitled materials and methods is intended to teach future construction manajors about the wide variety of materials on the market today as well as tradional methods of constructing with these materials.Read more

Subjects:  1. Building    2. Building Construction    3. Building materials    4. Construction - General    5. Methods & Materials    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Architecture / Methods & Materials    9. Building construction & materials   

Reviews (11)

Will not help at all!!!
This book was the required textbook for my organic I and II class...and it didn't help with either. If you didn't understands something the way the professor explained it, the book provided no help. The explainations in it were very short and were of no help at all. Most of the time the examples were too simple to really teach you anything. This is a very elementary textbook, that doesn't seem worthy to me of a place in any college or university.

Didn't help me!
This text is an easy read, and you will understand the reactions that are given in the text examples. So why the low rating? Organic chemistry is all about "prediction". And when it comes to teaching you how to predict the outcomes of reactions you've never seen before, it is lacking! You can study this text two hours a day, every day, and unless you have an uncanny ability to understand chemistry (I don't)--you will still not have this most fundamental skill you need to succeed.Try "Organic Chemistry as a Second Language" and "Organic Chemistry II as a Second Language".They will have you predicting and understanding Orgo in no time!! This course isn't hard at all- once someone explains it to you properly. David Klein (the author of those two books) does that beautifully.

Only for first year, if u are doing indepth o-chem then this isnt it
Mcmurry is a colourful and over-generalized textbook that presents the most fundamental concepts of organic chemistry without fully elucidating on their logic. Mcmurry's style is to induce learning of 0-chem via memorizing of reaction mechanisms, and other trivial components.
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Subjects:  1. Chemistry - Organic    2. Chemistry, Organic    3. Science    4. Science/Mathematics    5. Organic chemistry    6. Science / Chemistry / Organic   

Reviews (13)

Outstanding, updated and excellent
I have used this book in my class on Experimental Design since 1997. Among all the texts I have tried to use to make the teaching of this subject more precise and understandable, this book from Dr. Montgomery have proven to be the more appropriated. The book has new exercises, more teacher resources, and is now more software oriented, something that I found very useful for my students in Dominican Republic.
Good introduction to an important subject
This reviewer spent 10 years at Arizona State University and while there, took over 70 classes.As an engineer, I took loads of science and engineering classes; many of which I did not need.There was one class I took only because I had to; Design of Experiments, an industrial engineering graduate class taught by Dr. Douglas Montgomery.We used this book (an earlier edition though) in this class.The class was great and the book was actually quite easy to understand.Now, as an engineer at Intel, I have come to discover that this the class by Dr. Montgomery, and the book from that class, is more useful than any other class / textbook that I have ever taken.Since Dr. Montgomery cannot teach all of us about statistics within engineering design, we can instead read this highly readable book of his.

EXCELLENT BOOK
This is the best book for beginners to DOE, students and for future reference.
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Subjects:  1. Engineering - Industrial    2. Experimental design    3. Science/Mathematics    4. Technology    5. Technology & Industrial Arts    6. Mechanical Engineering & Materials    7. Technology / Engineering / Industrial   

Reviews (6)

Very Satisfied
I am highly pleased with my purchase. The item is in wonderful condition and the delivery was FaSt! Wow. Great Experience!

You have to start somewhere...
Tobey and Slater's 'Beginning Algebra' text is used by my college where I tutor mathematics in the first course in Algebra, often the first course in Algebra many of our students have ever taken.It is very much a beginning course, as the course itself carries no official 'credit' (it is a zero-level course, as a prerequisite to other science and mathematics courses, that many students place out of on the basis of assessment scores). You can do better than this!
This widely-acclaimed textbook by Tobey & Slater is a valiant attempt to make elementary algebra both interesting and anxiety-free. I have been using this textbook [both 4th and now 5th editions] to teach in over 30 classes so far at aRead more

Subjects:  1. Algebra    2. Algebra - Elementary    3. Algebra - General    4. Mathematics    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Mathematics / Algebra / General   

Reviews (6)

Best book on interest rate models
This is the best book available on interest rate models. Very detailed. Much more focused and readable than Rebonato's book. More pragmatic and explicit than Musiela and Rutkowski. Not as theoretical as Hunt and Kennedy. James and Webber also looks very good, but I'm not that familiar with it. All other books have only bits and pieces on interest rates.

The best book I have read on the subject
With all the due respect to the other authors I would say that if one is interested in a good theoretical book whihc is also good on the implementation side then the book of Brigo and Mercurion is definetly the best book I have ever read on the subject. New stuff and nice overview: hard to beat!
In the late nineties I went through Brigo's innovative work on stochastic nonlinear filtering with differential geometry techniques. I was favorably impressed by results and style, particularly in his dissertation and in his 'geometry in present day science' very readable overview. Interesting results are found and nicely told with accurate -but not pointlessly complicated - advanced mathematics for the problems at hand, I reasoned. Read more

Subjects:  1. Business / Economics / Finance    2. Finance    3. Group Theory    4. Mathematics    5. Probability & Statistics - General    6. Science/Mathematics    7. Statistics    8. Business & Economics / Finance    9. Interest rates    10. JEL classification: G12, G13, E43    11. MSC (2000): 60H10, 60H35, 62P05, 65C05, 65C20, 90A09    12. calibration    13. pricing    14. stochastic calculus   

Reviews (27)

Interesting read
I found the book interesting from the standpoint of the infinite emotional fluxuation women seem to deal with explained scientifically.As a man I have always wanted a woman, devoid of feminism and emotion to try to explain why women act the way they do.That is not to say that I feel superior, I have always just been facinated by the "differences" in how men and women think and how women approach issues, problems, and joys differently than men.I have been married to the same woman for over 35 years, and have had a constant, close companion as a study.
Not a Scientist
I am not a scientist, researcher , or doctor and therefore can't comment on the extensive reviews done by those in the clinical fields; however, I can comment on the use of "cutesy" language and the "dumbing" down approach to the female brain.How much research is being done on the ethereal energy that separates male and female? Maybe I'm too "new age" or alternative-minded, but I've learned alot more about gender differences, male and female energy, female brains and reactions from Deepak Chopra, Rayna Gangi and Andrew Weil than I did from this fairly bad attempt.

WORTHLESS
Actually, this book has negative value: Not only can I not give it to anyone, for fear of perpetuating the notions therein; but I can't throw it away without wasting a couple pounds of paper.
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Subjects:  1. Brain    2. Human Neuroanatomy    3. Mental Health    4. Neuropsychology    5. Neuroscience    6. Physiology    7. Psychology    8. Psychology Of Women    9. Women    10. Women's Health - General    11. Women's Studies - General    12. Science / General   

Reviews (52)

Almost Perfect
This review is strictly for the 5th Edition of Calculus: Early Transcendentals (with Tools for Enriching Calculus Video CD-ROM, iLrn Homework, and vMentor)
A great math book to own
The book has a great structure.It connects well to bring a person to advance his math skill into college-level.The structure is great and easy to follow.The proofs are clear.Different from most of math textbooks where examples are easier than exercises, this book provides the same level of difficulty on both.Although the author starts skipping proofs in multivariable calculus, he explains the reason.My recommendation is that he tie-up the structure in multivariable calculus portion.It definitely will be a 5-stars book.

The Calculus Bible
If you need to buy one calculus book... buy this one.It's got everything you will need for learning basic calculus.I was referring to this book constantly, both while taking basic math, and in more advanced courses in physics and engineering, when I would need to go back and re-learn how to integrate a particular type of problem.I was actually quite shocked to see that the last several reviews rated this book quite poorly... everyone who took math with me using this book loved it.Then again, we were all engineers, so we wanted to be doing this kind of stuff. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Calculus    2. Mathematics    3. Science/Mathematics    4. Mathematics / Calculus   

Reviews (5)

Great Read as well as reference
Let me preface this review with: I have a huge library of chemistry related books, of which books relating to name reactions has a prominent footprint. With that said, this is one of the most readable of its kind. Before this, I enjoyed the Jie-Jack Li name reaction book. However, as with all of them, it was just a reference manual. Kurti's, however, is a well thought out "text" with background on each reaction and color coded mechanisms. It is an excellent book for both beginners and PI's. Sick as it may sound, I actually purchsed a second copy for home as well as the office. My conclusion is that this is one of maybe 3 name reaction books that make a complete reference set.

Un nouveau classique
Un outil ideal pour apprendre les name reactions, etudier les mecanismes et trouver les references de la decouverte initial jusqu'aux toutes dernieres modification. Un livre tres utile autant pour les etudiants gradues que pour les organiciens aguerris.

Perfect for Cume's
I got this for my girlfriend who is knee deep in her organic cumes...It's been a lifesaver.And I look forward to taking advantage of it when I get to take mine....Oh joy...
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Subjects:  1. Chemistry - Organic    2. Science    3. Science/Mathematics    4. Organic reactions & synthesis    5. Science / Chemistry / General   

Reviews (7)

A Good Introduction to the Topic of Petroleum Refining
My boss at work gave me this book in an effort to get me up to speed on the industries we monitor.Having absolutely no background in oil and natural gas (beyond some general remarks dropped here and there in my undergraduate engineering curriculum), I found the text to be very informative, albeit in a non-technical way.Potential readers of this text should note that the information is highly focused- the author only covers refining of petroleum, and not other topics of interest, such as oil field exploration and development or petrochemicals manufacturing.
Overrated
Recommended this to students but they found too much bad information. Maybe nontechnical means not worried about details being correct.

Great book for a novice
I needed a quick read and overview of the basics of refining.This book was both easy to read and comphrehensive for the non-energy professional.If you want to learn about refining, this is a great place to start. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Engineering - General    2. Petroleum    3. Petroleum Refining    4. Refining    5. Science/Mathematics    6. Technology    7. Technology & Industrial Arts    8. Petroleum technology   

Reviews (14)

Big Joke
Beware! This book is no serious science book, it's no more than a paper-incarnation of a big poor joke..