5 stars (Depth and Accuracy) - Campbell and Reece are best known as the authors of the hefty and excellent "Biology", now in it's 6th edition used by undegraduate biology majors and AP Biology students. "Essential Biology" uses a different approach. The authors have packed a great deal into this amazingly small textbook. I recently reviewed a huge number of introductory biology texts for adoption in our school district. We use Campbell and Reece's Biology, 6th edition for our AP biology course but were looking for a textbook to use with our 9th grade honors biology students. After a lengthy comparison of textbooks we picked "Essential Biology" based on several things. First we found the book to be accurate, readable, and concise. We felt that it would give the students a depth of understanding in the core biological principles so that they would be ready when they moved on to AP biology later in their high school career. Instead of trying to "cover" everything under the biological sun, "Essential Biology" focuses on four core biological topics: cells, genetics, evolution, and ecology. It's 20 chapters are broken up into these 4 units and does a wonderful job of pulling it all together. Other textbooks certainly cover more material but with less depth. What is the use of having a huge textbook that the students either never finish or rush through with no real understanding? This is a textbook that the students can dig into and throughly understand during one course. It is supported by CD-ROM's and on-line material. The website provides activities, on-line labs, quizes, and other practice. Students can print out results or e-mail them to their teachers. I would recommend this text as one for use in a non-majors biology course or as an advanced high school biology introductory course. ... Benjamin Cummings :: Science & Biology :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Life Sciences - Biology - General :: Eric J Simon :: Jane B Reece :: Neil A Campbell :: :: Essential Biology- Second Edition
5 stars (Great introduction to chemistry...) - this is an excellent introductory chemistry textbook.... it is great for the last year of highschool.. or for bridging from highschool to unviersity.. it isn't that deep enough for most first year chemistry courses... but reading through this book before OR while you are in ur first year course will greatly help you understand the material... because this book doesn't assume u know a lot about the subject already... cuz face it guys... nobody tries to remember stuff in highschool.. i personally just wanted to get it over with... therefore I forgot everything ...... but in university ur mentality changes.. u actually want to learn.. not just get 90 and get it over with.. that's why I bought this the summer before my classes started.. and went through it a little everyday... well my First Year class used Raymond Chang's CHemistry book (more advanced than this one) ... but I found it much easier, because I reviewed during the summer... and when I hit a topic that was hard.. i would reference this book.. read it.. then go back to Chang's and read the material... this helped a lot because this book assumes no previous knowledge.... so it's good for ppl like me.. for the few out there who actually cared in highschool.. and remember nething... this book is a waste.. because it isn't deep enough for first year chem courses (it is deep enough for non science major chem courses.. but not the hardcore first year general chem course) hope this helps 5 stars (Life saving personal tutor) - I recently took chemistry part II after not having chemistry for several years. This book was a life saver. I was able to pull many examples from it to guide me when I did my homework. Chemistry is tough enough by itself, but this book really helped. All the answers are there so you can test yourself on one part, and then see the answers with explinations on another part. Everything was easy to understand in this book. I highly recommend this... Benjamin Cummings :: Science & Chemistry & Organic :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Chemistry - Organic :: Chemistry :: Karen C Timberlake :: :: Chemistry- An Introduction to General- Organic- and Biological Chemistry (8th Edition)
1 stars (negative) - I ordered the 6th edition and received the 5th edition. However, delivery was fast, but i still have to return the book. WOuld recommand everyone to ask a question to the seller before ordering the book just to make sure that the book YOU need is the one Seller is selling! ! It sucks when you receive a wrong book and have a quiz next day in the class ! ! 1 stars (BORING!) - This book is dull and boring....in fact, I would never have purchased it if it wasn't required for my college class. Everything in here is common sense or if you watch the news, you all ready know everything presented. I started reading the first chapter and it completely put me to sleep, now when preping for a test, I mearly browse through the book and read the required definitions that will be on the test. 4 stars (A helpful book on maintaining a healthy life) - The reason that I purchased the book was because of the health class I was taking at college. As I read through the chapters, they really interest me, and remind me of little things that I have always tend to forget. There are no big theories in the book, just simple "life little reminders". When I purchased this book, it also comes with a workbook, which contains review and practice tests to help you to reinforce the ideas. The book helps me to correct some of my daily bad habbits. And even the class is over now, I still read the book sometime to learn more. I think this is a great book for readers who would like to live a healthy life and to take control of themselves, just like me. ... Benjamin Cummings :: Health & Fitness & General :: Health&Fitness :: Health & Fitness :: Health :: General :: Diet & Health & Fitness :: Rebecca J Donatelle :: :: Health - The Basics (6th Edition)
5 stars (Readable and Thorough, An Excellent Reference) - I am a layman with a serious interest in biology. I read science news, especially in Nature and Scientific American, and I often find that I don't have enough background to understand articles at the level at which I want to understand them. I bought this book hoping to get that background, and I wasn't disappointed. For example, once the human genome was sequenced, it appeared that there were far too few genes for an organism as complex as ourselves. But investigation shows that most genes occur in segments and that the messenger RNA must be cut and spliced before the protein can be formed. Often there are two or more ways the RNA may be spliced. So that one gene can specify more than one protein. Another problem is that the genome seemed to consist mostly of sections that don't code for proteins; these were called "junk". But it turns out that some RNA sequences have catalytic and regulatory roles, roles which used to be considered the bailiwick of proteins alone. Articles about topics such as these used to confuse me thoroughly, but after reading this book I find them much clearer. This book benefits from a great many illustrations and I recommend that you go through each one as you would a worked problem in a math text. Observe how the pieces fit together, how a particular group of atoms enhances or inhibits a reaction. The practice will help you to understand other things you will read later. I called this a "reference" for good reason: I assume that I will come across many future articles which will send me back to it to fill in some background. ... Benjamin Cummings :: Science & Molecular Biology :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Molecular genetics :: Molecular Biology :: Life Sciences - Genetics & Genomics :: Life Sciences - :: Molecular Biology of the Gene- Fifth Edition
5 stars (wonderful book) - I used this book to homeschool my 13 year old daughter, who went on to obtain a 750 on the SAT II Biology. I also taught a class to homeschoolers using THE WAY LIFE WORKS (much cheaper) as the main text, but using many of the CD-ROM activites from ESSENTIAL BIOLOGY as class material. I especially liked the MendAliens for genetics problems! There are many useful activites, quizzes, and chapter tests, wonderful graphics. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand "essential" biology. ... Benjamin Cummings :: Science & Biology :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Plant physiology :: Physiology :: Life Sciences - Biology - General :: Biology (General) :: Biology :: Eric J :: Essential Biology with Physiology
5 stars (Wow!) - I bought the book the first time because I had to. I bought it the second time because I wanted to. I am a Nursing student. I had to have two semesters of Anatomy & Physiology for Nursing. Like most students, I sold the book back to the bookstore after the second semester. MISTAKE! About half-way through my first semester of Nursing I found myself wishing I had the old A&P book again. So, I went and bought it. If there is anything you want to know about A&P, this book has it! What a marvelous book! It's not a book for the casual reader; find something else for that. But if you want to know the details of the body and how it works, BUY THIS BOOK! Most of the chapters have a beginning that kinda describes the particular section of the body. The remainder of the chapter then goes into details, and I mean details - as much as you can possibly want. I cannot imagine a better-written book anywhere! 5 stars (This is one of my favorite textbooks) - Although I'm not a big fan of college textbooks since they can be very long and tedious to read, this textbook is to the contrary. It had very relevent information relating to my college anatomy and physiology class that was right on pace with my college lectures. This is a good knowledge base for learning A and P. I especially liked the chapters on muscles and bones. Very interesting. However, when I study for college exams I usually also use study guides. I highly recommend Anatomy and Physiology for Dummies and for very to the point test preparation questions I found Anatomy and Physiology:Key Review Questions and Answers with Explanations Volume 1 and 2 to give me instant feedback of what I knew or didn't know for the test. Because of these books I did a lot better then I expected since I never had any prior teachings in anatomy and physiology. 5 stars (Written to be Understood) - I am in my second semester using Elaine N. Marieb's Human Anatomy & Physiology book. She has a great abili... Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Pathophysiology :: Life Sciences - Human Anatomy & Physiology :: Human Physiology :: Human Anatomy :: Elaine N Marieb :: :: Human Anatomy - Physiology- Sixth Edition
2 stars (Conceptual Cemistry text review) - Well, it looks like I'm giving yet another one of my college textbooks a less than stellar review. This particular book was the required text for Chemistry 1010 at my college. Extremely expensive is how I feel about this book, since unlike my intro Psych book, which cost just as much, I find this one to be both confusing and patronizing. I had a slave driver for a Honors Chem teacher in high school, so I expected Chemistry to be easy, since I later found out that in high school I had taken the equivalent of a Chemistry class required of college level Chemistry majors. My professor was fairly good. He made it a point of explaining all the math and all the other mumbo-jumbo in this text. He had to do that a lot. Why, you ask? Because, this book, I swear, was written for a sixth grader. It comes across as such, especially in the first few chapters, where they talk about atoms and molarity, elements and compounds. It isn't until the later chapters, when you get to learn about things I still cannot even spell, that the author finally becomes serious. But still, the weird jokes about the neutron who went to the bar, the pictures of the author's wife and family members strewn about, and the corny cartoon characters trying to make Chemistry equations "fun" are just that-sappy and VERY corny. I had to repeatedly look at the cover of the book to make sure I was not reading a child's Chemistry text. And, come the day of the final, most of my classmates are more than willing to get rid of this text, which for most of us has served us well as a paperweight. I didn't even get to use it for that-my roommate is a Chemistry major and had an even bigger Chemistry book to use for that purpose. I spent $102 on this thing that masquerades as a college level Chemistry text, but in reality reads like it was meant for an uneducated 12 year old. The vast majority of us in this class did not use this book. We had a fairly decent pr... Benjamin Cummings :: Science & Chemistry & Organic :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Chemistry - Organic :: Chemistry - General :: Chemistry (General) :: Chemistry :: John Suchocki :: :: Conceptual Chemistry- Understanding Our World of Atoms and Molecules- Second Edition
3 stars (Why so large?) - I am a University of Minnesoota student and we use this text for our introductory Human Anatomy course. (Unfortunately they came out with a new edition and I couldn't sell it back to the bookstore.) Strictly in terms of the content this book was average because I often needed more information on certain aspects of the human anatomy. My real frustration was due to the fact that I feel the publisher should have supplied a carrying case specifically designed to carry such a large, awkward book. I realize that the size contributed to larger pictures but I feel it was a bit overboard! Finally, as I mentioned before, a new edition came out very recently. The new book resembles the previous edition too much. It's unfortunate we live in such a capitalistic society as to allow such a situation to take place.. ... Benjamin-Cummings Publishing Company :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Life Sciences - Biology - General :: Human Anatomy :: Atlases :: Anatomy :: Robert B Tallitsch :: Michael J Timmons :: Frederic H :: Human Anatomy (4th Edition)
5 stars (Thumbs Up for Access to Health) - I just completed a health class and this was the textbook we used. I learned so much from using this book. This book is precise and to the point. It provides you with colorful pictures, charts, and definitions that's superb. It provides great information on Weight Management, Cancer, Heart Disease, Illicit Drugs, and Alchohol. No health class should go with out this book. This is defintely a great teaching tool for those that are taking a health class, or simply a great reference guide. I give this book five stars. 5 stars (Excellent!) - The 1999 Edition of Access to Health by Donatelle and Davis is excellent! User friendly writing style, colors, charts, references, and a comprehensive collection of chapters that cover all the key personal health related topics. From human sexuality to societal violence, the text covers all the bases. The authors have worked hard to bring this Edition up to date with the most current health research references/topics. I strongly recommend considering adoption for any introductory personal health course. ... Benjamin Cummings :: Health & Fitness & General :: Healthy Living :: Health&Fitness :: Health Care Issues :: Health & Fitness :: Health :: Diet & Health & Fitness :: Rebecca J Donatell :: Access to Health (9th Edition)
4 stars (Wonderful (except for the website)) - This book is fantastic--very clear, concise, overall well-written. I have absolutely no background in botany but feel very satisfied and confident with what I've learned from this book. The illustrations are especially well done and are useful in understanding the nuts (no pun intended!) and bolts of plant structures and biological processes. I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because the website is often not functional or is down. ... Benjamin Cummings :: Science & Botany :: Textbooks :: Science :: Life Sciences - Botany :: Gardening&Plants :: Botany (General) :: Botany :: Murray Nabors :: :: Introduction to Botany
5 stars (good vendor) - The book was expensive, but a better price than new for sure. It came in the quality as advertised. I recommend this vendor. 5 stars (A great biology primer) - I love the Biology book by Campbell and Reece subtitled 'Concepts & Connections', so I thought I would check out this edition also. I first studied biology nearly twenty-five years ago with a huge and lovely biology book written by an author whose name unfortunately escapes me. I loved that book, and have always judged future biology texts against that one; this one measures up well against my memory of that text. After an interesting introduction, which talks about discovery-based science in addition to theoretical/hypothesis science with interesting examples. The introduction, 'Exploring Life', leads right into the first unit, which deals with the basic chemistry needed to understand the processes of life. Water, Carbon and molecular chemistry at a basic level are explained, as these are the building-blocks of life on earth from a chemical standpoint. The book continues on an upward progression from here. The next unit is on the cell, introducing both single-celled organisms as well as how cells work in both plants and animals. Photosynthesis is explained in good detail. The unit following deals with genetics, a very 'in the news' area of biology today. This looks at genetics in plants (the early experiments of Mendel are explained here), animals, bacteria and viruses, as well as the more complex structures of DNA. The unit on evolution looks both at plant and animal evolution, as well as the way evolutionary ideas can influence the way species develop in the modern, changing world. The subsequent units look at biological diversity, the plant kingdom, and the animal kingdom. The final unit on ecology brings all things together in one eco-system in which plants, animals and environment influence each other and co-exist. In this book, each chapter focuses on only a f... Benjamin Cummings :: Science & Biology :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Life Sciences - Biology - General :: Jane B Reece :: Neil A Campbell :: :: Biology (7th Edition)
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