2 comments about Vitamins and Minerals Demystified.

1. There is a lot of great information in the book that is useful for learning about vitamins and minerals. I really like the authors organic and biochemistry explanations on the vitamins and how they work in the body. The figures are helpful to see how it all works. The content is comprehensive and if I was teaching a nutrition or vitamin class, I would recommend getting the book. There is a vast amount of information that is useful in this book.



2. This book was better than I was expecting as it provides so much information about all the nutrients. I was expecting a small simple book and this is very comprehensive and quite complex.

No comments about A Laboratory for General, Organic, & Biochemistry.

5 comments about Biology of Spiders, 2nd Edition.

1. This is an excellent review of the biology of spiders. It was amazing discover that spiders can learn. I recommend this book.



2. Don't be misled, this is not a field guide for identification of spiders. This is a college level biology textbook. All photographs are in black and white. I was hard pressed to even recognize a common garden spider (Argiope Aurantia) in this book, even though I have one in my front yard shrubbery that I watch every day. This book probably contains more biological information than most people fascinated by spiders want to know.



3. This book is worthy of being considered a text book for serious students of spiders but it is easily readable for the average person. It absolutely tells you everything you could want to know about the life of these creatures. Excellent diagrams of each subject matter. I recommend it highly for the detailed information you need to have. While it did have pictures of various spiders, I was disappointed it did not have pictures of specific spiders so that you might be able to identify ones you find. It is a little pricey and complex so it isn't for casual interest.



4. It's amazing how much I know about these little creatures now that I've read this book. I never knew how clever some species of spiders are. Like how some can trick other spiders to come out of their homes and the ingenius methods they employ to catch their prey. I think it would be fun to be an arachnologist.



5. There are a variety of popular books on the biology of spiders but this seems to be the only recent one in English at the professional level except for Barth's `A Spider's World' (2001),likewise dated and quite expensive. Foelix's 330 pages are packed with details on every aspect of spider life. As a former physiologist I found it fascinating, and, though it has much of interest for any intelligent person, the general reader will be less than enthralled by details of digestive, circulatory and reproductive and nervous systems.
   
   It is well illustrated with many drawings, photos and tables.
   
   This is an excellent translation from the 1992 German edition but 16 years have passed so the enormous recent progress in genetics and molecular biology, RFID tagging and computer analysis is missing. In contrast to what the nonspecialist might think, they are an extraordinarily diverse group in their genetics, physiology, anatomy and behavior. I expect that when the genetics have been worked out, there will be a gulf between the 40,000 or so species at least as vast as that between sharks and gorillas.
   
   There is no reference to the `web' which you can easily remedy eg, at www.arachnology.be/Arachnology.html and its links. The very old book by the famous naturalist Fabre is still in print and is even available online at http://www.worldwideschool.org/library/books/youth/howandwhy/TheLifeoftheSpider
   
   There are some more recent excellent books in foreign languages such as Vanuytven's `Spinnen' in Dutch but so far as I know, none has been translated. An Introduction to the Spiders of South East Asia(2000) is superb but out of print.

5 comments about Handbook of Poisonous and Injurious Plants.

1. The rigorous organization and approach to this topic results in a tremendous practical contribution to the clinicians who care for the poisoned patient.
   Thre first four sections provide detailed management guidlines and general principles for dealing with the poisoned patient. The 5th section is a beautifuly detailed description of the poisonous plants complete with sharp crisp color photographs, pertinent clinical information, and references.
   This book should be in every Emergency Department, Poison Center, and Office that gives advice to children and adults who have come in contact or ingested plants that are potentially toxic.



2. This is the book that I have been waiting to own. As a mother of young children, an avid gardener, an ethnobotanical researcher, a naturalist, and a practicing physician, I think this handbook should be on the bookshelf of every member of these professions. The information provided is practical, insightful, and accurate, and the plant photos add life to a very abstract subject. It is also a beautiful book--in handy field guide proportions with vivid photographs-- this book can go out into the field with you or grace your coffee table. I only wish that it had been published 10 years ago, because it fills a niche left empty when the AMA stopped publishing their book on poisonous plants. Worth the wait--this book is better.



3. This book fills a real void, since the publication of the first edition (in 1985 by Lampe and McCann) has long been out of print. There are over 150 species of plants discussed, detailing the description, location, toxin, toxic parts, clinical findings and management, each with a few key references. The photographs are of very high quality. Often there is more than one photograph of a particular species depicting the plant with and without flowers or perhaps a view from a distance and then a close up. This handbook is essential for all poison centers and toxicologists and would be extremely useful for any healthcare provider, botanist, or gardener who wanted to learn more about poisonous plants!



4. Hyped in NYT review. All things are toxic, including apple pits. Well, I would consider that if you chew that en mass. Pictures are a bit small. Good collection of common garden flowers.



5. A very well designed text with perfect pictures. Very good for those in the toxicology field. Thank you.

5 comments about Vitamins for Dummies.

1. I have a friend who is very much into the "science" of vitamin, mineral and herb supplements and who has been trying to get me to take some form of supplement. I came across this book and was impressed at the amount of information contained in it. Chapters devoted to various vitamins, what they do, and what foods they can be found in. Also there is information about various minerals and herbs, as well as a part of the book devoted to various common illnesses and disorders that can be helped with the use of vitamins, minerals, and herbs.

   Of course, this book is not the same as talking with your doctor about any health issue you may have and should be not be used in that manner. However, this book does give lots of tips and ideas about ways to improve your health through the use of supplements.




2. Great book if you know little or nothing about vitamins and want to become more informed. Simple to understand. Great reference section on healing programs for ailments. Only thing negative I could say is they could possibly add more detail to touch on any limits for length of time taken and drug interatctions if any etc... Basically reassurance on the safety could be a bit more detailed. But overall, I love the book. Written easy to understand and reference.



3. This book explains why you need vitamins, what there for and what they can do for you. personally I am a big believer in being healthy in this area. Honestly a multi-vitamin just isn't enough. If you want to know more about vitamins and you are a beginner then this is a good place to start.



4. This is a must have for any home, I love the quick reference for different conditions at the back of the book and the format it great for quick reference if you have friends that have questions about vitamins.
   You can not go wrong with this book!



5. This easy-to-read gem is a great little book to have handy in your navigation of the health food stores and on-line vitamin/supplement web sites. It reveals the importance of all the vitamins and what one can expect a certain vitamin to do, as well as its limitations.
   As always, you should listen to your doctor, but this book renders a silent indictment against the medical field, not because of any thing it says specifically, but because of the broad range of diseases it lists, which can be treated or at least contained by all of the vitamins and herbs it mentions, whether in foods, or in supplements. If the ailments this book says are treatable by vitamins, in fact can be treated by such vitamins, then why are the medical fields and the pharmaceutical companies
   shoving so many expensive drugs at us, which merely treat symptoms?
   Hmmm, what's REALLY going on?

No comments about Introduction to Genomics.

No comments about Why Him? Why Her?: Finding Real Love By Understanding Your Personality Type.

1 comments about Proteins: Structure and Function.

1. It's very good book. It's fundamental information and easy to read. Good for undergraduate student and basic review for graduate student

1 comments about Enzyme Kinetics and Mechanism.

1. The senior author (Cleland) had perhaps the greatest influence of anyone on the practice of enzyme kinetics during the 1960s and 1970s, as witnessed by the very large number of papers from that period that acknowledge his contribution to the work presented, and by the large number of papers that continue to use his terminology and way of representing reaction mechanisms. (Younger biochemists will perhaps not know that he gave the ping pong mechanism its name.) However, until now his recommendations on the subject were not conveniently gathered together in one book, and it was necessary either to go back to his well known series of papers published in 1963 or to various later review articles. This book will be welcome, therefore, to anyone in search of a modern source.
   
   It is a measure of how little the subject has changed that a large part of the book could have been written in 1963; indeed, it gives the impression that large parts of it were indeed written then. The major advance that is covered in detail is the development of the use of isotopes for studying enzyme mechanisms, including both the use of isotopes as labels and the use of kinetic isotope effects as mechanistic probes. Around 100 pages, or about a quarter of the book, are devoted to these topics, and for readers already thoroughly conversant with the 1963 papers these pages will constitute the most valuable part, the part they are most likely to consult in the future. As both authors have made important contributions to the use of isotopes, it is no surprise that the treatment is masterly.
   
   Some other parts of the book are more disappointing. The treatment of pre-steady-state kinetics is superficial: the major methods, such as stopped-flow, rapid quenching and relaxation (temperature jump etc.) are briefly described, but with little indication of what they are useful for. Similar criticisms can be, and indeed often are, made about most books on enzyme kinetics that have a primary emphasis on the steady state, but one could have hoped for more.
   
   In the entire book there is just one sentence (in the Preface, on page xvii) that mentions that enzymes are of interest not just to chemists but that they also have physiological roles to fulfil. Not surprisingly, therefore, although there are a few pages that mention the existence of cooperative and allosteric effects, there is no indication of what functions these might have in the living organism, and no discussion of the kinetics of multi-enzyme systems.

1 comments about Biochemistry II (Cliffs Quick Review).

1. This book single handedly got me through biochemistry. Great as a study aide, especially if you are having a hard time understanding the concepts. Explains them in a simple, straight-forward way with lots of examples and diagrams.