Molecular Biology 5th Edition

Molecular Biology, 4th Edition, by Robert F. WeaverAs an undergraduate science student in college, I understand the importance of having the right textbook that will effectively complement what is being provided during course lectures. To provide a little background information, this textbook was required for a third-year molecular biology course at a major public research university. According to the two instructors of the course, Molecular Biology by Weaver would be extremely thorough in covering all of the major topics in a one-quarter molecular biology course. If being used as a stand-alone textbook for students trying to gain an understanding of an introduction to molecular biology, Weaver's Molecular Biology might not be the ideal solution. Although I do not intend to discourage other students from purchasing this textbook, I should offer a warning that students should be prepared to spend a decent amount of time reading through sections of this textbook. I should note at this point that I have very mixed feelings about this textbook.In writing this review, I am going to assume that the target audience for this textbook will be third- to fourth-year life science undergraduate majors or graduate students. As I previously stated, this textbook is by no means a CliffsNotes for understanding molecular biology. Many of the major experiments carried out in the field of molecular biology were discussed in detail in this book, notably the Meselson-Stahl experiment that demonstrated the semi-conservative replication mechanism for DNA. To be more precise, it is the experimental molecular biology portions of this textbook that are extremely detailed. A cursory examination of this book will indicate to any reader that there is an abundance of diagrams and illustrations. From a student's point of view, I find this to be particularly useful in that I am not only a more visual-oriented learner, but many of the diagrams provide decent summaries of what is trying to be conveyed by large blocks of text.One of the major nuisances I found in this textbook are the seemingly redundant chapter summaries. After each section within a chapter a short summary consisting of a few sentences is offered to provide a type of overview for what was just discussed. At the end of each chapter, the "Chapter Summary" is simply a compilation of all of the summaries from each section in that chapter: essentially the chapter summaries are copy-paste collections of the section summaries. I cannot emphasize how infuriating it is when attempting to study for an exam and when reviewing only to encounter a gigantic block of text. Let this serve as a warning for those using this book to study for an upcoming exam: unless you create your own personalized summaries of each chapter, be prepared to pretty much read through entire chapters again in the supposed summaries.To be fair, the often excess amount of details provided for some sections of the book are useful. The Meselson-Stahl experiment, when first presented to me in lecture, was particularly confusing, for one reason or another. The author went to great lengths to elucidate this experiment within the book. Many of the sections on DNA replication, transcription, and translation were very thorough and well-written, and provided the much-needed clarification from confusing lecture notes.As an undergraduate science major in his third year, I am willing to accept that an undergraduate education is meant to provide an introduction of sorts to a particular field of study while simultaneously attempting to educate you in the humanities. However, this textbook is what I would deem to be much more advanced for any undergraduate course. By no means is the author at fault for providing an excellent introduction to molecular biology, but course instructors and other personnel at the departmental level should be more weary of selecting textbooks such as this one.

I have read many molecular biology textbooks, and this is by far the best. However, that's only if you have the prerequisite knowledge. No professor should use this text for a class that does not require genetics and biochemistry as a prereq. That's really true for any class that focuses entirely on molecular biology. I agree with the reviewer that said this text would be best for a course for juniors and seniors. With that said, this is one of the best textbooks I have ever read and really trains the reader to think like a scientist. Important experiments are presented in detail in the text. Knowing how we know what we know makes it much easier to remember the material, and makes the chapters read like a story. The author has an clear and engaging writing style that makes the beauty of this subject shine through.Sadly, the most recent edition of this book is from 2011, so it really needs an update. The field has advanced rapidly, especially in the area of noncoding RNA. The author has retired, but I really hope he or the publisher have plans for a new edition. I have never read a textbook in the life sciences that has this sort of detailed experimental approach (if you have, please recommend one to me!). Hopefully I'll check Amazon next year and be pleasantly surprised.

Good detail for graduate level molecular biochemistry course. Helpful for solving discrepancies covered during lecture.Would recommend the book as more than just a bookshelf placeholder. Diagrams were helpful and for the material the class covered, the sections were well written

I had no problems with receving the book. It was here faster than I planned. I give two thumbs up!!! Will use in the future for sure.

For an advanced molecular biology course, dealing with current advancements etc., this is not a book to keep because things will become obsolete in a few years. I would sell it as soon as you are done with the class.

Nice!

This was sold as a NEW book. However, I received a USED copy.

I am a student taking a university course in Molecular Biology and this was the assigned textbook. My main complaint is that this book is somewhat mismatched for that purpose. For an undergraduate class, students need to understand lots of material at a high level cleanly and quickly. This text spends lots of writing giving very detailed and complex walkthroughs in the discovery process behind the science. That process material is great, but it's really tangential to what students are supposed to learn. If you want that, this book is great, but I don't think this is ideal as a textbook for a student first learning molecular biology.