The second edition retains all the beauty of the first, and it serves as an editorial model -- a guide that shows us how serious authors prepare a new version of a serious book.
The first edition was the work of seven authors, all of them outstanding scientists [note 2]. For the second edition, the team of authors has been expanded to include a science writer, Karen Hopkin, whose main responsibility (the Preface tells us) has been "to make the book clear, accessible, and fun to read."
As in the earlier edition, there is a digest of "Essential Concepts" near the end of each chapter, and the illustrations are grouped into panels that actually explain principles, structures, procedures and experiments, rather than just providing pretty distractions. Some of the material has been reordered, the coverage has been broadened to include some new findings and new methods, there is more emphasis on genetics, and there is an expanded, improved complement of questions that make students take time to think, to realize that a question often has more than one valid answer, and to recognize that alternative perspectives are available in almost any situation. All of these changes are welcome.
...There are 21 "How We Know" articles -- one in every chapter -- providing information about metabolic pathways, protein structures, replication, the genetic code, mitosis, and cancer, among other topics. These articles... [are] very important innovations. ...Each copy of the new edition is accompanied by a CD-ROM, and the CD-ROM is not a mere gimmick or toy. It is a valuable adjunct to the textbook, and it has two important functions. First, it carries the literature references for each chapter in the book. (The references don't appear in the book itself.) Second, the CD-ROM provides interactive illustrations, typically with voice-over narrations, that demonstrate such things as the structures of molecules, the movement of cells, and the processes of replication, translation and cell division.
What makes for a great science education is not the amassing of facts but the understanding of concepts, processes and syntheses, and the realization that all our information about nature must be subject to testing and revision. That is the kind of educational experience that students can acquire from the second edition of Essential Cell Biology.
I recommend this new edition for use in advanced high-school courses aimed at students who already have had a course in chemistry and a solid introductory course in biology. This fine book also belongs in the library of any high school that offers serious instruction in science. Teachers and librarians who did not get the first edition should look at this second edition pronto.
from The Textbook Letter, Volume 12, Number 2, 2005

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0

"Essential" only:

I was a bit disappointed by this book which was recommended for my medical school course. It's written at a very introductory level; the over simplification doesn't always provide more clarity.
Alberts has a different book called "The Cell", which is 3 times as long, and I believe has greater clarity. I have taken to skimming this more detailed book, which I find to be a better resource and will surely be a better reference in the future.

I learned with ease from this book:

This textbook stands out as one of the best books I've used in college. I was able to learn better from the book than from class. The illustrations were very helpful and the explanations were easy to comprehend for being difficult material, which actually stuck in my head. I was so glad to have this book!

Timley and Efficient:

This book have been very helpful in my studies. The way concepts are graphically represented makes them easy to understand.

Very Well Structured:

I took a few introductory courses in biology and had a hard time taking notes and maintaining interest in the texts for those classes. However, I took cell biology using this book and it was amazing how it presents the material. In the beginning chapters it introduces the basics of organic chemistry and types of molecules in an easy to understand structured way. The authors continue by dedicating chapters to DNA replication, translation, and transcription. They also explain the functions of each organelle... more info

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