I'm an undergraduate student in Biology and I was looking for the best book on the subject... after a hard selection of the best ones available, I came up with two great items: Lodish's Cell Molecular Biology and Alberts's Molecular Biology of the Cell.
When I spoke with my older colleagues in college and asked my Cell Biology teachers (they're both career researchers) for their opinion about what should I buy, I always received the same kind of answer: «Well, they're both great references, Lodish's is a very insightful text on the matter, as well as Alberts's. But you know... Alberts's is the real thing, the one to go for: It gives you the most wonderful and comprehensive view of the cellular world!»
So, I decided to buy Alberts's and indeed, it is a terrific book: accurate, up-to-date, really enjoyable to read (for those avid for scientific knowledge), the English is quite accessible, illustrations are excellent, a truly great achievement! From now on, this book will be my «bible»!

Molecular Biology of the Cell is one of the best surveys available on the status of current information about cellular biology. The authors skillfully accomplish the difficult task of combining detail with readability while conveying the excitement of this dynamic field. Clear, concise, and colorful illustrations assist in this task and the book is a fine collection of splendidly dramatic photos of "molecular biology of the cell" in action. They covered an enormous amount of material with a style that is simple enough for a college-level biology student to follow with enough detail and references to be of use to an experienced research scientist. Bravo for a job well-done!

This is latest update for the most revered text in the field of cell and molecular biology. I used this book as an undergraduate even though this was not the required text for the course. I still turn to it often as a graduate student. As someone who has read the book cover to cover I can vouch for its extensive coverage of the most important concepts and the abandance of information on the most frequntly encountered concepts. It is a must have for any serious student of cell, molecular and developmental biology. I recommend that you buy this book in addition to any required texts for your course. The book is so comprehensive that even topics that gained prominance in 2002 such as RNA interference are wonderfully presented. Even if you are new to this subject area this book if properly used can increase you understanding immensely of even the most difficult of concepts. You would never regret buying this.

I am almost as much in awe of the erudition of the editors (James Engell and W Jackson Bates of the Bolingen edition) as that of Coleridge himself. I think it is often easier to parade one's own wide reading than to recognize someone elses's references. These editors track down the most obscure of Greek, German and Latin quotations and it's an education to read their notes.
There are really three themes in the book. One part is philosophy, one is literary criticism, and one is straight autobiography. These are dispersed throughout.
As regards the philosophy I am probably what he would have called "ignorant of his understanding." Coleridge shows a remarkable knowledge of German philosophy, read in the original language. As far as I know his philosophical ideas have not been highly regarded by pure philosophers.
The literary criticism is the most powerful and original part although the texts he uses will be unfamiliar and even anaccessible to most modern readers.
The fragments of autobiography such as chapter 10 and the first of the Satyrayane's Letters are the most readable.
While this is an unboubted work of genius I have denied it the fifth star because of a certain lack of redability. It is not, for the modern reader, a page-turning work of entertainment. It contains many gems, and much wit, but is one of those we take up today for instruction rather than diversion.

Bede Griffiths, in his book The Golden String, referred to STC as "one of the most universal minds in English literature."

I don't know of anything comparable to Biographia Literaria. At times it's the narrative of a great poet's life. He may veer off into literary criticism or even parody (see the, to me, hilarious section in which he gives "The House that Jack Built" in the rhetorical manner of a recent poet). He powerfully attacks the positivism of his age (and ours). He evokes the wonder of being human.

This scholarly edition is the one to get, if you're going to put in the time to read this rich classic at all.

Coleridge was on the romantic side of poetry, however, when reading Kubla Khan, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner, you can't help but think there was some what of an explorer, an adventuristic style in his words that, save opium, had no way to bud a grow with all around hearts-a-bursting. I liken Pablo Neruda to Coleridge, their visions, love, and spirit's ferosity seem to have been forged from the same mettle. Grecian Urn, Nightingale and others should all be required reading for the young. I guarantee there would be a lot more wonder, and a little more love in this world.

This book is really really good. I didn't know what to think when I got it in the mail. It was my first Gorman experience. First off, these are the woman that we see everyday of our lives. The woman that walk past us on the street. They are all in private living situations. The privace of their own homes, or so it seems. Some of the models are clothed, some not, some half undressed, but what is nice is they are all very very different. There are unattractive, very attractive models and models of all races.

Gorman captures these woman in the situations that we all go though during the week. Photos of woman in the shower, eating, sitting, even masterbating. This is a very [explicit] book. Period. I loved it. After buying this book, I am going off to get his first book "Naked in Apartment 7".

The only flaw I found in this book was its size. It is about the size of a trade paperback book. Pretty small. So some of the pictures you have to strain to see, and some that take up two pages, you will find the model right smack in the crease of the book, ruining the picture. Other than that small complaint I have, I loved the book. Add this to you collection.

I have Peter Gorman's first book "Naked in Apartment 7" and when I heard he had another book coming out I was thrilled to see more of this man's work. What I did not expect was it to be so different from his first book and different it is, this work is in color and has more of a snap shot feel but the moments of catching his naked models in their own apartments is beyond exciting. To see these women in what seems to be very real moments, I have to say is all the more intriguing. The women are beautiful and the photos are alive. Highly recommended.

Sorry to be anonymous, but where I am from this book and these photos would not be understood as art.

If you ever tried to take pictures in a real-life environment, in a small apartment, not in studio, you could know it's not the easiest thing to do to make it looking interesting. Look through this book. It's so simple, and it's so... art.

I read this book during the summer prior to me senior year in high school, and literally could not put it down. I read the whole work cover-to-cover in a week.

Going in, my background in biology was an introductory cell biology course and my background in chemistry was an introductory chemistry class. That I had little formal training in the sciences was irrelevant when reading this; it explains all the concepts so clearly that I think even a person with no background in science at all could understand it. The diagrams and photos are well-done and highly pertinent.

This is not to say that this book is only for non-scientists. Indeed, I even used knowledge gleaned from this fantastic book to teach my teachers a thing or two. Perhaps the section on muscle contraction is the best written of all - no other book I have ever seen comes close to this in clarity, and this section was one that I recommended to my Anatomy and Physiology teacher for clarification about a few concepts.

I am soon to be a sophomore in college, and this book continues to inspire me on my path to be a professor (I study chemistry with an emphasis on chemical biology). This book was invaluable even in a rigorous microbiology course, not to mention other introductory courses.

In summary, I rarely leave home for extended periods without this text (literally). If there is ONE BOOK that you should buy for studying cellular and molecular biology, let it be this one (or, if you are so inclined, its larger brother, Molecular Biology of the Cell).

I used this book as a studying supplement during the cell biology module of my first-year biology course. It explains key cell biology concepts clearly, thoroughly and concisely. The text is very well written and has wonderful photographs and diagrams throughout. Updated and recent biological and biomedical findings are used to further tie in the concepts of cell biology. Those that prefer a more detailed source of information should look to Molecular Biology of the Cell, but for beginners, Essential Cell Biology is an excellent place to start.

A gem of a book. It puts at the hands of lay people the wonders of molecular biology. The best way of spending $65 I can think of.

The text is a most refined product distilled by an all-star team of leading scientists. Oriented towards the lay person or the would be specialist, it is simple, unpretentious, sometimes even funny, but always powerfully explanatory. The diagrams are exceptionally clear (a must for explaining such complex subjects) and the photographs are astounding. Love for their subject and passion for teaching are present all along. And mysticism is always around the corner...

If you have ever wondered things like "What are exactly chromosomes?", "How do exactly enzymes work in the cell?", or "How the hell does all this machinery work at a purely chemical level ?" and you are not quite satisfied with popular science books, this one is for you. It will answer these questions and much, much more.

An enjoyable, deeply satisfying tour the force through the molecular level of all living organisms.

Don't miss it!

Peter Bogdanovich has written a book that is for the movie enthusiast. I suspect the general reader may find some of the interviewees obscure, and the topics technical. I feel that is their loss. For the student of film or film history, this is a treasure trove of information, ideas, experiences, and feelings about films taken from interviews with some of the most distinguished directors in movie history. The author's selection is not encyclopedic, but the directors' experience spans from the earliest years of silent film to the present. These men are not just informative, but their strong and distinctive personalities show in each interview, giving the sense that one has actually met and understood many of them. Some of the interviews are brief, or even very idiosyncratic, but the best are delightfully personal. This is a long book, but affords many pleasant evenings of good conversation. It also makes one want to go back and see the films again!

Peter Bogdanovich pioneered the director interview in English, and this wonderful collection will give endless pleasure to film buffs. The book-length interview with Allan Dwan alone is worth the price of admission. Bogdanovich always did vast amounts of study before sitting down to talk with his subjects, and his expertise and enthusiasm encouraged them to open up in a way they usually did not with other interviewers. Anyone writing about the careers of the directors Bogdanovich interviews has to start with his work on them. A fitting companion piece is Bogdanovich's encyclopedic interview book "This Is Orson Welles."

The title was suggested by Howard Hawks who once observed, "...I liked almost anybody that made you realize who in the devil was making the picture...Because the director's the storyteller and should have his own method of telling it." Hawks is one of the 16 "legendary film directors" represented in this volume. It is important to keep in mind that these are conversations rather than interviews such as those conducted by Robert J. Emery in The Directors: Take One and its sequel, The Directors Take Two, as well as interviews conducted by Richard Schickel in The Men Who Made the Movies. It is also worth noting that Bogdanovich is himself a distinguished director of films such as The Last Picture Show, What's Up, Doc?, They All Laughed (a personal favorite of mine), and Texasville. As a result of his own background, Bogdanovich's questions and comments reflect somewhat different interests and perspectives than do those of Emery and Schickel.

I rate all of these books Five Stars but probably enjoyed reading Bogdanovich's book the most because the conversations ramble along somewhat messily, as most of my own conversations tend to do, and also because Bogdanovich is more actively involved in the interaction than Emery and Schickel are. As a reader, I feel as if I were really an eavesdropper as 16 directors casually share their opinions, information about specific films and actors, gossip, "war stories," and overall evaluations of their careers' various successes and failures. At no time does Bogdanovich seem intrusive or manipulative. Moreover, perhaps to an extent he did not realize when writing this book, he also reveals a great deal about himself...much of it endearing and some of it admirable. His passion for film making and his appreciation of the great directors are almost palpable. Readers' interests about various directors and their respective films obviously vary. I include myself among those who are die-hard film buffs and so I enjoyed reading every chapter and every word in each chapter. Indeed, each conversation was for this amateur "gourmet" a feast to be consumed with delight and, yes, gratitude.

Most authors of this genre of political thriller have trouble reconciling the epic heroism (good or bad) of religious fundamentalists in the former Soviet Central Asia with the image of mobs of AK-47-armed men tossing video tapes and foreign magazines into bonfires. In "The Devil's Garden", set in the region's decaying and polluted oilfields, the tables are turned and the ordered world familiar to us disintegrates under the feet of unlucky Westerners. Though author Peters has dabbled in techno-thriller before ("Red Army" and "War in the Year 2020"), he has also practically created his own subgenre of non-techno centered in and around the fringes of the foremer Soviet empire.

"Devil's Garden" tells the story of a young American kidnapped while working for a relief program in that troubled region. Because Peters' victim is the daughter of a US senator, consequences of the kidnapping go far beyond local problems and feed a growing maelstrom that threatens to destroy order already fragile with the collapse of the USSR. Among the unlucky Yankees caught up in the chaos are the Islamic fundamentalists who carry-out the kidnap, the local chieftains who can't be sure what their own role in the kidanpping is, the American intelligence officer sent to lead the rescue, his lover, her husband, the republic's leaders ready to tear their oil-rich state to shreds and an army willing to battle anybody to the death - if they can just learn how to shoot. As a good indicator of the managed chaos, our hero, the aforementioned intelligence officer, tries to determine who would kidnap the senator's daughter by trying to find who's responsible. Bit with the fate of the tiny asian republic's oil at stake, and the militant forces welling up in the population, it's soon clear that nobody is responsible for anything. Peters manages this chaos well. something I appreciate through all of Peters books is his resolute reluctance to point fingers and lay blame - his charachters do that, but are compensated with well nuanced faults that make their objectivity suspect. The guerrillas are fearsome, but not the murderous, callous warriors of god we've seen in other books (or on CNN for that matter). The region's warlords, despite sparking a war that threatens to explode beyond their own borders, are just greedy and - in a masterful anti-climax occurring when the factions meet - go at each other much as the corporate directors in a hostile buy-out. One wonders how the directors of Time-Warner and Disney would have settled their cable-disputes if they had to fight with guns and soldiers instead of lawyers, bloated stock prices and otherwise empty content. The biggest revelation is the hero himself, who, despite being an expert on the region, is actually more lost than any of his fellow Americans. It's all chaotic, but Peters keeps the novel from falling apart and the chaos only adds scale to a blighted country and those who live there and are set on destroying it.

Ralph Peters, whom I know professionally, is a modern-day Lawrence of Arabia who has actually walked hundreds of miles through the worst of terrains, and deeply understands--at both a Ph.D. and gutter level, the reality of real war. The Joint Chiefs don't want to face this reality because it bears no resemblance to their nice clean air-conditioned CNN version of war. Devil's Garden is the real thing, and it is also a great novel.

Ralph Peters has done it again! He has woven a seductive, intensely captivating plot into an eminently credible narrative, one as enthralling as those of his earlier 'Twilight of Heroes' and 'The War in 2020'. Unlike the plastic incarnations who stumble incredulously across the pages of Tom Clancy, Dale Brown, and Larry Bond, Peters gives us real-life heroes akin to those of Frederick Forsyth -- those ultimately believable, poignantly human men and women who emerge from a crucible of tragedy and pain to make a veridical impact upon the world. As such, many contemporary authors of America's all-too pandemic and facile techno-thrillers could learn something from Peters, an author who underscores the reality that life is a little more prosaic than the inevitable triumph of democracy as secured by some smarmy fighter pilot-fornicator. Overall, Peters' haunting imagery recalls Edmund Burke's warnings about the metaphysical pretensions of the French Revolutionaries, while his human landscapes are as stark and as those of Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian'. In the end, Peters' works may very well be to our century what Dickens' 'Tale of Two Cities' was to the nineteenth...Herein lies an absolutely ineluctable read which will not disappoint!

I found this book to be really easy to read. Author is not getting into too much detail, he is telling stories, not a thriller. You don't have to have any martial arts background to understand these stories, they are like fairy tales, but more realistic.In my opinion this book is well written and put together, a very nice collection of stories. A few pictures would not spoil this book.

Myths and Legends of the Martial Arts, by Peter Lewis, is a great intro to the stories that evolved around and about the martial arts. They provide entertainment that one can also learn philosophies, ideals, and insight on various aspects of the martial arts from. The stories themselves are short and this makes it very convenient for those who don't have much leisure time. This is a great book and very interesting to read.

Myths and Legends of the Martial Arts is a book filled with short stories. Each story offers enlightenment and entertainment value, which keeps the pace of the book flowing. The fast pace book, takes a journey from the times of samurai to the times of Bruce Lee. The author manages to keep the stories short but still interesting. I really enjoyed the fast pace of the book. Since the book was made up with short stories, I did not have time to become bored with book. This is very important because I usually get sick of a book before I have time to finish it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the Martial Arts and wants to be able to finsih a book completely.

If you're a fan of Dorothy L. Sayers' character, Lord Peter Wimsey, you will likely find this book interesting and enjoyable. The authors, both professors, look at the Wimsey series in light of what was happening in England at the time they were being written, and show how Sayers incorporated so much of her surroundings into these stories.

If you're not a Wimsey fan, then there is probably little point in reading this book. Although it is well-written, most of its meaning will probably be lost.

I agree that fans of the Wimsey novels will enjoy this book most, but I also think those interested in the period between the world wars, as well as those who like good biography will find much here. Mystery buffs who haven't read Sayers may find this book provides the motivation to do so. I particularly enjoyed the authors' discussion of how Sayers' Wimsey differs from Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, and the reasons for these differences. It should also be noted that this book was just nominated by the Mystery Writers of America for a 2001 Edgar Award in the category of biography and literary criticism.

In this work, Peter Kreeft portrays a meeting of C.S. Lewis, John F. Kennedy and Aldous Huxley in the afterlife (all three died on November 22, l963). C.S. Lewis engages first Kennedy and then Huxley in a debate on the divinity of Christ. The conversation goes on for 114 pages with C.S. Lewis clearly making his points -- that Christ was either divine or a charlatan or insane. Lewis goes on to debunk any possibility of Christ being a charlatan or insane, ergo Christ is God. Kreeft has wonderful ideas and constructs nice logical proofs. However, I was expecting something deeper than an argument that could be summarized in two sentences.

My strongest criticism of this book is that it completely misses the point where the real-life Lewis's teachings overlap with those of the real-life Huxley: that the one true God is no respecter of persons and that God is equally accessible to all, regardless of culture, upbringing or background. Both men taught that all of mankind comes to God on equal footing; that no religion, culture or class of men has an advantage over the others. At one point in BETWEEN HEAVEN AND HELL, Kreeft's Lewis actually shoots down arguments that the real-life Lewis propounded.

I felt that Kreeft glossed over some of the greatest religious controversies faced by modern man. In doing so, Kreeft unwittingly undercut the points he was trying to make. I'm turning back to my studies of C.S. Lewis and Aldous Huxley. I strongly recommend Lewis's MERE CHRISTIANITY (upon which Kreeft based his Lewis arguments) and a collection of 28 essays by Huxley called HUXLEY AND GOD. By the way, Kreeft's Kennedy has very little to offer either intellectually or where matters of faith are concerned in this book.

One final note: the last page and a half of this book is stunning in its beauty and truth. Kreeft's epilogue is also worth reading.

John F. Kennedy, C. S. Lewis, and Aldous Huxley all died on November 22, 1963. What if they all met after death, somewhere between heaven and hell? That's the premise of this engaging and intriguing book by philosophy professor Peter Kreeft.

Written in the form of a Socratic dialogue, Kreeft's book casts Lewis as a Christian theist, Kennedy as a modern humanist and Huxley as an Eastern pantheist. The three interact and challenge one another's worldviews, examining and testing each other's beliefs to see what is true about life after death and the meaning of life.

This book is ideal to read with a few other friends, be they believers, skeptics or seekers. It will provide lively discussion and ample food for thought.

Between Heaven & Hell has a subtitle which reads, "A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death with John F. Kennedy, C.S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley". Yes, this is a fictional trialog in "limbo" of the most important question in human history - Who is Jesus Christ? Many people are unaware that JFK, Lewis and Huxley all died within hours of each other on November 22, 1963. It seems the assassination of President Kennedy from either the grassy knoll or from the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository somehow managed to overshadow the deaths of the other two men. Go figure!

Much of the fictional discussion between these three characters revolves around their own writings although Kreeft employs a bit of literary license for the sake of argument. The fact that Kreeft is a Catholic doesn't affect the content of this book since the argument is essentially Lewis' straight, or "mere" Christianity. The position of JFK is that of a humanistic Christian in the sense of emphasizing "horizontal" social activity rather than "vertical" religious experience...religion without revelation. Kennedy portrays his view of Christ as that of a man become god. Huxley doesn't get the air time that Lewis and JFK get, but his contribution is significant. He represents the eastern pantheist position and reinterprets Christianity as a form of the universal philosophy of pantheism. In this view, Jesus was one of the great sages of history along with Buddha, Socrates, Confucius, Mohammed and the rest. Employing the Socratic method of question and answer, Kreeft slowly but surely uses Lewis' arguments to refute the views of Jesus being a lunatic, liar or just a great moral teacher. Once this is done, He argues that Jesus was God in the flesh, just as He claimed to be. Approximately the last third of the book focuses on the reliability of the gospel accounts which record the claims of Christ.

I found this book to be a very enjoyable read, especially the Socratic method that Kreeft employs. Although I don't criticize Kreeft for making the most out of the historical situation, I'll just say that the only theological disagreement I had with this book was the immediate destiny of the three men being "limbo" which I'm sure is only used by Kreeft as a setting for the discussion. The argument from Lewis was very thought-provoking and required honesty with the end result being much clearer thinking concerning the person of Christ, not to mention his inescapable conclusions which were drawn. I found it very interesting how he would ask of the opposition very pointed, yet fair questions. I was glad to find that the rabbit trails were quickly discounted so the reader can follow the arguments more easily. Throughout the discussion, Kreeft continually reminds the reader that as Christians, we don't try to win arguments for ourselves (I use "argument" in the technical sense of presenting evidence in favor of one's position). It doesn't matter who wins or loses. Truth is what we all must submit to, not someone's ability to debate.We present evidence in favor of the truth and truth must win the battle.

I really don't know how to review this novel; there is simply too much the novel has to say to cover it all her in a short review. Anything I write will be totally inadequate. I can only say that The Power and the Glory is certainly one of the greatest novels written in the Twentieth Century.

The novel is the story of a priest in Mexico in a state which has outlawed Christianity. The priest is trying to get out of the state and away from the athiestic lieutenant who's attempting to capture him, but the priest's Christian duty keeps calling him back into the state and into danger. The priest is also waging a war within himself. He is a good man but definitely a sinner, and he struggles to cure himself of his vices and struggles to believe that he can gain salvation.

The Power and the Glory assaults the reader on all levels. Greene explores so many aspects and paradoxes of Christianity. He looks at the great beauty that can be found in sin. He looks at how love and hate can be so similar. Greene reveals how the priest's life has had great meaning even thought the priest may not realize it. Greene reveals man as living in a "Wasteland," and he also reveals the way to find meaning in it. The characterizations of all of the characters really carry the novel. There are so many insights that can be gained from reading about the priest, the lieutenant, and the mestizo. The Power and the Glory is truly a magnificent novel which should be taught and studied everywhere.

I am only now discovering Graham Greene; this was the second of his works that I've read. It is not a book to be taken up for a little light entertainment; I'm still digesting it, you might say. It stays with a person. Superficially, it is about government oppression and man's inhumanity to man; more specifically, it is about love and its dual power to transform and destroy. Read it on whatever level you choose; basically, it is about a Roman Catholic priest struggling with his faith and intense guilt while trying to elude the forces of a government that has declared his religion illegal. I came away from it moved and disturbed, which in my opinion (humble tho' it be) is the purpose of literature: to create a mirror for the reader herself. What flaws do I posess that masquerade as virtue, what overpowering desire truly motivates my actions? In this novel the main character, the whiskey priest, takes flight not only from his persecutors but also from himself; in the end he finds he can only redeem himself by returning. And there I find another question to haunt me...did the priest indeed find redemption in the end?

Hello reader. One thing i should tell you if you consider to read "The Power And The Glory" by Graham Greene: This book is marvelous and if you start reading it in the evening, you will not cut until you have finished the book. The story is thrilling and exciting. It's amazing how you can tremble, run, fear with the priest. You can feel this urgency of not getting identified or caught by anyone. It is a bit difficult to read though, due to the marginal stories like the one of Mr. Tench. But still the main story is really challenging, it makes you humble before God, to whom still belongs all the power and the glory.