Jin Chentian

Reading List

General Text

Campbell, N. A. (2008). Biology. San Francisco, Calif. : Benjamin Cummings.

Good overview. Concepts are well-explained. Some thought-provoking questions.

Cellular and Molecular Biology

Alberts, B. (2008). Molecular Biology of the Cell. New York : Garland Science.
Rather detailed treatment of molecular biology. Sections of the book touch on
experimental techniques and the theory behind them, which is helpful. Some parts
can be very technical, including the names of specific proteins involved in certain
pathways. Nevertheless, it helps to get a broad understanding and appreciation of
these pathways and some of the elegant tricks that the body uses.
Tortora, G.J., Funke, B.R., Case, C.L. (2010). Microbiology: An Introduction. San Francisco, CA :
Pearson Benjamin Cummings.
Easy to understand overview of microbiology.
Biochemistry
Voet, D., Voet, J.G., Pratt, C.W. (2006) Fundamentals of biochemistry : life at the molecular
level. Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons.
As in Alberts, sections of the book can be technical. Personally I do find it helpful to
know about some details (reactions and intermediates) in the common metabolic
pathways, such as those in respiration, photosynthesis, beta-oxidation, amino acid
degradation and synthesis etc, especially because some molecules just keep coming
up in many different pathways. With some understanding of organic chemistry,
many of these pathways are also not that daunting and can be derived.
Other aspects I liked include gaining an understanding of how enzymes work and
deriving the equations modelling their activity, as well as a getting to better
understand biomolecules, especially proteins in general.
Garrett, R. H., Grisham, C. M. (2005). Biochemistry. Belmont, Calif. : Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Similar to Fundamentals of biochemistry. I tend to prefer this book slightly for its
format and for how it presents its explanations. Using both books together often
helps clarify some doubt I may have about the explanation offered in one book, or
provide some added information on a particular topic.
Evolution
Strickberger, M.W. (2000). Evolution. Sudbury, MA : Jones and Bartlett.
Good text on Evolution. Goes into the mathematical modelling of the effect of
various factors, eg. mutations, genetic drift, natural selection, which was fun.
Genetics
Brooker, R.J. (2009). Genetics: Analysis & Principles. New York, N.Y. : McGraw-Hill.
Presents genetics in a very understandable way, partly as it includes descriptions of
many of the experiments done to establish the critical findings, more so than
Campbell. The book challenges the reader to make his own conclusions from these
experiments along the way, thus helping me actively take part in the learning
process. Coupled with how genetics is a subject that can involve much thinking and
 Jin Chentian

analysis, both critical and creative (such as in thinking about what unexpected
processes could possibly explain certain patterns of inheritance), this is a book that I
like very much, despite some minor inadequacies.

Animals
Dorit, R.L., Walker, W.F., Barnes, R.D. (1991). Zoology. Philadelphia Saunders College Pub.
General zoology text. Offers some additional information not seen in Campbell.
Hickman, C.P., Roberts, L.S., Larson, A. (1998) Biology of Animals. Boston, Mass.:
WCB/McGraw-Hill.
Similar to Zoology. I find the descriptions and diagrams of the different phylum of
animals helpful.
Keishaw, D.R.. (1983) Animal Diversity. Slough University Tutorial Press
Detailed descriptions of the different taxa of animals.
Edward E. Ruppert, E.E., Fox, R.S., Barnes, R.D. (2004). Invertebrate zoology : a functional
evolutionary approach. Belmont, CA : Thomson-Brooks/Cole
Very detailed and specialised text on the anatomy, physiology, and evolutionary
relationships of invertebrates. Presents facts in an interesting way (due to the
overarching theme of evolution), but I basically skimmed through most of this book.
Hall, J.E., Guyton, A.C. (2005). Guyton and Hall textbook of medical physiology. Philadelphia,
Pa. : Saunders/Elsevier.
Detailed guide on human physiology and aspects of anatomy. Presented in an easy
to understand and usable way due to its explanations of the underlying mechanisms.
Silverthorn, D.U. (2010). Human Physiology: an integrated approach. Harlow : Pearson
Education, 2010
Brings across physiology, specifically human physiology, in a very understandable
and intuitive manner, often making use of the laws of physics. It is however short in
detail.

Plants
Moore R., Clark, W.D., Vodopick, D.S.. (1998) Botany. WCB/McGraw-Hill.
General botany text. Content not very challenging.
Rost, T.L., Barbour, M., Stocking, C.R., Murphy, T. (2006). Plant Biology. Thompson,
Brooks/Cole
General botany text. Covers some aspects and terminology not seen in Botany.
Bowes, B.G., Mauseth J. D. (2008). Plant Structure: a colour guide. London : Manson Pub.
Friendly guide with pictures and diagrams of plant sections from a diverse range of
plants.
Simpson, M.G. (2005). Plant Systematics. Academic Press.
Text with detailed information about the different families of plants and their
characteristic features. Begins with quite a good explanation on evolution and the
different ways of classification.
 Jin Chentian

Ecology
Molles, M.C. (2010). Ecology, Concepts and Applications. Dubuque, IA : McGraw-Hill
Gives a good overview of ecology.
Krebs, C.J. (2009). Ecology: the experimental analysis of distribution and abundance. San
Francisco, CA : Pearson Benjamin Cummings
Good overview of ecology, with more detailed explanation of certain ecological
phenomena and the inclusion of mathematical models.
Ethology
Scott, G.W.. (2005). Essential Animal Behavior. Malden, Mass. : Blackwell Pub.
Brief but interesting overview of the key concepts in animal behaviour, detailing
some elegant experiments and fascinating case studies.

Practical
Siddiqui, S.. (1999). Comprehensive Practical. Biology for A levels. Rawalpindi : Ferozsons
Brief overview of key practical techniques. Easily understandable and replicable in
the school laboratory.
Dolphin, W.D. (1999) Biological Investigations. Form, Function, Diversity and Process. WCB
London : WCB McGraw-Hill.
Rather comprehensive description of possible high-school/biology Olympiad
practicals.
Morgan, J.G., Eloise, M., Carter, B. (2008). Investigating Biology: Laboratory Manual. San
Francisco, CA : Pearson ; Benjamin Cummings
Rather comprehensive description of possible high-school/biology Olympiad
practicals.
Rowett, H.G.Q. (1962). Guide to Dissection. London : John Murray
Useful dissection guide.