textbook help - cell biology: Alberts v Karp

[CATallergy]

Does anyone have preferences between these? Which is more in depth, clearer? strengths/weaknesses?

Thanks

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[CATallergy]

bump

because I'm a loser

 

[MWK]

We used Karp. I thought it was pretty terrible and only read it before the first exam. Collected dust for the rest of the semester. Our Prof gave us powerpoints though so I just took notes in class and was fine. (got A)

 

[SpartanBlueJay2]

The Alberts book is considered by many to be the "bible" of cell bio. I used it in undergrad and grad school. I know many Ph.D. students who studied for their qualifying exams exclusively with the Alberts book and did well. It's one of the few texts I have that I think I will continue to get much use from for a long time.

 

[etf]

man, and i thought lodish was the standard...

 

[jochi1543]

We used Becker. The text was pretty dense. I wouldn't say it was a "bad" book, but I can imagine there being a better one out there.

 

[gsmithers68]

Alberts is as comprehensive as it gets. I've taken three different classes where I've used it in some shape or form.

 

[DrBowtie]

I used Karp and thought it was pretty good.

 

[deleted128318]

man, and i thought lodish was the standard...

I used both lodish and alberts' mboc. Both are good texts, if you're into textbooks, that is.

 

[medfool24]

We used Alberts. It annoyed me plenty.

 

[JDMD243.0]

Alberts and Lodish (don't know about Karp) are available on the NCBI website for free:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=Books&cmd=search&term=


This is probably more useful if you are using these texts as a reference and not so much for leisure reading.

We used Alberts for my cell/mol bio class and I used above website and checked the book out of the library when needed--saved me some money.

 

[spicedmanna]

We used Karp. I thought it was pretty terrible and only read it before the first exam. Collected dust for the rest of the semester. Our Prof gave us powerpoints though so I just took notes in class and was fine. (got A)

I agree with this assessment. I found Karp very difficult to read, and I had a hard time getting the salient points. I didn't learn much from it. I basically managed, with a lot of coffee and patience, to skim it for the tests. I sold it quickly afterwards.