Instant Biology: From Single Cells to Human Beings, and Beyond

by Boyce Rensberger

Book Overview

Whether you're bewildered by the vast number of organisms inhabiting our planet or just crave a clear and comprehensive explanation of the endoplasmic reticulum, Instant Biology will guide you through the science that brings the very act of living (and dying) to life. From an enlightening walk down the double helix stairway to a look at Darwin's evolutionary musings on the diversity of existence, Instant Biology lays bare the facts of life. But Boyce...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0449907015
• ISBN13: 9780449907016
• Release Date: February 1996
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.1" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Great book for parents

I bought this book so I could help my high school son learn biology. The book the school gives to the kids is poorly written, needlessly technical and vague. Instant Biology refreshed my memory of college biology. It was fun, humorous and fascinating--a bit like an episode of NOVA. I gave a copy of the book to my son's biology teacher. I highly recommend it.

BOOK DELIVERS AS PROMISED

Rarely does a book live up to the back cover blurb or in this case the title. Rensberger crammed tons of micro facts into 200 pages. He uses metaphors like "wolf in sheep's clothing" to explain how virus trick their way into human cells. He explains that in AIDS transmission the retrovirus is given a free ticket into the DNA of the T-cell. This book covers the essentials of biology in abbreviated fashion, showing the food webs that link all minerals, plants and animals together. Plants can store energy in the form of fat for later use or animals can digest that fat for their use-it doesn't matter-one life is like another. He tells how all life is solar powered (except for the deep sea archaea). The book takes many of the mysteries out of living cells, asserting that cell replication is but a reaction of chemical shape shifting, and explains in detail how DNA/RNA does its thing to produce proteins. The overall picture I got from the book was of a human creature designed to shape the assembly of all the pieces that make up itself. Pick your metaphor, Boyce says, hand in glove, lock and key, wrench and nut or lego blocks-nothing would transpire in the cell, maintenance or replication, if the shape of the proteins did not fit together. Some of the facts were amazing: that all life, plant and animal uses the same genetic code in codifying its past structure. The former bacteria, mitochondrion, "is like a universal battery that fits all devices within a cell." Cellular membranes are constructed of shapes like heads and tails-one end liking water and one end hating water-similar to the tropism of plant leaves seeking sunlight. What one learns from reading this book is that our conscious self is but a driver of one's car-like body, knowing little of what is constantly occurring under the hood.

Pound for pound, one of best intro to bio books around.

For [money] you'll have a hard time finding a better intro to Biology. The illustrations are great, it goes into surprising depth in a wide variety of subjects with amazing clarity. How this book does not have 5 stars needs explanation. Look at the other reviews... see the one about evolution not being true. There you go :) .

Excellent writing

I idly picked up this book expecting it to be a member of the disgusting clan of "Thirteen dimension string theory in a week for the totally clueless." Instead it is a fascinating overview of biological science, complete with humor, history and wonderful imagery. It makes you wonder why biology is not one of the hottest conversation topics around, once you begin to appreciate the complexity of living organisms. It contains more facts than the average popular science book and is wonderfully written. While you're reading this one, check out his "Life Itself," which goes into great and fascinating detail on the cell.

Excellent intro that makes biology seem like a real science

I majored in Physics so all other sciences seem like also-rans to me. Chemistry is a sort of trade-school subject and bio is just an exercise in labeling things. Or so I thought. This book starts at the molecular level and builds up to forests. Every step connects neatly with the ones before and after to show that biology is truly a scientific field, not just jars of glop. I was impressed and fascinated.