Book: The Machinery of Life by David Goodsell
First off, I think everyone in the world (regardless of what they do, what they like, and where they are from) should read this book. If you are interested in biology, then you will enjoy David Goodsell's masterpiece, The Machinery of Life, and it will deepen your understanding of biology. If you are not interested in biology, then all it will take to get you hooked is a couple of hours snuggled up on the couch with this short picture book and a cup of tea. Quick little description of what this book is: It is a picture book that presents an introduction to basic molecular biology. It concisely addresses a number of topics within molecular biology, concentrating specifically on proteins and their functional and structural purpose within the cell. While the content is quite in-depth, the material is presented in a very understandable way that is perfect for the layman, for the student, or for the experienced scientist who wants to approach biology from a new direction. The beauty of this book, apart from the simple, clear language Goodsell uses in his writing, is the absolutely gorgeous hand-drawn images that detail biological phenomena within the cell. A cellular "screenshot" can be seen on the cover of the book to the right and can also be seen below, which is Goodsell's depiction of a neruonal synapse (if I recall correctly). I could rave about this book for hours, but these phenomenal images speak for themselves. Goodsell accomplishes something very important in his approach to biology. One of the mistakes that introductory biology texts often make is in the way they illustrate what is happening within a cell. While it is easier for a student to visualize a pathway or a structure when it is isolated and drawn as a blob sitting on a circle with an arrow pointing between the blob and another blob (if confused by this description see any introductory biology text), this approach may prove to be misleading to the student (AKA, me) who is not equipped to imagine the true state of a cell, which is chaotic and cluttered. | Indeed the schematic drawing can prove to be extremely useful, from an introductory level all the way to the highest level of biology, but it must be accompanied by a proper understanding of what a cell actually looks like. So while the volume of information in this ~150 page text is not as large as that of an introductory molecular biology textbook, the way that the information is presented in this particular text is almost more valuable. This text presents a new way of viewing biology, a novel approach to visualizing the microscopic world. Applying this lens to a study of biology, for me, has proven invaluable. However, for those who are not enticed by thick, dense bio textbooks, The Machinery of Life is a worthy alternative that provides clear, concise snapshots of molecular biology. Goodsell has created a beautiful work of science, art, and writing, and I cannot recommend this book enough. Do consider reading it, and then we can talk about it!!! You can check out its goodreads.com page here. If you're interested in obtaining a copy of the book, you can buy it from amazon.com here. **The image of the book's cover is from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6601267-the-machinery-of-life **The image of the neuronal synapse is hand-drawn by David Goodsell, but I obtained an electronic copy from http://biocurious.com/2009/11/01/the-machinery-of-life Note to reader: biocurious.com (the blog from which I obtained the image to the left) is a really cool science weblog written by a post-doc in Cambridge, England a graduate student in Toronto, Canada. Check it out! |