"The development of DNA sequencing techniques, such as the sequencing gel on the cover, opened up a world of possibilities in the field of genetics. This ultimately led to the sequencing of the entire human genome, perhaps the greatest problem ever solved!" Principles of Genetics, 5th Edition provides you with all the tools you need to solve the problems In this course and be successful.
I read the first half (12 chapters) of the Sixth Edition. It could have been more clearly written. Overall, it contains the necessary information for a basic genetics course, and overall the organization and layout of the material are good. The pictures and diagrams are attractive and helpful. I think this book could work well for a student in a college classroom, with regular lectures and professorial explanation. I read this book as a homeschooling parent, with a Biology degree, having studied Genetics myself in the past, helping an 18-year-old student to learn Genetics. I hope there's a text out there better suited to the independent learner.
Sometimes a topic is presented as if the reader should be aware of it, then it is introduced in a later chapter. The Questions and Problems at the end of each chapter do help the student explore and understand the material. Occasionally in those Questions and Problems we'd run across an unfamiliar word. It became our joke early on that the glossary is useless, never defining any word that we looked up. Usually we could not find the word in the index, either, making us wonder where we had read the word, or whether we had at all. (Google and Wikipedia helped then.) Some concepts and words are repeated to the point of distraction, whereas others are introduced only vaguely and are hard to follow. Some concepts and words are used interchangeably, apparently at random, and I craved a greater structure to help me understand the interconnection of these concepts and words.
My biggest gripe is with Wiley Education, the company providing the online support materials for this book. They were most cryptic and unhelpful when my daughter and I were trying to access their online materials. We bought the text used, and I am not a teacher affiliated with an accredited institution. I imagine Wiley will be more amenable to a student purchasing this book because his/her college professor assigned it.
Optimal book as introduction to genetics The reason I choose this book, was its contents and now I see that I was not mistaken. Thus, book covers nearly every topic related to genetics-classical and molecular genetics, role of inheritance in regulation and behavior, cancer etc. In addition different parts of the book are connected and ordered really nicely. I do not have much to say about explanations, because they even hardly vary among courses(especially in advanced ones). However, illustrations are really nice (and in fact, my second reason to choose the book).
I have a rule on here that I don't add a book unless I read that book completely. And, baby, I read this whole thing from first to last for my genetics class. And got an A to boot. Might be my one lasting claim to greatness in life.
Quite definition-heavy. Comprehensive, touching almost all topics around genes - almost, because describes any use of bioinformatics as "done by computer".
I think it's a very good introductory textbook. It offers a broad overview of all the basics one should know and does so in depth. I found it very easy to read and understand. I think it would be well-suited to complement a high-school level 'introduction to genetics' course. I only wish I could've got my hands on a more recent edition. Alas, I had to make do with the 2nd. The new editions come with study guides and extra problem solving assignments + access to online tutorials.