Suggestion Box
Suggest a book and we’ll take a look
Read any good books? The books on this site are from the reading list for students in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Leicester. We buy copies of each book in the University Library so they can be read without cost so we can’t guarantee to add everything, but we are very happy to receive suggestions and we’ll consider them for future years. We’d also like hear any suggestions you have about this website – please leave your suggestion below:
November 7th, 2011 at 7:41 pm
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mendels-Dwarf-ebook/dp/B0052RMMRU/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM
November 7th, 2011 at 7:33 pm
Unlike the books in the student reading list (well, I haven’t read all of them), Mendel’s Dwarf, by Simon Mawer a fictional novel. I have read it long time ago, and really enjoyed it. It has an interesting plot, in a setting of a molecular genetic laboratory. the link on Amazon (5* from two reviews) is:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mendels-Dwarf-ebook/dp/B0052RMMRU/ref=dp_kinw_strp_1?ie=UTF8&m=A3TVV12T0I6NSM
July 22nd, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Richard Dawkins – The Selfish Gene.
Great read. Perfectly understandable to those not familiar to biology, set out in many fluid prose and continuous analogies. Certainly made me think differently about certain aspects raised within the book.
AJ Cann: Thanks for your suggestion. The Selfish Gene certainly used to be on the list. It was removed when we pruned the number of books so they were not overwhelming. We felt that many people would already have read this and that there are newer, better choices available.
June 27th, 2011 at 9:40 pm
Are plants passive and unintelligent? This remarkable and thought-provoking book puts plants at the centre of the discussion of moral philosophy. The author recognizes that the considering and using plants merely as exploitable resources is emphasized only in the Western tradition – from Aristotle, Plato and the Bible, and he highlights their more central position and indeed worship in other cultures. This view nicely complements comments I often make about conservation: we should not be conserving biodiversity ‘because the plants lost may be useful’: where is the ‘right’ that humans have to destroy other evolved species or genes simply because we can?
All in all, I ‘think’ its a book with strong scientific grounding, taking a well-rounded view of life on the planet – but I have niggling doubts. Is it saying nothing ultimately? I think you will have to make up your own mind.
For the authors take on the book, see his Guest blog at: http://aobblog.com/2011/06/plants-as-persons-a-philosophical-botany/ and Google Books is generous in allowing insight into many pages, stimulating a wish to read more of the understanding of plants by non-Western cultures.
I will certainly be adding it to the undergraduate reading list suggestions when that comes round in the next few weeks.
January 5th, 2011 at 7:40 pm
“HeLa” is the name of a human cell line used widely in research, including at Leicester. Rebecca Skloot’s biography The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, about the woman from whom the cells were derived, has recently won several major awards.
The book has relevance to anyone doing a cell-based discipline (esp biochemistry and genetics) but it would be an inspiring read for students in any bioscience discipline. I’ve blogged about the bioethical issues raised in the book (see http://wp.me/p1fRv-vo)
December 21st, 2010 at 9:16 am
Many thanks for the suggestion – I’m not familiar with this book, I’ll take a look.
December 20th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
I highly recommend David Beerling’s (2007) The Emerald Planet: How plants changed Earth history (Oxford University Press). It brilliantly builds the case for ‘plants as a geological force of nature’, and has full references. A valuable and popular text, that has rave reviews on Amazon, and was Oliver Sacks Non-fiction book of the year.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Emerald-Planet-plants-changed-history/dp/0199548145/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
December 3rd, 2010 at 6:21 pm
Thanks for that one, I’ll add it.
December 3rd, 2010 at 5:00 pm
Maybe a bit basic, but it covers the key concepts, is easy to read, and has lots of excellent pictures – David Attenborough’s Private Life of Plants. Everyone loves Sir Dave!
I must admit (as a Plant Ecologist too!) I am struggling for Botanical suggestions!