I wanted to get a textbook that allows me to get up to speed again with mammalian biochemistry and I bought this book in preference to more general textbooks. And on the whole I am impressed - the writing and the diagrams are clear and accurate. There is one issue however that has made a serious black mark: units. I would expect a modern textbook to use SI units throughout. The problem here is that the book skips between Calories and Joules almost at random depending upon the particular author involved. The chapter on Bioenergetics gloriously uses both - but in different parts of the chapter (for example Free-Energy Change for hexokinase is in kcals whereas the section on Free-Energy Changes in redox reactions is in joules! - without the other unit in both cases). I have an elderly copy of Lehninger from the 1970's that exclusively uses SI units and so to see a modern (2005) book still using Calories is deeply disappointing. Yes it's an irritant (even I can convert between joules and calories - 4.18) and shouldn't detract from the book but thats not the point. It just shouldn't happen and it reflects badly on the general editor

I had to use this book for my Biochemistry class. My major is Nutrition & Dietetics, and I already graduated. This book is just awful. Like someone else wrote, if you need to find a term or a figure, you have to look in almost the whole book, and you may still won't understand what you were looking for, or even worse, you'll get more confused. Devlin finds the hardest way to explain an easy term or fact you can explain a lot easier. This is just not worth it. Do not buy this book, there are other books a lot better.

Senior in college,
double major Biology and Chemistry.
This is the worst book I have ever used.
Two brief examples..
looking for a figure? On the previous (or next) page or 100pages further down the book.
Thought Marcel Proust could write endless sentences? Hold on! devlin can spend four to five lines, with "bold term" to explain something you won't understand the 10th time around.
Don't waste your time, don't waste your money....stay away from this mess of a book.

I expected better from a 6th edition medical textbook. There are still grammatical and sentence errors that need to be corrected, and we have found multiple diagram problems throughout the book. The sentences can be poorly worded at times, and the book occassionally makes leaps in thought that are difficult to follow. It does contain a large amount of information, which is good, but the presentation of that information definitely needs to be further refined.

I expected better from a 6th edition medical textbook. There are still grammatical and sentence errors that need to be corrected, and we have found multiple diagram problems throughout the book. The sentences can be poorly worded at times, and the book occassionally makes leaps in thought that are difficult to follow. It does contain a large amount of information, which is good, but the presentation of that information definitely needs to be further refined.

We used this book teaching first year medical school biochemistry. The clinical correlations are well done, but the real strengh of the book lies in the sections on metabolic interrelationships. It is often confusing to the medical student to learn a pathway, and the the metabolic controls of the pathway, and then the added complexity that this system works differently in different tissues. This physiological complexity (which is the layer of integration where diagnosis really happens) is tackled head on in the first few chapters. This helps keep the student oriented to the system (the patient) and not get totally lost in the trees of enzyme names and co-factors.

I wish this book had been around when I went through medical school.

duke out

We used this book teaching first year medical school biochemistry. The clinical correlations are well done, but the real strengh of the book lies in the sections on metabolic interrelationships. It is often confusing to the medical student to learn a pathway, and the the metabolic controls of the pathway, and then the added complexity that this system works differently in different tissues. This physiological complexity (which is the layer of integration where diagnosis really happens) is tackled head on in the first few chapters. This helps keep the student oriented to the system (the patient) and not get totally lost in the trees of enzyme names and co-factors.

I wish this book had been around when I went through medical school.

duke out

THIS BOOK IS GARBAGE. NOT SUITABLE FOR UNDERGRAD STUDENTS. TO MUCH DETAIL ITS OVER THE TOP. IF YOU NEED THE BASICS JUST FORGET THIS BOOK.

THIS BOOK IS GARBAGE. NOT SUITABLE FOR UNDERGRAD STUDENTS. TO MUCH DETAIL ITS OVER THE TOP. IF YOU NEED THE BASICS JUST FORGET THIS BOOK.

This book is a must for anyone studying medical biochemistry, especially for the nutritionally-oriented physician. It is indeed very detailed, but the clinical correlations boxes really help tie the information together and make it very applicable in a clinical nutrition setting.

I could not pull together the "big picture" for all the details. Major concepts can be easily forgotten, especially by me: by the time I had read 3 pages containing a pleothra of details, I found myself making many wrong conclusions about how the major concepts fit together. On the other hand, I am a second year medical student, and I have found that Lippencott's Biochemistry paralleled my course rather freakishly as the concepts were introduced in lectures in the same order as in Lippencott's. Obviously, this book was definitely made for someone who has an extremely high capacity for sorting things out...i.e., it wasn't for me.

I just finished first semester medical school, and we used this book. The chapters read like a bad and verbose novel. With the time constraints in medical school, you really need a book that gets to the point. That's why the Illustrated Review Series are much better for medical school students. I will admit that this is a great book for graduate biochem if you're interested in research. Stay away if your in medical school and rely upon the notes and a supplemental book like Lipcotts. You'll get more confused reading this text b/c it's way too detailed.

This is a very comprehensive biochemistry textbook: well-written and well-organized. It maintained both analytical and interpretative approach in most of its chapters. Its clinical applications were evident in the way it handled nucleic acids, nucleotides, bioenergetics, immunochemistry, enzymology, and gene replications. Each metabolic pathway it discussed is well-detailed, and is supported with illustrative charts.
The only thing this book demands from its reader is good Organic Chemistry foundation. It is a very good text, although that its retail price is clearly on the high side.

The book is one of THE basics choice in Biochemistry for medical school. Good basic biochemistry with interesthing associated clinical cases. But please do not confuse with the software with has the figures of the book.

Fair clinical book. The Devlin just does not read as well as the Stryer. If Stryer is poetry, Devlin is a newspaper, informative yet not very moving.

The early chapters are good but I found the explanations of the pathways didn't flow as well as in other texts. The information seemed a bit disorganized.

This book has a wealth of information that will thoroughly educate you not only about biochemistry, but about practical clinical correlations springing directly from the biochemistry. Along with beautiful illustrations and a comprehensive index, the text is clearly written by experts from each field. Dr. Devlin has hit a major-league home run with this bright new work.

I gave it one star because I am lying! This is a great textbook!

I am 4� semester medical student and ever since I was introduced to this book (about a year ago by my biochemistry class teacher), it has proved to be a very useful biochemistry information resource. I have other biochemistry texts because I like to study from different points of view, but this text is a little bit different from the basic biochemistry textbook in that the information presented here is most relevant to the clinical setting. After reading any chapter it will be clear to you that you made a good investment. The most important thing is that the book is written in a very understandable reading wiht many examples and illustrations. The chapter on metabolic interrelationships will proof of great value to understanding biochemistry as a fundamental discipline in medicine; in a sense it opened my eyes (and yours too) to what at first seems a boring subject.

If you are thinking that because the book is presented in a clinical way you�ll loose basic information, don�t be. I took the chance and believe me I am not dissapointed at all, otherwise I wouldn�t be recommending it to you. Good luck.

I am 4° semester medical student and ever since I was introduced to this book (about a year ago by my biochemistry class teacher), it has proved to be a very useful biochemistry information resource. I have other biochemistry texts because I like to study from different points of view, but this text is a little bit different from the basic biochemistry textbook in that the information presented here is most relevant to the clinical setting. After reading any chapter it will be clear to you that you made a good investment. The most important thing is that the book is written in a very understandable reading wiht many examples and illustrations. The chapter on metabolic interrelationships will proof of great value to understanding biochemistry as a fundamental discipline in medicine; in a sense it opened my eyes (and yours too) to what at first seems a boring subject.

If you are thinking that because the book is presented in a clinical way you'll loose basic information, don't be. I took the chance and believe me I am not dissapointed at all, otherwise I wouldn't be recommending it to you. Good luck.

For the students and teachers of medicine career this book is very good, very understanding, and very very pretty.

I have a copy of this book for my biochemistry as well as molecular biology class. It becomes my tool to understand many complicated materials. The good part of this book is that there is not only one or two authors of this book, but, I guess, more than 20 contributors to this edition. The experts in each field are more likely to present the material more accurate than others. Moreover, this book also provides the address as well as e-mail address of each contributor in the content which I think very helpful when I need more advise on a specific topic. Hence, this book is one of my favorite texts.

Thomas Devlin makes a great edition of this book. I do think it is worth to read it because it offers a close relationship among biochemistry issues with clinical problems that are more commonly seen as a doctor