| View Larger Image | Understanding Viruses | Paperbackby Teri Shors (Author)
| List Price: | $119.95 | | Price: | $97.16 | | You Save: | $22.79 (19%) | | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours |
| | Binding: | Paperback | | Publisher: | Jones & Bartlett Publishers | | Edition: | 1st Edition | | Page Count: | 639 Pages | | Publication Date: | March 14, 2008 | | Sales Rank: | 109,347th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Understanding Viruses is the ideal text for the modern undergraduate virology course. With a full-color design and rich pedagogy, the text provides a strong introduction to viruses in our daily lives and viral diseases from an epidemiological and global perspective. Its unique approach combines historical perspectives along with the clinical and molecular aspects of viral infections, and chapters discussing specific viral diseases include treatment and prevention information. Contemporary case studies, Refresher Boxes, Virus Files, and quality color figures enhance student learning while a comprehensive ToolKit CD-ROM provides ample course material for instructors. Understanding Viruses is a "must have" for virology instructors and students alike! |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 7 reviews)
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Good Condition by M. C. Graylewis  4 Stars
October 04, 2009
The book had been used, but it was in good condition. There were no problems with shipping.
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Enjoyed by J. Paschal (pooler, ga)  5 Stars
September 12, 2009
This book is well written. The chapters do seem a little out of order, but our professor just reordered our reading material for us. I enjoyed the book tremendously! Helped with my tests!
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thanks by M. Kruckenberg (Storm Lake, IA USA) 5 Stars
August 28, 2009
thanks for the book! It's arrived in excellent condition (brand new, like you said) and was shipped very quickly. Thanks!
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Nice concept, but not ready for the classroom. by Erik Barton (Midwestern United States)  2 Stars
May 15, 2009
I am an assistant professor and teach virology to juniors and seniors at a large Midwestern state university. I just completed a semester using this book as the text for a class of 70 students. I adopted the text sight-unseen because I was impressed with the organization of the text: it deals with basic molecular biology and cell biology of viruses first, followed by clinical aspects of viral disease and pathogenesis, and concluding with several chapters dedicated to important viral pathogens. This arrangement is, in my opinion, the best way to organize an introductory survey of the field of virology and is the way I teach my course. So I assumed the text would be a good fit for my course.
However, I was sorely disappointed by the quality of this text. It needs significant revision and editing before it can be usable.
Specific problems with this text:
1) it is absolutely riddled with typographical errors, including subject-verb disagreements, non sequitur sentences, and entire sentences out of place in several instances. Most chapters have dozens of such errors. Several figures are missing entirely or are mislabeled in the text.
2) it contains occasional factual errors in the text and figures. For example, in the chapter on viral immunology, cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) are referred to as a "nonspecific" defense in one of the figures (7-12). CTLs are the paradigm for adaptive, highly-specific immune cells. In the herpesvirus chapter, the author states that herpesviruses infect "virtually all species of vertebrates and invertebrates." This is absolutely incorrect: herpesviruses infect all vertebrates, with a single invertebrate host having been reported (a bivalve). While the number of errors in the text is not overwhelming, they should have been caught in the review process and corrected prior to release.
3) incomplete coverage of immune response to viruses. Space limitations require deciding what to omit and what to include, but I found it remarkable that there was so little discussion of killer T cells in the host resistance chapter (only one page!). Killer T cells are among the most important mediators of antiviral immunity.
4) overemphasis on non-traditional views of viruses, including far too much space devoted to several theories which have little or no scientific basis or are only tangentially related to virology, including:
- possible roles of retroviruses in schizophrenia, including a full page devoted to a dead British artist who painted "disintegrating cats" a may or may not have had schizophrenia, which concluded with the following statement: "It is, of course, impossible to determine whether Wain suffered from schizophrenia, and if he did, if he had an infection caused by endogenous retroviruses." Well, then, why have my students read this? Give us an extra page on killer T cells instead!
- xenotransplantation of pig organs to humans is given 6 pages of text.
- a potential role of adenovirus infection in obesity
- the "house cat", "contaminated poliovirus vaccine", and "conspiracy" theories of HIV origins
5) test questions provided in the test bank focus on often irrelevant details and require little or no critical thinking on the part of the student. I don't use test bank questions as a rule, but these seemed to have been written in a hurry by undergrads themselves.
6) The figures, overall, are attractively rendered but often are not integrated well with the text.
In summary, I think this text is a good concept, and if properly edited and scientifically curated by multiple virologists it would fill an important gap in undergraduate virology texts. In its current form, however, it is very difficult to use and I'm embarrassed that I had my students spend the amount of money on it they did. It seems to have been rushed to market and I would advise not adopting it until the second edition--and then only after careful review.
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cover very flimsy by RedNewt (California USA)  3 Stars
November 13, 2008
Although the content and material presented is very well done, the publication leaves something to be desired. The softcover is very very flimsy, made of light paper stock, making the book itself seem very fragile. In addition, the font size is very large inside, which takes up much more space and paper than necessary, contributing to the unnecessary weight of the relatively fragile text book.
I hope this isn't how all text books are published nowadays; it would not stand up to the rigors of a student hauling it around to their classes.
None of these comments reflects on the author, nor the content, only the publication itself.
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