Literature

If the material in this book intrigued you, you may find more depth in the following fine works. It is tempting to “just Google” to learn more, but most of the best knowledge is to be found in actual books. The authors of the literature I cite below have done the hard work for you to sort out what is good and what is not good.

A well stocked academic library will have all these books, and even if not affiliated with a university, you may find it possible to gain access to their collections.

Here goes:

• Molecular Biology of the Cell (Alberts, Johnson, Lewis, Morgan, Raff, Roberts, Walter) A huge book and a classic in the field, covering everything to a reasonable depth. If you could have only one book on how cells work, this would be it. Sometimes also referred to as “Alberts”.
• Lewin’s Genes XII (Krebs, Goldstein, Kilpatrick). If you could have only two books on genes, this might be the second one. Much as I love this book, some versions of it are outrageously expensive. Do shop around.
• Molecular and Cellular Biology of Viruses (Lostroh). This book appeared just before the COVID-19 pandemic, which makes the description in there of SARS and other Coronaviruses incredibly prescient. Lostroh has written a very accessible book that doesn’t just describe viruses, but along the way gives a fine introduction to many biological and DNA concepts.
• Evolution (Futuyma, Kirkpatrick). A work of art. Covers the surprising intricacies that arise even in simple models of evolution, and follows this up with a rich description of many aspects of actual evolution. The graphics and photos are incredibly well done. A standard in the field. Much as I love this book, some versions of it are outrageously expensive. Do shop around.
• Janeway’s Immunobiology (Murphy, Weaver). One of the classic texts on immune systems.
• Gene Cloning & DNA Analysis. A classic yet modern text on practical DNA techniques, focused on their application in the lab.
• The Machinery of Life (Goodsell). I hope that my book will one day be a worthy companion to this succinct masterpiece. A very visual tour of the machinery of life, full of great insights.
• The eighth day of creation (Judson). This is a very remarkable book on the history of the discovery of DNA and the associated molecular biology. In physics (my original field of study), theories are explained very much intertwined with how they were discovered. This turns out not to be the best way to teach quantum physics, and only now are physicists stepping way from explaining their field “in the order in which it was discovered”.
  Biology in my experience currently suffers somewhat from the reverse problem - RNA, DNA, proteins etc. are taught with hardly a reference to the exciting way in which the world first learned about them. And it turns out that this history has a lot to teach us both about the philosophy of life, but also about things that did not quite work out in one field of discovery.. but might still be true in another.
  The Eighth day of Creation is by itself an accidental book that might simply not have happened. But we should all celebrate that it did - through rich stories derived from many interviews and trawls through archives, the “missing stories” about the fundamental discoveries of life can be found in one impressive tome. Incidentally this book is a great gift for any biologists you might know!
• The vital question (Lane). This rich book takes us back to the origin of life and helps us think about perhaps the most important question: why is life the way it is? As an introduction “The vital question” can be pretty daunting, but as a follow up to this book it will be highly rewarding.