BKMGMLBI.RVW   20091018

"The Manga Guide to Molecular Biology", Masaharu Takemura/Sakura,
2009, 978-1-59327-202-9, U$19.95/C$24.95
%A   Masaharu Takemura
%A   Sakura
%C   555 De Haro Street, Suite 250, San Francisco, CA   94107
%D   2009
%G   978-1-59327-202-9 1-59327-202-2
%I   No Starch Press
%O   U$19.95/C$24.95 415-863-9900 fax 415-863-9950 info@nostarch.com
%O  http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593272022/robsladesinterne
  http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593272022/robsladesinte-21
%O   http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/ASIN/1593272022/robsladesin03-20
%O   Audience n- Tech 1 Writing 1 (see revfaq.htm for explanation)
%P   225 p.
%T   "The Manga Guide to Molecular Biology"

Why would you want to write a comic book to explain "a profound
academic discipline"?  Although the author uses those words, he
doesn't provide an explanation of that question.  He also states that
the work only covers the basics of molecular biology, and implies that
it can be used as an introduction, with other texts used for further
study.

In fact, although fundamental points are made, and are correct, the
tutorial in the manga material is far from complete.  The central
facts are repeated, and expanded, in pages of text.  After twenty-two
pages of manga content, a more extensive explanation is provided in
two pages of text.  (Even this expanded material is terse and
simplistic, sometimes raising more questions than it answers.)  Like
the humour that is used in some other books, the manga content is
often not supportive of the concepts under discussion.  Often the
"story" line is not merely unrelated, but a distraction from the
thread of the molecular ideas.

There is information about molecular biology in the book.  There is
more than would comfortably fit into a magazine article, so that does
justify a book format.  However, in the manga sections, there are
points of interest that could have been explained and aren't, even in
the text sections.  This isn't good enough as a textbook, it isn't
interesting or complete enough for general interest, and I'm not sure
if the story is enough for even die hard manga fans.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 2009    BKMGMLBI.RVW   20091018