referencebooks

Biotechnology from A to Z, 3rd edition

By William Bains

Published by Oxford University Press, 2004.

This is a regular-sized paperback book, measuring 6" by 9" and running to 413 pages of relatively large type.

The foreword explains the scope of the book and describes it as a "mini-encyclopedia," which is accurate: entries are longer and fewer than in a dictionary, but briefer than what you'd find in an encyclopedia. The foreword goes on to say, "Each entry gives a quick description of the concept, mentions related terms and ideas, and gives an indication of what the science or technology has really achieved." The entries are extensively cross-referenced and the index is thorough. The foreword also notes what is not included in the book that some might expect to find. Not included are entries on aspects of biological science that underpin biotechnology (other reference works do that job), and entries on biological warfare. There are only a handful of entries on individual people and companies, as those aren't the focus of the book.

One notable aspect of the book is that it is written in surpisingly non-technical language for such a technical subject, and for a reference book from Oxford University Press. The articles are informative but very readable for non-scientists, and go into at least a bit more depth than a popular magazine.

The author is not shy about showing his biases, which often makes it seem that he's not being completely thorough in his presentation of some topics. The article on bioethics is terrible in this regard, and actually makes the author seem somewhat ignorant about the field.

Despite that, it is a valuable book in the amount of information it communicates about biotechnology in an easy-to-understand way.