Threshold Concepts in Biochemistry

Reviewed by Arnulfo Mar, Associate Professor of Biochemistry, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on 5/16/24

Comprehensiveness rating: 5

The first 4 available chapters (1-4) cover the areas appropriately and clearly. Three are very good explanations of thermodynamic concepts; a subject students find difficult to grasp. No index/glossary was available in the available formats.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

Content was accurate, with no errors present and
biased free.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

This book covers basic well stablished concepts in biochemistry which could easily updated if the need would arise.

Clarity rating: 4

The chapters tend to include too much information that could be overwhelming for beginner students of biochemistry

Consistency rating: 4

Text book shows consistency of terminology; again too many advanced terms are introduced early in the book.

Modularity rating: 5

Text book offers the opportunity to be divided into seditions by including several sections within chapters. It could be easily reorganized if needed.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

A chapter covering the chemical properties of amino acids, nucleotides, carbohydrase and lipids should be included early in the text book.

Interface rating: 4

No interface problems were noticed. Figure 3.3 A can be improved by showing the energy changes associates with endo and exothermic reactions. This figure could be separated into 2 different figures.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

No grammatical errors were observed by the reviewer

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Book is not culturally insensitive nor offensive. It has an Australia and New Zealand focus mentioning the contributions of scientist from these nations.

This text book offers a good introduction to basic biochemical concepts. The writing style is easy to follow, and the authors offer encouragement and excellent advice to students starting their study of biochemistry.