genetics books

	Genetic Programming : An Introduction : On the Automatic Evolution of Computer Programs and Its Applications (The Morgan Kaufmann Series in Artificial Intelligence)
	By: Wolfgang Banzhaf, Peter Nordin, Robert E. Keller, Frank D. Francone ISBN: 155860510X Publisher: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers Release Date: 30 November, 1997 Bioscience book rank: 729257	It's rare to find an advanced computer science textbook that's both so engaging and so informative. I've only read the first seven chapters so far, but when I sat down to write my first genetic algorithm (for real research use), the book had already prepared me well. <br /> <br />It's hard to imagine a better introductory textbook for this topic. This book is good for getting a general view of genetic programming. Nevertheless, I think it neglects many details. For example, it is very hard to from the book how a simple selection strategy (tournament selection) works in practice.<p>I do not think this book is useful for someone intending to code a genetic programming algorithm. I skimmed the Koza books (GP: I & II) and this one at the store. Using the layout, chapter names, and the introductory chapters as my guide, I decided to buy this book to introduce me to the current state of the art in GP. The strengths of this book are its textbook format and the informal exercises that are presented for the reader at the end of every chapter. There is also a great deal of compilation from other relevant gp works presented in a localized, intra-chapter basis. The book is thus highly digestable to a newcomer, and is a far less time-consuming way to learn about GP than through the "expert" papers on the web. Having now almost finished the book, I feel that I am ready and able to author and apply GP techniques in a wide variety of applications and languages, having spent less than 20 hours in study time. A terrific achievement by Banzhaf and company, highly recommended.
	Genetic Engineering (Cool Science)
	By: Ron Fridell ISBN: 0822526336 Publisher: Lerner Publishing Group Release Date: 16 May, 2005 Bioscience book rank: 602232
	Fundamental Genetics
	By: John Ringo ISBN: 0521006333 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Release Date: 05 April, 2004 Bioscience book rank: 932627
	Is Human Nature Obsolete?: Genetics, Bioengineering, and the Future of the Human Condition (Basic Bioethics)
	By: Harold W. Baillie, Timothy K. Casey ISBN: 0262524287 Publisher: The MIT Press Release Date: 01 October, 2004 Bioscience book rank: 927546
	Molecular Genetics of Bacteria
	By: Jeremy W. Dale, Simon F. Park ISBN: 047085085X Publisher: Wiley Release Date: 12 March, 2004 Bioscience book rank: 894722	I got a lot out of this book: not mastery of the subject, but the kind of feel for genetics you cannot get from a popular book on the subject. I occasionally had to skip material, but I rarely got frustrated. It is well written, and reasonably short. Its production values are somewhat lacking for the price: self references are to chapters, not chapter sections, and the diagrams are often amateurish, although sometimes very helpful. My background: very minimal organic chemistry (but the terms covalent bond and hydrogen bond weren't unknown to me), a popular science book on genetics under my belt, not very extensive knowledge of biology. A book such as "Dictionary of Modern Biology" by Norah Rudin is a definite help, and that book is very inexpensive. This book has the minimun to know about molecular genetics of bacteria (I am studing this subject). The illustrations are clear and very good.I can very easily see this book being used to supplement lectures in an introductory course on biotecnology. I thoroughly recommend it.
	Introduction to Population Genetics
	By: Richard Halliburton ISBN: 0130163805 Publisher: Benjamin Cummings Release Date: 17 October, 2003 Bioscience book rank: 842784	This is a very clearly written book. Hallibuton is such a talented writer and presents sometimes very difficult concepts with such effortless simplicity. One important aspect of this book is the way in which different ideas and different chapters are tied together. For example, the writter explains the infinite-alleles model and then goes on to describe why such a model could be useless at the molecular level, hence the need for an infinitely-many sites model. All the chapters are classic reading; his Chapter 4 on Recombination, Linkage and Disequilibrium in particular is a real treat. Halliburton also gives a very decent treatment of Coalescent Theory and even goes on to descibe extensions of it in the case of selection, population subdivision and recombination. <br /> <br />This is a very recent important book, and a most deserving competitor to Hartl and Clark's "Principles of Population Genetics". It has my highest recommendations.
	Mendel's Legacy: The Origin of Classical Genetics
	By: Elof Axel Carlson ISBN: 0879696753 Publisher: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Release Date: 01 March, 2004 Bioscience book rank: 878604	This book is a labor of love by a professional geneticist with a sharp intellect and a mature understanding of society as well as science. The book is beautifully produced, with many diagrams and portraits of the scientists, as well as photographed excerpts from famous papers (although there are no color plates). <br /> <br />Perhaps the most attractive aspect of Carlson's approach is the care with which he presents the evidence for specific genetic principles, and the arguments used by opponents of what are now elementary textbook principles. Appreciating basic genetic principles is much enhanced by realizing the intellectual struggle involved in each piece of the puzzle. For instance, I have read a dozen times that quantitative geneticists rejected Mendelism because they believed in evolution by continuous, incremental change, whereas Mendel's laws appear to support discontinuous, saltationist, change. I always thought this to be a quite silly objection, and that R. A. Fisher's demonstration of the compatibility of the two views was stating the obvious. Carlson suggests a far deeper objection. Following Galton, quantitative geneticists believed in regression to the mean and blending inheritance, both seeming incompatible with Mendelism. Overcoming these objections is quite a sophisticated task. <br /> <br />In another passage, Carlson presents Sewall Wright's reasons for developing his position on gene interaction and environmental effects on natural selection, based on his study of coat color in guinea pigs. Again, he shows that opposition to Mendelian segregation was not just conservative stubbornness, but rather a reaction to the fact that a considerable fraction of inheritance studies did not conform to Mendelian segregation. We now know why, with our understanding of transpositions, gene jumping, and the like. <br /> <br />The glory of this book is simply reading the detailed history of marvelous discoveries in an almost blow-by-blow fashion. But, almost as welcome is Carlson's historical method, which he presents briefly at the end of the book. Science, he says, is the "winning of the facts." I interpret this to mean that truth needs no explanation---it is its own justification. "I have read accounts" Carlson says (p. 208) "...that attempted to explain science in sociological (in-groups versus outsiders), political (Marxism versus capitalism), or historical (depression, war, and ideology) contexts, and I found these either false or extraneous." This viewpoint is such a breath of fresh air after plowing through so many insufferable post-modern treatments of science. <br /> <br />Carlson does have strong and interesting arguments concerning the time and place of scientific discoveries. He notes that genetics was a European stronghold in the Nineteenth century and became an American-led endeavor in the classical period from 1900 to 1930. He attributes this to the scientific freedom offered by the American graduate school, among other things. Hitler and Stalin account for the continued prominence of the American school after 1930, since they induced extremely talented scientists to emigrate to the United States, where they had the freedom to do their research. It is not unreasonable to think that if freedom triumphs in the world, it will be in no small part because good science requires it.
	Huntington's Disease (Genetic Diseases)
	By: Johanna Knowles ISBN: 1404206949 Publisher: Rosen Publishing Group Release Date: 31 August, 2006 Bioscience book rank: 1006407
	Get a Grip on Genetics
	By: UNKNOWN ISBN: 0760737460 Publisher: Barnes & Noble Books Release Date: 2003 Bioscience book rank: 360096	Believe this, you will at least be able to grasp a rough idea about nearly every topic in genetics simply by reading this book. Martin Brookes starts off his book by introducing the very basic things like mitosis, meiosis, variations and chromosomes so you should have no worry about not being able to follow even if you have zero knowledge about genetics. Then he moves on to the more advanced topics in genetics such as genetic mapping, DNA sequencing, genetic engineering, gene therapy and so on. You will learn many advanced techniques that scientists are using today such as PCR, FISH, genetic recombination and DNA fingerprinting. This book also gives some interesting insights on the ethical controversies surrounding the genetic technologies such as human cloning and designed babies. <br /> <br />You will find many interesting facts like a female butterfly has XY chromosomes, a dog has 78 chromosomes, 75% of our DNA is nothing but junk, a genetically modified peanut can "commit suicide" and lots of others. This book was written in such a humourous styles with loads of funny illustrations inside that I'm sure you will enjoy it as much as I do. Definitely a "must read" for people who hope to learn more about genetics!
	Genetics
	By: Leland Hartwell, Leroy Hood, Michael L. Goldberg, Ann Reynolds, Lee M. Silver, Ruth C. Veres ISBN: 0071102159 Publisher: McGraw Hill Higher Education Release Date: 01 November, 2006 Bioscience book rank: 363265	This is a very great textbook for undergraduate genetics! <br />Definitely a classic for your collection.