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Reviews tagging 'Cancer'
The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human by Siddhartha Mukherjee
8 reviews
ktrain3900's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
I'm not going to get into the science here, except to admit that I did not understand everything, and that's ok. I don't think the point was necessarily to write a book in which every reader would "get" everything, so much as to provide a history of human understanding of the cell and how we're using this understanding to try to make lives better. I think there is something to take away from this book for a variety of readers, including lay readers like myself, even if you need to be patient with it.
The writing moves between academic and lyrical, with both nitty-gritty science and personal stories. I find this balance to largely work, even if I had re-read some more sciency passages, and (occasionally) come across something I had to accept I'd never fully "get". All in all, it's truly awe-inspiring how much we've discovered and have done with these discoveries. It's equally terrifying how much we still don't know.
The writing moves between academic and lyrical, with both nitty-gritty science and personal stories. I find this balance to largely work, even if I had re-read some more sciency passages, and (occasionally) come across something I had to accept I'd never fully "get". All in all, it's truly awe-inspiring how much we've discovered and have done with these discoveries. It's equally terrifying how much we still don't know.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
podanotherjessi's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
This book had a lot of elements that I understand, but that annoyed me nonetheless.
First, Mukherjee does a remarkable job through most of this book of explaining complex biological topics in ways most people will understand. This is really good, and I commend him for it. That said, he fails to do this at points in the book, largely in the introduction. I have a biology background, and even I found myself lost with the jargon he was throwing around at the beginning of the book.
But on the other hand, the first 20, maybe 30 percent of the book is dedicated to explaining what a cell is and where it comes from. And this section to me felt too rudimentary. It was information, in my experience, that anyone with a high school level science education would already know. I understand needing to include this as background because if you didn't understand those things, much of the rest of the book would have been incomprehensible. But I think it could have been condensed to keep things moving.
Second, almost all of the modern examples are pulled from Mukherjee's personal experience. If the case studies weren't of people he treated himself, they were close friends of his, or someone treated by a doctor he went to med school with or did a post-doc with. And if they somehow didn't fit those, it was someone he had met, and he used an anecdote about that meeting as a jumping off point to talk about their condition.
This is likely a practical issue of patient confidentiality, but it came off as slightly braggadocios. It read, to me, as if Mukherjee was using these examples to show off his brilliance. I'm positive that was not his intent, but it was the feeling I was left with anyway.
Third, I wish that so much of this book hadn't been focused on cancer specifically. In retrospect, that was the topic Mukherjee was clearly most interested in exploring, and that's alright. I just wish it had been clear earlier. I wanted to hear about other things - and there are other diseases that are briefly touched on, but none so much as cancer. Covid, the part I was perhaps most curious about, was given barely any attention, having the shortest section.
But there's a lot to really recommend this book. I loved the historic background whenever that was the focus. As I said, Mukherjee does a remarkable job making the material accessible. So I do think anyone interested in cellular biology and how medicine is advancing (specifically as it pertains to cancer), I would recommend picking this up! But not the audiobook. The narrator's pronunciations in parts were really rough. Especially when it came to words in other languages. I never want to hear Boutsikaris try to say anything in German ever again.
First, Mukherjee does a remarkable job through most of this book of explaining complex biological topics in ways most people will understand. This is really good, and I commend him for it. That said, he fails to do this at points in the book, largely in the introduction. I have a biology background, and even I found myself lost with the jargon he was throwing around at the beginning of the book.
But on the other hand, the first 20, maybe 30 percent of the book is dedicated to explaining what a cell is and where it comes from. And this section to me felt too rudimentary. It was information, in my experience, that anyone with a high school level science education would already know. I understand needing to include this as background because if you didn't understand those things, much of the rest of the book would have been incomprehensible. But I think it could have been condensed to keep things moving.
Second, almost all of the modern examples are pulled from Mukherjee's personal experience. If the case studies weren't of people he treated himself, they were close friends of his, or someone treated by a doctor he went to med school with or did a post-doc with. And if they somehow didn't fit those, it was someone he had met, and he used an anecdote about that meeting as a jumping off point to talk about their condition.
This is likely a practical issue of patient confidentiality, but it came off as slightly braggadocios. It read, to me, as if Mukherjee was using these examples to show off his brilliance. I'm positive that was not his intent, but it was the feeling I was left with anyway.
Third, I wish that so much of this book hadn't been focused on cancer specifically. In retrospect, that was the topic Mukherjee was clearly most interested in exploring, and that's alright. I just wish it had been clear earlier. I wanted to hear about other things - and there are other diseases that are briefly touched on, but none so much as cancer. Covid, the part I was perhaps most curious about, was given barely any attention, having the shortest section.
But there's a lot to really recommend this book. I loved the historic background whenever that was the focus. As I said, Mukherjee does a remarkable job making the material accessible. So I do think anyone interested in cellular biology and how medicine is advancing (specifically as it pertains to cancer), I would recommend picking this up! But not the audiobook. The narrator's pronunciations in parts were really rough. Especially when it came to words in other languages. I never want to hear Boutsikaris try to say anything in German ever again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Medical content
Moderate: Death
taytots24's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Blood, and Cancer
Moderate: Infertility, Terminal illness, Death, and Pregnancy
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, Car accident, and Mental illness
whatthekatdraggedin's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Terminal illness, Cancer, Medical content, War, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Blood
Moderate: Ableism
laurenrscott's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer
readingrainbowroad's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Siddhartha Mukherjee is one of the best science writers of our time. Full stop.
Also a seriously great audiobook narrator!
As a microbial ecologist/evolutionary geneticist, I have serious background knowledge in a lot of the cellular topics Mukherjee writes about in this book, but very little when it comes to the human health aspects. As with his two previous books, he makes the topics extremely approachable - something particularly difficult when it comes to biochemistry and cellular biology - doesn't totally avoid the complicated nature of biology. I also love that he presents biology and science as a story in progress, not one that is already completely known and solved.
I don't give 5 stars often, but I can't think of anything I would change or improve on in this book.
Also a seriously great audiobook narrator!
As a microbial ecologist/evolutionary geneticist, I have serious background knowledge in a lot of the cellular topics Mukherjee writes about in this book, but very little when it comes to the human health aspects. As with his two previous books, he makes the topics extremely approachable - something particularly difficult when it comes to biochemistry and cellular biology - doesn't totally avoid the complicated nature of biology. I also love that he presents biology and science as a story in progress, not one that is already completely known and solved.
I don't give 5 stars often, but I can't think of anything I would change or improve on in this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Medical content
onlyonebookshelf's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Cancer
mezzano's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
I’ve never found a book so aligned to the AICE Biology curriculum that presents the year’s learning in a way which is engaging, exciting, and encourages you to keep turning its pages. Highly recommended for biology teachers and students for summer reading…or those passionate about pursuing or learning about the medical field and research.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer
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