the community site for and by
developmental and stem cell biologists

The (developmental) biologist’s reading list

Posted by , on 11 September 2015

When starting a PhD or a postdoc you are often given a list (or pile) of papers to read- the essentials to get an overview of the history and recent developments in a new field. However, there is a lot to learn from books as well. Some books can give you a broad overview of a field in a more accessible way (reading ‘The selfish gene’ as an undergraduate comes to mind), while others provide training in a specific technique or in thinking like scientist. It could even be a fiction novel that provides an important perspective.

I thought it could be fun to put together a list of books that every biologist should read. Which books do you think should be included? Leave a comment with your suggestions! It would be great to put together a crowd-sourced list of the top 10 books that every (developmental) biologist should read!

 

books Flickr

 

Image: The British Library

 

 

Thumbs up (6 votes)
Loading...

Categories: Discussion

27 thoughts on “The (developmental) biologist’s reading list”

  1. The Changing Role of the Embryo in Evolutionary Thought

    Transformations of Lamarckism: From Subtle Fuids to Molecular Biology

    Developmental Plasticity and Evolution

    Ontogeny and Phylogeny

    Environment, Development and Evolution

    The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Drift

    NOT the selfish gene

    3
    0
  2. 1.”The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot. I think every biologist has to know about the huge impact of the HeLa cell line on the biomedical sciences. The book blends science, history and the current legal situation very well.
    2. “The Martian” by Andy Weir, a science fiction novel about why being a biologist/botanist can save youfrom dying if you happen to be a stranded astronaut on Mars.

    7
    0
  3. More genetics than developmental biology, but I loved ‘Time, Love, Memory’ by Jonathan Weiner – the story of Seymour Benzer (http://www.amazon.com/Time-Love-Memory-Biologist-Behavior/dp/0679763902). I even gave it to my (totally non-scientific) grandfather one year to give him an insight into why I was spending my days working with fruit flies. He enjoyed it too!

    And while I’ve no idea what it will be like, I’m really looking forward to this coming out later in the year: http://www.springer.com/us/book/9783319239729
    It’s a novel delving into scientific and publication ethics, written by developmental biologist Pernille Rorth – a former colleague of mine.

    2
    0
  4. Definitively: The Heritage of Experimental Embryology (1988) by Victor Hamburger
    -Try also In Praise of Imperfection by Rita Levi-Montalcini
    -Reinforce suggestion of Time, Love, Memory’ by Jonathan Weiner

    3
    0
  5. Dynamic Architecture of a Developing Organism by L. V. Beloussov
    Reflections on a Theory of Organisms by Walter M. Esasser
    The Science of Life by Paul A. Weiss
    The Shape of Life by Rudolf A. Raff
    Development and Evolution by B. C. Goodwin (also his Dynamic Structures in Biology)
    Life Itself by Robert Rosen
    The Problem of Organic Form by E. W. Sinnot
    Origins of Order by Stuart Kauffman
    Lamarck’s Signature by Edward J. Steele
    Shufflebrain by Paul Pietsch
    Cells, Gels, and the Engines of Life by Gerald H. Pollack
    Perspectives on Organisms: by Longo, Giuseppe, Montévil, Maël

    Others of potential interest (to those broadly interested in development) at:

    http://ase.tufts.edu/biology/labs/levin/resources/books.htm

    3
    0
  6. It’s a great idea to have such a compilation of suggestions ;)

    In line with Katherine and Domingos, I also place ‘Time, Love, Memory’ on top of the list. Along the fly-centric lines, Peter Lawrence’s ‘The Making of a Fly‘ is also remarkable, slightly more text-book style but very detailed for the fly lovers ;)

    To bridge the gap, a mammalian or even human-centric book that I found nice in the way it describes the importance of findings in model organisms to human development is ‘Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Variation‘ by Armand-Marie Leroi.

    As I’m interested both in development and epigenetics, a recent book that I loved to find is ‘The Epigenetics Revolution‘ by Nessa Carey, which I thought conveys the complexity of epigenetic phenomena in a simple manner, and I especially liked that it often brings each topic to the roots that lie in development and cell fate decisions.

    Finally, for those who are familiar with 44 LIF (or those who are curious about the history of a remarkable research institute in the heart of London, CRUK’s LRI), I recently found a historic perspective on the science that emerged from a great place – which is now living the last months as the transition to the new Crick building is coming up (I would love if something similar would be available about Mill Hill). This one is actually available online: ‘Blue Skies and Bench Space: Adventures in Cancer Research‘ by Kathleen Weston.

    Looking forward to your suggestions too ;)

    1
    0
    1. Hi Jorge, I thought you might be interested to know that there’s a book and a DVD (3 hours long) about the history of NIMR (Mill Hill) – both fascinating (though I confess to having finished neither yet).

      1
      0
  7. 1. The Selfish Gene – Richard Dawkins (One of the best books on evolution)
    2. For the Love of Enzymes – Arthur Kornberg (One of the best books on biochemistry)
    3. Your Inner Fish – Neil Shubin
    4. The Greatest Show on Earth – Richard Dawkins
    5. Why Evolution is True – Jerry Coyne
    6. The Eighth Day of Creation – Horace Judson (One of the most comprehensive accounts of development of the field of molecular biology)
    7. Life’s Ratchet – Peter Hoffmann (Awesome book about what it is like inside of a cell, and its workings)
    8. The Vital Question – Nick Lane (A brilliant book on origin of life and its connection with cellular biochemistry)
    9. The Double Helix – James Watson (A classic)
    10. Bad Science – Ben Goldacre
    11. Endless Forms Most Beautiful – Sean Carroll (A great intro to Evo-Devo)

    2
    0
  8. 1. Endless Forms Most Beautiful – The New Science of Evo-Devo (by Sean B. Carroll)
    2. Evolution, Development and the Predictable Genome (by David L. Stern)
    3. Biased Embryos and Evolution (by Wallace Arthur)
    4. The Regulatory Genome (by Eric H. Davidson)
    5. Evolution – A Developmental Approach (by Wallace Arthur)

    2
    0
  9. in addition to some already mentioned (On Growth and Form, Bad Science) I would recommend all books written by Lewis Wolpert (six impossible things before breakfast, the unnatural nature of science, etc.), Practical Ethics (by Peter Singer; warning-it might not appeal to all) and Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre.

    3
    0
  10. “Wetware” by Dennis Bray; it’s not specifically about Developmental Biology, but this book has an angle that I think is and will be important the field. Plus, there’s something very emotional about living systems in this book, which I like.

    4
    1
  11. Chance and Necessity by Jacques Monod (1970 Nobel Prize winner). Building on thermodynamycs, theory of information and DNA/RNA, he argues that life is only the result of natural processes by “pure chance” and the consequence of a final causality. Deep thinking, that did not age.

    4
    1
  12. For those starting to work with flies I would strongly recommend Martin Brooke’s “Fly: the unsung hero of the 20th century science”
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/636982.Fly
    It is not 100% development but it gives a good scope of what the fly is(was) good at.

    I also thoroughly enjoyed “Egg and ego” by Jonathan Slack.
    http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1130364.Egg_and_Ego
    (And I am told his previous book, “The triumph of the embryo” is very good).

    I would recommend to any PhD student Francis Crick’s “What mad pursuit”.

  13. I consider François Jacob’s “The Logic of Life” a real gem in my library – a fantastic book about the history of life sciences, a subject that still is rarely taught but so valuable.

    2
    0
  14. I posted a list of my favourite science books on our lab website:
    http://thegrewallab.com/2013/07/28/books-that-educate-stimulate-and-inspire/
    and
    http://thegrewallab.com/2014/09/25/books-that-educate-stimulate-and-inspire-part-2/

    The full list is here:

    The list is in no particular order, but the first four are books that I particularly like.

    The Eighth Day of Creation: Makers of the Revolution in Biology (Horace Freeland Judson).
    The book is the authoritative account of the people and personalities that shaped the early years of molecular biology, from the work leading up to the discovery of the structure of DNA to studies in ‘60s and early ‘70s on the control of gene expression. This is a fantastic book and a must-read for every molecular, cellular and developmental biologist.

    On Writing Well (William Zinsser)
    Writing well isn’t easy – in fact it is often very hard. But in this book, Zinsser writes with great wit and warmth about the struggle to put down on paper what we really mean to say. He does a wonderful job of highlighting the bad habits that creep into our writing – excess words, unnecessary clutter, and unclear sentences. It’s an incredibly enjoyable and valuable read. I bore students to death talking about how good this book, and I always re-read it before writing any new papers or grants. Every lab should have a copy of this book.

    The Statue Within (Francois Jacob).
    A poignant memoir from Jacob, the 1965 Nobel Prize winner. The book contains amazing accounts of his wartime experience in Northern Africa and his time at Institute Pasteur where he made his pioneering discoveries on transcriptional control in E Coli (along with Jacques Monod).

    Oh the places you’ll go (Dr Seuss).
    There are many good books that discuss the challenges of being a young scientist (student, postdoc, new PI) and of establishing a career. But none can match than this book…seriously. Read it in moments of despair and it will provide inspiration….that’s 98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.

    The following are other good memoirs and biographies:

    The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer (Siddhartha Mukherjee),
    An amazing book that does a beautiful job of describing the history of cancer medicine, therapy and research – a comprehensive book written with great style.

    Egg and Ego, an almost true story of life in the biology lab (Jonathan Slack).
    The title says it all – Jonathan Slack does a wonderful job telling the reader about the “real” life in a biological research lab – the bizarre way in which scientists compete for publication in “prestige’ journals, the ego of lab heads striving to be the ‘best’, the warped way in which competition to work in the most ‘fashionable’ research areas drives the scientific agenda. This is a brilliant book.

    Avoid Boring People and The double helix (both James Watson).
    Much has been written about the Double Helix, but “Avoid Boring People” is also a great read. Both books provide a revealing insight to the personality of Jim Watson – an incredibly smart guy who was also a bit of an ass.

    Francis Crick – hunter of life’s secrets (Robert Olby),
    and
    What Mad Pursuit (Francis Crick) –
    The other half of the Watson/Crick duo. What Mad Pursuit is an autobiography and a more measured account of the discovery of the structure of DNA. Richard Olby’s biography provides a wonderful insight into Crick’s remarkable scientific life.

    Max Perutz and the secret of life (Georgina Ferry)
    and
    I wish I’d made you angry earlier (Max Perutz).
    Georgina Ferry’s excellent biography captures the quirky but brilliant Max Perutz, who won the Nobel Prize for elucidating the structure of haemoglobin. Perutz was also a very thoughtful scientist and effective leader (I’d wish I’d made you angry earlier is a series of essays from Perutz). He was the head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge during the ‘60s and ‘70s – a period in which the LMB was making groundbreaking discoveries in molecular biology (and in the process, garnering many Nobel Prizes). Money quote from Perutz that should be in bold in every university administrative office:

    RNA – life’s indispensible molecule (James Darnell) –
    A detailed and enjoyable account of RNA research, from early studies that identified the existence of mRNA, rRNA and tRNAs to recent work on miRNAs. Darnell does an excellent job of highlighting the key studies and researchers, and providing important historical context to models of gene expression that we sometimes take for granted.

    The Art of Politics and Science (Harold Varmus).
    In this brilliant memoir, Varmus describes his path from English Literature PhD student to head of NIH and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In particular, the book provides a fascinating insight into how Varmus managed the switch from running a lab to running the NIH – similar approach, larger scale.

    The beginners Guide to winning the Nobel Prize (Peter Doherty),
    and
    How to Win the Nobel Prize (Michael Bishop) I’ve read both these enjoyable books but I’m still waiting for my Nobel Prize.

    Ahead of the Curve (Shane Crotty)
    An entertaining account of the scientific life of David Baltimore. It does a good job of covering the Imanishi-Kari case – one of the high profile cases of alleged scientific fraud.

    Lords of the Fly (Robert Kohler) –
    an enjoyable account of the early days of Drosophila research covering the discoveries and research of Thomas Hunt Morgan and his scientific “offspring”.

    Reconceiving the gene: Seymour Benzer’s adventures in phage genetics (Frederic Holmes)
    and
    Time, Love and Memory (Jonathan Weiner).
    Two entertaining books about Seymour Benzer, one of the great biologists of the 20th Century. Holmes’ book provides a detailed account of Benzer’s early work on phage genetics and in particular his incredibly clever approach to map genes. Weiner’s excellent book provides a superb account of Benzer’s later work (and the work of his scientific ‘offspring’) using Drosophila to study the genetic basis of behaviour.

    Phage and the origins of molecular biology (Edited by John Cairns, Günter Stent and James Watson)
    and
    Origins of Molecular Biology: A Tribute to Jacques Monod (edited by Agnes Ullmann) – two collections of essays and reminiscences about Max Delbruck and Jacques Monod, Nobel winning biologists during the ground-breaking days of molecular biology. These revealing and often candid essays uncover the personalities of both scientists – intellectually brilliant, but also forceful, dominating and sometimes ruthless (see essay on Monod by Martin Pollock).

    We can sleep later: Alfred D Hershey and the Origins of Molecular Biology (Edited By Franklin Stahl).
    Another collection of essays, this time about Nobel prizewinner and phage geneticist Alfred Hershey. He was more reserved that Delbruck and Monod but no less brilliant and influential during the early days of molecular biology. He inspired the concept of “Hershey heaven” – having an experimental approach that always works and performing it over and over again. He was also a very thoughtful scientist and a great writer. The title “We can sleep later” comes from the last line of a letter that Hershey wrote to contributors of a book on Phage that he was editing, urging them to work harder to get their manuscripts submitted to him.

    A slot machine, a broken test tube (Salvador Luria).
    A revealing, but sometimes dry, autobiography of Luria, who along with Delbruck and Hershey, was awarded a Nobel prize for work on phage and bacterial genetics.

    Blue skies and bench space: Adventures in Cancer Research by Kathy Weston.
    A fantastic and enjoyable description of the science, scientists and personalities at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund Laboratories in London, especially during the ‘70s and ‘80s, when the ICRF was at the forefront of research in developmental biology, cell cycle control, apoptosis and cancer. The book also serves as an excellent companion and comparison to “Life Illuminated” (below). You can also read the book free online here.

    Life Illuminated: Selected Papers from Cold Spring Harbor
    Volume 2, 1972–1994. An account of some of the key papers that emerged from CSHL at a time when the Laboratory was producing some of the key breakthroughs in our understanding of DNA replication, transcription, tumor viruses and cancer biology. Each paper has a commentary from one of the investigators involved in the work.

    Paths to Innovation: Discovering Recombinant DNA, Oncogenes, and Prions, in One Medical School, Over One Decade.
    and
    Ambition and delight. by Henry Bourne.
    These are two enjoyable books from Henry Bourne. The first (Paths to Innovation) is a wonderful account of an exciting period in the history of UCSF, when the University recruited and fostered young, talented scientists who went on to make Nobel prize-winning fundamental discoveries in molecular and cellular biology. In the second book (Ambition and Delight) Henry Bourne provides an honest, enjoyable and often funny account of his career in academic research – an excellent book for young scientists embarking on a career in research.

    Apprentice to genius. The Making of a Scientific Dynasty. By Robert Kanigel.
    A wonderful book that describes a dynasty of mentor-protégé relationships among a group of brilliant neuroscientists (Steve Brodie, Julius Axelrod, Sol Snyder, and Candace Pertall). It’s one of the best and most incredibly honest accounts of what scientific mentor-protégé relationships are really like. Highly recommended

    Brave Genius: A Scientist, a Philosopher, and Their Daring Adventures from the French Resistance to the Nobel Prize. By Sean B. Carroll
    An amazing account of the story of Jacques Monod and Albert Camus, two friends involved in the French Resistance during the Second World War, and who then went on to produce some of the greatest work in their respective fields (molecular biology and literature)

    Ordinary geniuses. How Two Mavericks Shaped Modern Science. By Gino Segre.
    This enjoyable book tells the story of Max Delbruck and George Gamow, two friends who pioneered some of the most important breakthroughs in molecular biology and physics in the last century.

    Laboratory Life. The Construction of Scientific Facts. By Bruno Latour.
    In this book, Bruno Latour, presents a sociological study of the process of lab research and scientific discovery. Although the study was conducted decades ago, there is a lot to learn from this book on how and why scientific research is organized the way it is. We need more books like this.

    Entering an Unseen World. A Founding Laboratory and Origins of Modern Cell Biology (1910-1974) by Carol L Moberg.
    This enjoyable book describes the history of cell biology told through some of the pioneering discoveries made over the last century at the Rockefeller University

    The Molecular Vision of Life. Caltech, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Rise of the New Biology by Lily E Kay.
    This book provides an interesting account of a period between the ‘30s and ‘50s when Caltech and the Rockefeller Foundation joined forces to foster the biology that ultimately would lead and inspire to rise of modern genetics and molecular biology. Interestingly, this work had its roots in an early eugenics program supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.

    Decades of scientific research have provided exquisite details about all manner of complex biological phenomena. But sometimes the hardest job is to step back from the intricate details and clearly convey the ‘big-picture’ logic by which biological systems – from the smallest molecular machines to entire organisms – are assembled and function. The following books do a fantastic job of this:

    A Genetic Switch (Mark Ptashne) and Genes and Signals (Mark Ptashne and Alexander Gann)
    Two wonderful books that describe the logic behind gene transcription, from simple genetic switches in phage to developmental control of gene expression in animals.

    The Making of a Fly (Peter Lawrence). Lawrence writes with style and clarity about the genetic mechanisms by which a single cell (the fertilized egg) develops into a multicellular animal (the adult fly). This classic book is a little old (1992) but the scientific logic that underlies the developmental processes described in the book still largely hold true.

    Wetware: A computer in every living cell (Dennis Bray)
    and
    Life’s Ratchet: How molecular machines extract order from chaos (Peter Hoffmann)
    – two great books that outline the ‘molecular machinery’ within cells. Although the books are mainly for a more lay audience, they make excellent reading for all molecular and cellular biologists especially graduate students.

    Finally some more great books on communicating

    Field Notes on Science and Nature (edited by Michael Canfield)
    – a series of fascinating essays from a range of biologists on how they on document and record their scientific findings.

    Visual Strategies: A practical guide to graphics for scientists and engineers (Angela de Pace and Felice Frankel)
    and
    Slide:ology: The art and science of creating great presentations (Nancy Duarte)
    – two great resources on how to draw scientific figures, how to clearly present data and how to make visually appealing slides and presentations.

    Several short sentences about writing (Verlyn Klinkenborg) Inspiring words about writing.

    4
    0
  15. “Organisers and Genes” and “Strategy of the Genes” by Waddington.

    These are great books for the developmental biologist in that you get a scientist/philosopher inquiring, experimenting and writing about developmental processes/organization in embryos without having the benefit of today’s technologies.

    The quality of his thoughts are hard to describe with words…so, the epigenetic landscape! :)

    1
    0
  16. This is excellent. I’m copying down a lot of new titles from these lists. I’d like to add the following, which haven’t been mentioned yet.

    The Neural Crest and Neural Crest Cells in Developmental and Evolution – Brian Hall

    Mutants – Anton LeRoy

    Making Sense of Life: Explaining Biological Development with models, Metaphors, and Machines – Evelyn Fox Keller

    Evolution by Gene Duplication – Susumu Ohno

    Embryos in Deep Time – Marcello Sanchez

    1
    0
  17. both warmly recommended:

    – “Evolution in Four Dimensions. Genetic, Epigenetic, Behavioral, and Symbolic Variation in the History of Life”, by Eva Jablonka and Marion J. Lamb, the MIT Press

    – “The Mating Mind: How Sexual Choice Shaped the Evolution of Human Nature”, by Geoffrey Miller, Anchor Books

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get involved

Create an account or log in to post your story on the Node.

Sign up for emails

Subscribe to our mailing lists.

Do you have any news to share?

Our ‘Developing news’ posts celebrate the various achievements of the people in the developmental and stem cell biology community. Let us know if you would like to share some news.