Reviews
“Dr. Barker has managed to distill the collective wisdom and intuitive flair of experimentalists of the last three decades into a survival kit no bench worker should be without. While the purpose of the book is to introduce the wonders and terrors of the lab to the uninitiated, the wealth of useful information contained in this volume make it a valuable addition for the more sophisticated bench scientist. I don't know of a single volume which provides everything from buffer recipes to half-lifes of common isotopes, principles of centrifugation to growth media for bacterial strains, to name but a few examples.
The volume follows the new lab worker from his first day on the job through the ins and outs of assimilating into the lab. Tips are provided on who runs the show (the secretary and senior tech) to how to get started (do an experiment the first week). The reader is instructed on how to make friends, when to speak up and when to hold back. While much of this advice is simple common sense, having it made explicit is no doubt reassuring and worthwhile. Dr. Barker makes it clear that the integrity of the data are paramount, as they should be, and this message is explicit. The majority of the volume gets down to the nuts and bolts and getting the experiments done, describing equipment (and providing delightful drawings labeling everything from the shaker to the HPLC), instructing on good technique and providing the kind of useful tables to make sure what needs to get autoclaved does and what doesn't is sterile filtered.”
—JEFFREY V. RAVETH, M.D., Ph.D., Rockefeller University
“Where was this book when ‘I’ started in the lab? Like the ‘(Computers, etc.)... for Dummies’ series in popular bookstores, this is an invaluable practical guide for working in a laboratory, and scientific life in general. It addresses questions the newcomer may not have thought of asking, and provides a ‘safe’ resource to find the answers to questions he or she may be reluctant to ask. For the established members of the lab, this manual relieves them of much of the basic training tasks for the newcomer, and provides a standardized body of knowledge everyone is expected to master; the latter also being important when establishing liability. Furthermore, this book provides a rare and insightful explanation of scientific culture, helping socialize the novice. Despite being written for beginners, this manual can serve as a timeless reference for the experienced scientist.”
—ALAN R. SALTIEL, Ph.D., Parke-Davis Pharmaceuticals
“While it is no substitute for training by a good supervisor, At the Bench is a well–organized reference that offers practical guidelines as well as basic protocols for students and technicians in their first months in the lab. It is full of useful illustrations and tables, some of which will be helpful even to veteran researchers. Best of all, it's concise—weighing in at about one kilogram—it's far less daunting a starting point than any multi–volume book of protocols.”
—Trends in Cell Biology
“On the whole, At the Bench is very easy to read and navigate around, and is very comprehensive. However, whether the students that might be helped by this book will receive it before starting in a laboratory is a different matter. The cost of the book makes it a bargain and I wonder whether supervisors should be encouraged to send copies to students in the summer before they start their research projects, instead of the large volume of tedious background reading that most of them receive.”
—Trends in Neurosciences
“I would highly recommend that every laboratory purchase this book and have it readily available for all personnel. It could save everyone a lot of time, reduce stress level, improve safety issues and create a more pleasant working environment for all.”
—Trends in Genetics
“All in all, the book would be a useful addition to any academic lab to form part of the induction process for new researchers.”
—Microbiology Today
“Barker's manual is appropriate for starting technicians, students (both undergraduate and graduate), as well as, for example, medical fellows entering a research lab for the first time. I thought it also useful for starting principal investigators “staring at headlights,” like I had been. Its clarity would have been eminently helpful to my thinking in fashioning my entry–level speech to new students, technicians, and fellows. I have also recently realized I can use the book even now, some 14 years into running a lab: I gave the book to an entering student, from whom it was returned with scribbles in the margins in places where he clearly learned something, or where a point he probably already knew was particularly well–phrased and, thus, more memorable. This budding scientist had been a technician before and had already been introduced to the usual lab culture. Yet, now he was embarking along a distinct path within that culture and still found items within Barker's book quite useful ('think of every experiment as a publishable unit' was one underlined phrase).”
—Cell Biology Education
“Kathy Barker has done an excellent job in presenting the many aspects of laboratory work in this book from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. At the Bench is not a textbook or manual but rather a lighthearted guide to working in a lab. Readers are walked step–by–step through the basics of lab navigation, experimentation methods and specific procedures. The neophyte will appreciate all the detail that is available, especially the social aspects of the laboratory that can sometimes be difficult to decipher. Ms. Barker offers expert advice on lab etiquette including behavior, expectations, attitude, collaboration and confrontation. Her advice is sensible, however it is general; interpersonal relations depend greatly on the personality and character of each individual within the lab. Throughout the text Ms. Barker provides a wide variety of resources for further research, but an emphasis is placed on finding details in lab resources, both the literature and the personnel...
This book is a necessity for newcomers to a laboratory setting with practical information and advice. It should become a staple for any laboratory bench with its emphasis on basic procedures, materials and techniques.”
—Biomolecular Engineering
Checkout/View Cart
