[.ca] On Becoming a Biologist, Second Edition (ISBN 0803276206)

This book should be read by every college biology major!:
Janovy presents an enjoyable, readable overview of how one becomes a biologist. He also provides suggestions about what and how to do things once you become a biologist. Janovy's comments are practical and insightful. This book should be required reading for all first-year college biology majors -- it is for mine! The going is smooth, the examples are clear, and the overall message is that it's no only OK, but fun and exciting to become a biologist. This is a great little book.

An Excellent View into a Career in Biology:
I am stuck in what can only be called (generously) a mid-career crisis and changing to a career in biology is one of the possible directions I've been considering. Reading this book not only helped me to understand what life would be like if I chose to pursue a career in biology but it also talked about the details of a life that are hard to learn from the outside: the world-view, the ethical code, the experience of the daily life of a biologist. One of the best things I learned from this book is that for a person interested in biology there are many options, including being a devoted amateur. I still don't know what the future holds for me. This book was only one piece of the puzzle but it is an important piece and the lessons I learned go beyond biology.