GAMSAT Biology – Books That You Need To Go Through
One of the most frequent questions asked by GAMSAT aspirants in various forums is about decent books in Biology. Frankly speaking, there is nothing like good or bad books in Biology. The difference is in the way of presentation and the target reader community. Some books are made-easy for candidates who do not possess basic Biology concepts while some are more complex with respect to the concepts dealt with and their approach since they target science graduates. Let us explore the best possible combinations of candidate-level specific books for GAMSAT Biology.
For candidates from non-science background, some unique made-easy books are available. These books cover all the basic chapters of Human Physiology along with other common topics in Biology. These books aim at making the candidates conversant with Biology concepts that are dealt with in the 1st year of university studies. Some good examples are –
- Ross and Wilson: Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness by Anne Waugh and Allison Grant.
- IGCSE Study Guide for Biology by Dave Hayward
- A2: Further Studies in Biology by Margaret Baker, Bill Indge and Martin Rowland
Sometimes, to get a better understanding you can also refer to animations and videos which make things easier to understand. A few websites which contain such types of animations are –
Now, let’s concentrate on those candidates who already posses some basic Biological Science concepts and are looking for further development. As mentioned earlier, there are suitable resources for everyone sitting for GAMSAT. The books of a bit higher standard focus on individual topics with a greater number of schematic representations, tables and texts. Candidates with Biological-Science background can correlate them with their basic knowledge and gain more knowledge on individual topics. A few good books are –
- Anatomy And Physiology by Rod R Seeley, Trent D. Stephens and Philip Tate.
- Access to HE: Anatomy & Physiology by Lin Shaw.
- Microbiology by Lansing M Prescott, John P. Harley and Donald A. Klein.
Besides, from my personal experience, I would advice GAMSAT aspirants to go through lecture notes of some reputed universities like Harvard, Queensland University and the like. They generally carry an excellent compilation of classroom lectures by renowned professors. Sometimes, these lecture notes often carry some unique animations it the University websites. Animations and videos can help you understand many difficult areas with ease, since it makes you visualise the whole phenomenon.
GAMSAT Biology is not at all scary. The key is to get the right combination for you is to pick up the books that suit your level of understand. Remember, it’s not about how much the book can supply you but how much you can receive from that book. Once you develop a decent background in Biology basics, you can always jump to the next level. I wish you all the best for GAMSAT 2010.