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Ok, so even though I haven’t got through the last chapter yet (although by the time you read this I should have) I am going to write this review.

Genesis Machines is a popular science book based around biocomputing. Written by Martyn Amos, the man who achieved the first ever Ph.D in Genetic Computing, the book takes you on a journey through the origins of computer science, molecular biology and eventually the combination of the two.

Computing Theory

After a general introduction the book starts taking a look at the history of computing and computer science, if you have ever taken a computing class or have a general interest in the subject then a lot of the stuff raised in the section should be nothing new (although I found it to be a very good history of computing and even I learned a few things). I would say that if you haven’t had any experience of computing then this section might be a bit confusing at first although most people should get through it ok.

Biology

This is the section I found hardest to get through, the subject matter itself was really interesting and when it is related back to the concepts raised in the computing sections it becomes exciting to read. The only problem I found with this is that I don’t have any previous exposure to the biology and so much of the background information in this section, although well explained, took a while to get through and on several occasions I did have to consult other sources to enable me to fully understand the concepts being explained.

Maths

If you have ever taken a discrete mathematics class, all of this section of the book is just a recap. If you haven’t then this is a great introduction to logic problems and how to solve them with many examples given in the book.

When it is related to the biocomputing sections this chapter produces a read which is impossible to put down.

The Last Chapter

Personally, I don’t like it. Having gone through all the interesting theory and practical applications the author decides to round the book off on a biology lesson, as a computing guy I didn’t find this interesting in the slightest (and hence why I am writing this with still a few pages to read), and I have a feeling that if you are a biologist all this chapter is going to do is go over well known ground.

Later on the chapter discusses practical applications that were hinted at in earlier chapters, and while some readers may enjoy the greater depth, I found it was unnecessary and didn’t add anything to the book.

Overall

I enjoyed the book throughly, it is very well researched (with over 40 pages of references at the back) and for anyone interested in computer science or genetics it is a very good read.

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