ase

If any of you know a biology student, or someone who is planning to start a stint in a biological research lab, point them at At the Bench: A Laboratory Navigator, by Kathy Barker. It's basically "lab for newbies" and is awesome. I picked a copy up on Friday, and I really, really like what I've read so far. The first chapter talks about things to do in the first day and week in a new lab, most of which I learned by trial and error. I've only skimmed the rest of the book, but it looks like subsequent chapters take a similar approach to the subjects they cover. This is a book for getting you started in lab at the most basic level, and will be superfluous for someone doing a known procedure, but should help lab newbies get up to speed. My most significant complaint so far is a lack of information about recovering from mistakes; this may be just as well, since it forces people to say, "help! I broke my gel (cracked a tube, added the wrong reagent)!" and talk to other people before compounding their error. I also wish there were a section on dealing with people issues, but that may be beyond the scope of a book whose stated focus is getting new people started. I'm going to talk to my boss about getting a copy for the lab; good luck prying mine out of my hands.