BSc (Hons) Biology course preparation

Suggested reading

You’ll be given lots of information about which textbooks to read and introduced to the University Library, as well as the many ebooks we have for you to access, when you begin your studies in September.

In the meantime, there are a couple of popular science books you might like to read before starting your degree if you can. We don’t recommend rushing out to buy texts before you arrive. But if you can pick some up second hand, borrow from a library or access online, our Head of Biology suggests:

• The Medical Detective: John Snow, Cholera and The Mystery of The Broad Street Pump – by Sandra Hempel
• The Knife Man – by Wendy Khadijah Moore
• The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World – by Stephen L. Brusatte
• The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History – by Elizabeth Kolbert
• The Gene: An intimate story – by Siddhartha Mukherjee
• I Think You Will Find It’s A Bit More Complicated Than That – by Ben Goldacre.

Useful websites

Did you know you can hang out with scientists online via The Natural History Museum?

You can also use the BBC and Guardian websites to follow science (especially biology) stories in the press. Focus on the scientific principles rather than the human element as you read.

For some great articles and insights, the NewScientist.com is highly recommended.  And, as it’s never too early to start thinking about topics you enjoy, you could try comparing news articles to scientific papers you can find on Google Scholar. This will be a useful skill for your studies.

Other useful websites include:

• Trello.com to create an online To Do List
• To research future careers in Bioscience, visit the Prospects website 

Things to do over summer

Here are a couple of ideas for you to try some Bioscience related fun:

• Try some home experiments: STEM Learning has some good ideas
• Discover a new and exciting topic with a TED talk
• Start a journal: get practicing for writing a lab book.