I was starting to work in a lab for the first time and needed a basics book to guide me through the first few weeks. This book is good for somethings as it explains the functioning of machines and how reagents are made. However, you quickly drop it entirely as it is not essential for your labwork to know details of how a centrifuge is built or what makes it work. If I were in the same position again I think I would go for the At the Bench series.