For the HN audience, Physical Biology of the Cell may also be another useful perspective/introduction.
http://www.amazon.com/Physical-Biology-Cell-Rob-Phillips/dp/...
http://www.amazon.com/Physical-Biology-Cell-Rob-Phillips/dp/...
http://www.amazon.com/Physical-Biology-Cell-Rob-Phillips/dp/...
Looks worth the money, based on the pictures. However, as I browse through the text, the tone of the explanations seems to be a little casual, and the book more concentrating on "counting" than explaining the details presented with the pictures?
Otherwise it seems to be "what you get when a physicist gets to write about cells," is my impression right? It seems that Lodish and Alberts are better starts to learn the biological aspects?
Phillips is more of an introduction to biophysics, so would require some degree of comfort with calculus and physics (e.g., classical mechanics, some E&M, and some statistical mechanics). The preface says only calculus and elementary physics is required.