Barron's Science 360: A Complete Study Guide to Biology with Online Practice

Gabrielle I. Edwards, Cynthia Pfirrmann, Barron's Educational Series

• Publisher: Barrons Educational Services
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781506281322
• eBook ISBN: 9781506281339
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Biology
• Index: Biological Sciences

Barron’s Science 360: Biology  is your complete go-to guide for everything biology

This comprehensive guide is an essential resource for:

• High school and college courses
• Homeschooling
• Virtual Learning
• Learning pods

Inside you will find:

• Comprehensive Content Review: Begin your study with the basic building block of biology and build as you go. Topics include, the cell, bacteria and viruses, fungi, plants, invertebrates, Homo sapiens,  biotechnology, and much more.
• Effective Organization: Topic organization and simple lesson formats break down the subject matter into manageable learning modules that help guide a successful study plan customized to your needs.
• Clear Examples and Illustrations: Easy-to-follow explanations, hundreds of helpful illustrations, and numerous step-by-step examples make this book ideal for self-study and rapid learning.
• Practice Exercises: Each chapter ends with practice exercises designed to reinforce and extend key skills and concepts. These checkup exercises, along  with the answers and solutions, will help you assess your understanding and monitor your progress.
• Access to Online Practice: Take your learning online for 50 practice questions designed to test your knowledge  with automated scoring to show you how far you have come.

1

BIOLOGY: THE SCIENCE OF LIFE

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

In this chapter, you will review how the science of biology began and how modern biologists gather information.

SECTIONS IN THIS CHAPTER

•The Science of Biology

•Branches of Biology

•The Work of the Modern Biologist

•Review Exercises

•Connecting to Life/Job Skills

•Chronology of Famous Names in Biology

The Science of Biology

LEARNING ABOUT LIFE

Science investigates the forces that affect the Earth and its living creatures. Through observation and experimentation, scientists strive to solve the tricky puzzles that hide the causes of events that shape the world. The work of modern science has changed the world remarkably with new and important discoveries in areas such as communication, travel, agriculture, and medicine. How scientists do their work will be discussed in this chapter and in chapters to follow. Biology is the science that studies life and living things, including the laws that govern the events of life.

Every type of life from the smallest microscopic living particle to the largest and most imposing plant and animal species is included in the study of biology. Biological study covers all that is known about any plant, animal, microbe, or other living thing of the past or present.

As defined above, biology is the science of life and living things. Biology is a natural science. It is the study of individual life forms within the world of life known as nature. It is the science of fishes and fireflies, grasses and grasshoppers, humans and mushrooms, flowers and sea stars, worms and molds. It is the study of life on top of the highest mountain and at the bottom of the deepest sea.

Biology is the accumulated knowledge about all living things and the principles and laws that govern life. Whole living things are called organisms. Organisms too small to be seen by the unaided eye are termed microorganisms or microbes.

Those who specialize in biology are known as biologists or naturalists, and it is through their observations of nature and natural events that the great ideas of biology have been born.

BIRTH OF BIOLOGY

The object of scientific study is to find the truth. So it was and still is that human beings have sought the truth about the nature of life. We cannot fully appreciate the present without knowing what has occurred in the past. The birth of biology as a bona fide science was slow and painful, taking place over many centuries. Study Table 1.1, and notice the length of time in centuries over which the ancient Greek naturalists studied and wrote about plants and animals. Now note in Table 1.2 on pages 3 and 4 the number of centuries between Vesalius and Lamarck. You can see that each discovery in biology took a very long time. Learning about the historical development of the ideas of science provides a better understanding of the process and methods of inquiry. Learning about the individuals who have contributed to scientific knowledge increases our understanding of science and society.

THE STUDY OF LIFE THROUGHOUT HISTORY

The study of life is as old as humankind, dating back to ancient peoples who observed and wondered about the characteristics of the animals and plants around their limited sphere. The ancients used their observations to help them in such activities as hunting, food gathering, and crop growing.

A great deal of credit is given to the ancient Greeks for having begun a systematic study of living things, including human beings. The rise of ancient science reached a peak around A.D. 200 and then declined sharply in the European culture. During this time, books were scarce, and questions were considered to be inappropriate and impious prying. These centuries of scientific regression, from A.D. 200 to A.D. 1200, were known as the Dark Ages. Religious authority was considered to be the irrefutable source of all knowledge. Individual observation and dissent were discouraged and often punished. During these centuries, though, scientific exploration and discovery were thriving in the Islamic culture. Scientific methods were refined, questions were investigated and explained, and old ideas were challenged and revised. Table 1.1 provides a brief summary of some early scientific ach...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• How to Use This Book
• 1. Biology: The Science of Life
• 2. Characteristics of Life
• 3. The Cell: Basic Unit of Life
• 4. The Chemistry of Life
• 5. The Basic Chemistry of Cells
• 6. Bacteria and Viruses
• 7. The Protist Kingdom: Protozoa, Fungus-Like Protists, and Plant-Like Protists
• 8. The Fungi
• 9. The Green Plants
• 10. Invertebrates: Sponges to Mollusks
• 11. Invertebrates: The Arthropoda
• 12. Deuterostomes, Chordates, and Mammals
• 13. Homo sapiens: A Special Vertebrate
• 14. Nutrition: Eating for Health
• 15. Diseases of Homo sapiens and the Immune System
• 16. Heredity and Genetics
• 17. Principles of Evolution
• 18. Ecology
• Appendix A: English/Metric Conversions
• Appendix B: Terms, Units, and Measurements Used in Microscopy
• Index