Life on Earth (3rd Edition)

Rating:
Summary: An easy-to-read book that still avoids over-simplification
Review: Although Life on Earth is meant to be a textbook, I find it to be an excellent reference book. The design does not force the reader to begin at the first chapter and read sequentially. Terms are explained in clear english, and the glossary is very thorough. Illustrations are well-drawn and fitting, and the layout is easy on the eyes. Also, the chapter summary after each section is invaulable to students. I cannot recommend this book more to anyone who is interested in Biology or needs a reference book about the workings of life on Earth.

Rating:
Summary: HARD TO FOLLOW
Review: I just finished my biology class with this text book. Over all I was very disappointed in this book. I read each chapter that was assigned to us by the professor and worked my study guides but still came out of the each chapter more confused. With the jargon they put in this text book it doesn't do the student any favors in the layouts you will need to spend time to investigate some of the information on your own to obtain a better understanding of BIOLOGY.

Rating:
Summary: Great intro book!
Review: This book is for those wanting an easy reading introduction. Its very informative, well put together and easy to follow with adequate graphics. (I hated the questions at the end of each chapter though, ok lets face it they were easy you just had to really think about them).
I wouldn't recommend for a biology buff but definitely all others!


Rating:
Summary: easy to understand
Review: This book was easy to follow. Unlike a a lot of other books, it does not throw a bunch of terms you dont understand at you.

Rating:
Summary: Woe to the Non-Biology Major
Review: This textbook is not what its authors, nor those who assisted the authors, purport; a book meant for undergraduates who are NOT Biology majors. Indeed, it is the exact opposite-a Biology major's dream.

That dream is the textbook Life on Earth by Audesirk, Audesirk, and Byers, along with their Panel of Biology educators "[...] who worked closely with the authors to ensure Life on Earth's continuing tradition of readability, accuracy, and relevance" (p vii). READABILITY? That is rich considering the book throws incomprehensible term after term at the reader, rather than breaking terms up into small, easy to read segments. Confounding the issue additionally is the tendency of the authors to stray off into concepts that, while related to the section, only serve to perplex the non-biology inclined. These tangents would be better suited later in the chapter as sections of their own, rather than built into already discombobulating subjects. Furthermore, the charts and diagrams contain information overload and are not terribly useful.

For instance, take the chapters dealing with cells, DNA, & RNA. They are choked full of information and diagrams for those who can decipher the regurgitated jargon, however, the rest must intrepidly explore this wilderness of technical verbiage constantly backtracking and retracing steps through a bewildering jungle of Biology Geek-Speak and in-depth tangents to glean any knowledge from this textbook. It does not help when the odd bit of historical data is thrown in haphazardly, generally in the most inconvenient of places; such as middle of a complicated idea, where one has to side track around an event in history in order to keep the flow of consistency of the frustrating concept. While biology majors may achieve overly excited levels of joy from such asides, those of us struggling with the convoluted nature of the subject, and the less that user friendly book, find it not only distracting, but poor editing.

The exact opposite of their statement in the preface:

As teachers, we recognize how easily a student can become
mired in a overwhelming number of new facts and terms while
losing sight of the underlying concepts of biology. [...] Our
goal is to deliver an accessible text that clears away some
of the trees so that students may more easily visualize the
forest. We have carefully revised Life on Earth to reduce
unnecessary detail and excess terminology while retaining
core concepts and a sense of biology's richness and breadth.
(p ix)

The book reads like a technical manual, and while it is rare for this reviewer to deliberately indulge in schadenfreund, an inner sense of justice would be sated were this reviewer to teach an introductory class on diesel engines to the main authors and their Panel of Biology Educators. Rather than the standard, user friendly beginner texts, great pleasure would be taken in giving Audesirk, Audesirk, and Byers, along with their cronies, the most convoluted and driest advanced technical guide with the expectation they keep up in the class.

Yet, tis not enough for the authors to swamp the reader with overloaded jargonised sentences, run amok on overly technical tangents, and include eye-numbing diagrams and pointless charts, but they preach as well! From the About the Authors section, Audesirk & Audesirk "[...] are members of several conservation organizations." (p vi) and it shows in the writing. Though they ask for "open mindedness" (pg 9) as scientists in the opening chapter, yet, they refuse to practice it-unless it is their own "approved" open-mindedness. If sceptical and unconvinced by the man-made Global-Warming/sky-is-falling doomsayers, be prepared for a special dose of theory as unassailable truth in this text.

This reviewer does not understand why a biology textbook should be allowed as a platform for an agenda of any sort, yet, here is one doing just that.

In the entire Unit on Ecology, the constant positive reinforcement of the Kyoto Protocol is so repetitive, it is like a brainwashing mantra. This, despite Dr. Frederick Seitz's reporting on the bogus science involved in the drafting of the Protocol. Throughout the book, whenever possible, the insidious phrasing regarding the evils of fossil fuels and why taking public transportation is important because automobile owners are polluting the Earth is inserted. Never mind air quality in the US is cleaner now than the early 60s. Driving (pardon the pun) home further why scientists should never dabble in politics, are the statements regarding why harvesting wood from the forests is so detrimental, despite the fact wildfires and forest fires are on the rise, due to the increase in trees, because of the efforts of people like the Audesirks to stem logging. Apparently this irony is lost on them.

To conclude, my instructor for Introduction to Life Sciences (Biology 160), felt the book was "fairly good as far as introductory biology texts go.", which is easy for a man w/a PHD in Biology to say. However, for those of us who will never major in biology, though might have had an interest in learning about it before reading this book, do not expect to get much from this textbook other than a headache and the agenda of a couple of eco-hippies. My final grade has yet to post, I think it will be an A, certainly no less than a B, but I do not know how I achieved that score; everything from the textbook went in one eye as a bunch of gibberish and out the other eye as garbled babble.

I would say, rather than letting this awful textbook deter you from understanding and enjoying biology, find a simpler text, say Biology for Dummies from the IDG folks. Better still, if this is the required textbook for your class, DEFINITLY get Biology for Dummies. You will need it if only for the levity.

Fellow non-biology majors, I have felt your woe.