Biology: Understanding Life

Rating:
Summary: A highly recommended reference and teaching tool
Review: Now in an updated and expanded third edition, Biology: Understanding Life by Sandra Alters is an impressively organized and presented instructional text which is adaptable to high school or college curriculums, and is eminently suitable for classroom work, home schooling, or for independent study. Color photos enhance a clear and precise text which includes exercises and a solid coverage spanning a wide variety of topics including human genetics, development before birth, evolution issues, the nervous system, senses and hormones, and a great deal more, making Biology: Understanding Life an essential and highly recommended reference and teaching tool.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Introduction to Biology
Review: This book is an attractive package that invites the reader to dive in. Not only does it discuss basic biological concepts but mentions concepts that are in the news today, such as genetic engineering and DNA sequencing.

Although the introduction implies that it's appropriate for college-level courses, I think it could be used at the high-school level, too, especially since someone taking this course at the college level is someone who probably never took introductory biology in high-school, so the only difference between what would be covered in the college course and the high-school course is the number of chapters covered.

The book begins with an introduction to some basic concepts of life (what is biology? what are characteristics of life? how are forms of life classified? what are molecules? what is an organic molecule?) and then moves onto sections covering the structure of cells, systems in the human body and those of other animals. Next, it covers genetics, evolution, the five kingdoms, and social interaction of organisms.

I was surprised to see so much coverage of human anatomy (with many color drawings and some photographs, too) in a general introduction to biology (after all, biology is more than just humans), but I guess that the author included that to keep the reader interested, since it helps to relate each biological concept to a machine the reader already possesses---his body (see goal #3 below).

The goals that the author sets out for the text are these:

1. Help students understand biological concepts

2. Offer a range of visual learning aids to meet students' diverse learning styles

3. Make biology relevant to student's daily lives

4. Help students gain an understanding of scientifc processes

5. Review, test and assess student understanding

6. Integrate every aspect of the text into a comprehensive teaching package

The author meets each of these goals, and, particularly, the writing style and illustrations help to meet goal #2, in that, I believe, the author has specifically avoided complex sentence structure in order to make the text accessible to students with weak reading skills. That's probably good, and it further supports my contention that the book is good for college and high-school students alike to read. Also, there are lists of relevant vocabulary words at the end of each chapter, and a glossary in the back of the book.

I like the book and will continue to refer to it myself to refresh some of my own biology knowledge.