A concise and engaging biology text for biology majors, Understanding Biology 4e partnered with Connect emphasizes fundamentals concepts to help students better understand biology and focus on developing scientific skills. This approach utilizes the Vision and Change guidelines of Core Concepts and Core Skills while helping students begin the process of becoming a scientist.
Part I The Molecular Basis of Life
1--The Science of Biology
2--The Nature of Moleculars and the Properties of Water
3--The Chemical Building Blocks of Life
Part II The Biology of the Cell
4--Cell Structure
5--Membranes
6--Energy and Metabolism
7--How Cells Harvest Energy
8--Photosynthesis
9--Cell Communication
10--How Cells Divide
Part III Genetic and Molecular Biology
11--Sexual Reproduction and Meiosis
12--Patterns of Inheritance
13--The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance
14--DNA: The Genetic Material
15--Genes and How They Work
16--Control of Gene Expression
17--Biotechnology
18--Genomics
Part IV Evolution
19--Genes Within Populations
20--The Evidence for Evolution
21--The Origin of Species
Part V The Diversity of Life
22--Systematics and Phylogeny
23--Prokaryotes and Viruses
24--Protists
25--Fungi
26--Plants
27--Animal Diversity
28--Vertebrates
Part VI Plant Form and Function
29--Plant Form
30--Flowering Plant Reproduction
31--The Living Plant
Part VII Animal Form and Function
32--The Animal Biology and How It Moves
33--The Nervous System
34--Fueling the Body's Metabolism
35--Maintaining Homeostasis
36--Reproduction and Development
Part VIII Ecology and Behavior
37--Behavioral Biology
38--Ecology of Individuals and Populations
39--Community Ecology and Ecosystem Dynamics
40--The Living World
Kenneth A. Mason received his undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Washington, worked at UC Berkeley, then pursued his PhD in Genetics at UC Davis. He has taught Gentics, Microbial Genetics, Microbiology, Advanced Molecular Genetics, Introductory Biology, and a Genetics Laboratory that he designed.
Dr. George B. Johnson is a researcher, educator, and author. Born in 1942 in Virginia, he went to college in New Hampshire (Dartmouth), attended graduate school in California (Stanford), and is Professor Emeritus of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis, where he has taught freshman biology and genetics to undergraduates for over 35 years. Also Professor of Genetics at Washington Universitys School of Medicine, Dr. Johnson is a student of population genetics and evolution, authoring more than 50 scientific journal publications. His laboratory work is renowned for pioneering the study of previously undisclosed genetic variability. His field research has centered on alpine butterflies and flowers, much of it carried out in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. Other ecosystems he has explored in recent years include Brazilian and Costa Rican rain forests, the Florida Everglades, the seacoast of Maine, coral reefs off Belize, the ice fields and mountains of Patagonia, and, delightfully, vineyards in Tuscany.A prolific writer and educator, Dr. Johnson is the author of seven nationally recognized college texts for McGraw-Hill, including the hugely successful majors texts Biology (with botanist Peter Raven) and three nonmajors texts: Understanding Biology, Essentials of The Living World, and The Living World. He has also authored two widely used high school biology textbooks, Holt Biology and Biology: Visualizing Life. In the 30 years he has been authoring biology texts, over 3 million students have been taught from textbooks Dr. Johnson has written
Tod Duncan is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado Denver. He currently teaches firstsemester general biology and coordinates first and second semester general biology laboratories. Previously,he taught general microbiology, virology, the biology of cancer, medical microbiology, and cell biology. Abachelors degree in cell biology with an emphasis on plant molecular and cellular biology from the Universityof East Anglia in England led to doctoral studies in cell cycle control, and postdoctoral research on themolecular and biochemical mechanisms of DNA alkylation damage in vitro and in Drosophila melanogaster.Currently, he is interested in factors affecting retention and success of incoming first-year students in diversedemographics. He lives in Boulder, Colorado, with his two Great Danes, Eddie and Henry
Jonathan Losos is a Monique and Philip Lehner Professor for the Study of Latin America in the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology and Curator of Herpetology at the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. Losos's research has focused on studying patterns of adaptive ratiation and evolutionary diversification in lizards. The recipient of several awards including hte prestigious Theodosius Dobzhansky and David Starr Jordan Prizes for outstanding young evolutionary biologists, Losos has published more than 100 scientific articles.
Susan Singer is the Laurence McKinley Gould Professor of the Natural Sciences in teh dpartment of biology at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she has taught introductory biology, plant biology, genetics, plant development, and developmental genetics for 20 years. Her research interests are focused on the development and evolution of flowering plants. Singer has authored numberous scientific publications on plant development, contributed chapters to developmental biology texts, and is actively involved with teh education efforts of several professional societies. She received the American Society of Plant Biology's Excellence in Teaching Award, serves on teh National Academies Board on Science Education, and chaired the NRC study committee that produced America's Lab Report.
