Biological Science

Description

A fresh approach to biology centred on a clear narrative, active learning, and confidence with quantitative concepts and scientific enquiry. Designed for flexible learning, it will give you a deeper understanding of the key concepts, and an appreciation of biology as a dynamic experimental science.

• Motivates the reader to take their first steps on the journey to becoming an independent researcher, using a narrative and numerous learning features that demonstrate the experimental basis of biological science, and the importance of the scientific method and scientific enquiry.
• Builds a robust understanding of the essential concepts that underpin biological science as a discipline onto which more advanced study can be layered: this is emphatically not a catalogue of knowledge to be remembered, but a resource that introduces concepts to be understood.
• Incorporates quantitative skills as a central component of the study and investigation of biological science, so that students learn to see the value of quantitative tools in better understanding biological systems than something to be feared.
• Coverage is tailored to the needs of biomedical science-oriented students, keeping all topics relevant to this audience.
• Encapsulates a rich learning experience that fosters active learning, problem-solving ability and critical thinking and accommodates different learning preferences - with a focus on the enhancement of understanding, not the testing of knowledge.
• Also available as an ebook with functionality, navigation features, and links that offer extra learning support

About the Author(s)

Jon Scott, Emeritus Professor of Bioscience Education, University of Leicester, Gus Cameron, Reader in Biomedical Science Education, School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, Anne Goodenough, Professor in Applied Ecology, University of Gloucestershire, Dawn Hawkins, Reader, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Anglia Ruskin University, Jenny Koenig, Assistant Professor in Pharmacology, Therapeutics and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine & Health Sciences, University of Nottingham, Martin Luck, Emeritus Professor of Physiological Education, University of Nottingham, Despo Papachristodoulou, Reader of Medical Education, King's College London, Alison Snape, Reader in Bioscience Education, King's College London, Kay Yeoman, Professor of Science Communication, School of Biological Sciences, University of East Anglia, and Mark Goodwin, Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics and Genome Biology, University of Leicester

Table of Contents

Life and its Exploration: Foundational Principles
Topic 1: Exploring the science of life
Topic 2: The emergence of life on Earth
Topic 3: Defining Life
Topic 4: Evolutionary processes
Topic 5: The diversity, organisation, and classification of life
Quantitative Toolkits
Quantitative Toolkit 1: Understanding data
Quantitative Toolkit 2: Size and scale
Quantitative Toolkit 3: Describing data
Quantitative Toolkit 4: Ratio and proportion
Quantitative Toolkit 5: Understanding samples
Quantitative Toolkit 6: Designing experiments
Quantitative Toolkit 7: Assessing patterns
Quantitative Toolkit 8: Formulae and equations
Quantitative Toolkit 9: Rates of change
Module 1 LIFE AT THE MOLECULAR LEVEL
1:Building blocks: molecules and macromolecules
2:Energy: powering biochemical processes
3:Information: genes and genomes
4:Mendelian genetics
5:Reading the genome: gene expression and protein synthesis
6:Proteins and proteomes
7:Metabolism: energy capture and release from food
8:Molecular tools and techniques
Module 2 LIFE AT THE CELLULAR LEVEL
9:Characteristics of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
10:Cell division in prokaryotes and eukaryotes
11:Microbial diversity
12:The growth, measurement, and visualisation of cells
13:Microbes in life: harnessing their power
14:Microbes as agents of infectious disease
15:Viruses
Module 3 THE HUMAN ORGANISM: TISSUES, ORGANS, AND SYSTEMS
16:Physiology overview
17:Communication and control 1: introducing the nervous and endocrine systems
18:Communication and control 2: sensory systems
19:Communication and control 3: controlling organ systems
20:Muscle and movement
21:Cardiovascular system
22:Respiratory system
23:Exercise physiology
24:Renal system
25:Digestive system
26:Reproductive system
27:Immune system