The Biology Book: Big Ideas Simply Explained

by DK

Overview

Learn about the most important discoveries and theories of this science in The Biology Book.

Part of the fascinating Big Ideas series, this book tackles tricky topics and themes in a simple and easy to follow format. Learn about Biology in this overview guide to the subject, great for novices looking to find out more and experts wishing to refresh their knowledge alike! The Biology Book brings a fresh and vibrant take on the topic through eye-catching graphics and diagrams to immerse yourself in. 

This captivating book will broaden your understanding of Biology, with:

- More than 95 ideas and events key to the development of biology and the life sciences
- Packed with facts, charts, timelines and graphs to help explain core concepts
- A visual approach to big subjects with striking illustrations and graphics throughout
- Easy to follow text makes topics accessible for people at any level of understanding

The Biology Book is a captivating introduction to understanding the living world and explaining how its organisms work and interact – whether microbes, mushrooms, or mammals. Here you’ll discover key areas of the life sciences, including ecology, zoology, and biotechnology, through exciting text and bold graphics.

Your Biology Questions, Simply Explained

This book will outline big biological ideas, like the mysteries of DNA and genetic inheritance; and how we learned to develop vaccines that control diseases. If you thought it was difficult to learn about the living world, The Biology Book presents key information in an easy to follow layout. Here you’ll learn about cloning, neuroscience, human evolution, and gene editing, and be introduced to the scientists who shaped these subjects, such as Carl Linnaeus, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, Charles Darwin, and Gregor Mendel.

The Big Ideas Series

With millions of copies sold worldwide, The Biology Book is part of the award-winning Big Ideas series from DK. The series uses striking graphics along with engaging writing, making big topics easy to understand.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780744027389
Publisher:	DK
Publication date:	06/29/2021
Series:	DK Big Ideas
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	198,991
Product dimensions:	7.90(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

We believe in the power of discovery. That's why we create books for everyone that explore ideas and nurture curiosity about the world we live in.
 
From first words to the Big Bang, from the wonders of nature to city adventures, you will find expert knowledge, hours of fun and endless inspiration in the pages of our books. 

https://www.dk.com/

Table of Contents

Introduction 10

Life

A window into the body Experimental Physiology 18

How feebly men have labored in the field of Anatomy from the times of Galen Anatomy 20

Animals are machines Animals are not like humans 26

I can make urea without kidneys Biochemicals can be made 27

The true biological atom The cellular nature of life 28

All cells come from cells How cells are produced 32

Life is not a miracle Making life 34

Smaller cells reside inside the larger cells Complex cells 38

A flexible mosaic of gatekeepers Cell membranes 42

Food and Energy

Life is a chemical process Metabolism 48

Plants have a faculty to correct bad air Photosynthesis 50

The virtues of oranges and lemons Essential nutrients 56

The conversion of victuals into virtues Digestion 58

The saccharine, the oily, and the albuminous Food groups 60

A better element does not exist on which to base life The beginnings of organic chemistry 61

Life without free oxygen Fermentation 62

Cells are chemical factories Enzymes as biological catalysts 64

They must fit together like lock and key How enzymes work 66

The metabolic pathway that releases energy from food Respiration 68

Photosynthesis is the absolute prerequisite for all life Reactions of photosynthesis 70

Transport and Regulation

It had a movement, as it were, in a circle Circulation of the blood 76

Blood passes through many windings Capillaries 80

The heart is simply a muscle The heart muscle 81

Plants imbibe and perspire Plant transpiration 82

Chemical messengers carried by the bloodstream Hormones trigger responses 84

The constant conditions might be termed equilibria Homeostasis 86

Air combining with the blood Hemoglobin 90

Oils upon the creaky machinery of life Hormones help regulate the body 92

The master chemists of our internal environment Kidneys and excretion 98

No auxin-no growth Plant growth regulators 100

The plant puts its fluids in motion Plant translocation 102

Brain and behavior

The muscles contracted into tonic convulsions Excitable tissues 108

The faculty of sensation, perception, and volition The brain controls behavior 109

Three principal colors, red, yellow, and blue Color vision 110

We speak with the left hemisphere Speech and the brain 114

The spark excites the action of the nerveo-muscular force Electrical nerve impulses 116

Instinct and learning go hand in hand Innate and learned behavior 118

Cells with delicate and elegant shapes Nerve cells 124

Brain maps of man Organization of the brain cortex 126

The impulse within the nerve liberates chemical substances Synapses 130

A complete theory of how a muscle contracts Muscle contraction 132

Memory makes us who we are Memory storage 134

The object is held with two paws Animals and tools 136

Health and Disease

Sickness is not sent by the gods The natural basis of disease 142

The dose makes the poison Drugs and disease 143

The microbes will have the last word Germ theory 144

The first object must be the destruction of any septic germs Antisepsis 152

Remove it, but it will spring up again Cancer metastasis 154

There are four different types of human blood Blood groups 156

A microbe to destroy other microbes Antibiotics 158

A piece of bad news wrapped in protein Viruses 160

There will be no more smallpox Vaccination for preventing disease 164

Antibodies are the touchstone of immunological theory Immune response 168

Growth and Reproduction

The little animals of the sperm The discovery of gametes 176

Some organisms have dispensed with sexual reproduction Asexual reproduction 178

A plant, like an animal hath organical parts Pollination 180

From the most general forms the less general are developed Epigenesis 184

The union of egg-cell and spermatic cell Fertilization 186

The mother-cell divides equally between the daughter nuclei Mitosis 188

On this, the resemblance of a child to its parent depends Meiosis 190

First proof of the autonomy of life Stem cells 194

Master control genes Embryological development 196

The creation of the greatest happiness In vitro fertilization 198

Dolly, the first clone of an adult animal Cloning 202

Inheritance

Ideas of species, inheritance, variation The laws of inheritance 208

The physical basis of heredity Chromosomes 216

The X element Sex determination 220

DNA is the transforming principle The chemicals of inheritance 221

One gene-one enzyme What are genes? 222

I could turn a developing snail's egg into an elephant Jumping genes 226

Two interwoven spiral staircases The double helix 228

DNA embodies the genetic code of all living organisms The genetic code 232

A cut, paste, and copy operation Genetic engineering 234

The sequence of the beast Sequencing DNA 240

The first draft of the human book of life The Human Genome Project 242

Genetic scissors: a tool for rewriting the code of life Gene editing 244

Diversity of Life and Evolution

The first step is to know the things themselves Naming and classifying life 250

Relics of a primeval world Extinct species 254

Animals have in course of time been profoundly altered Life evolves 256

The strongest live and the weakest die Natural selection 258

Mutations yield new and constant forms Mutation 264

Natural selection spreads favorable mutations Modern synthesis 266

Drastic change occurs in an isolated population Speciation 272

All true classification is genealogical Cladistics 274

The clock-like property of evolution The molecular clock 276

We are survival machines Selfish genes 277

The extinction coincides with the impact Mass extinctions 278

Ecology

All Bodies have some Dependance upon one another Food chains 284

Animals of one continent are not found in another Plant and animal biogeography 286

The interaction of habitat, life forms, and species Community succession 290

A competition between prey and a predatory species Predator-prey relationships 292

Living matter is incessantly moving, decomposing, and reforming Recycling and natural cycles 294

One will crowd out the other Competitive exclusion principle 298

The basic units of nature on Earth Ecosystems 299

Networks through which energy is flowing Trophic levels 300

An organism's niche is its profession Niches 302

Man's war against nature is inevitably war against himself Human impact on ecosystems 304

Division of area by ten divides the fauna by two Island biogeography 312

Gaia is the superorganism composed of all life The Gaia hypothesis 314

Directory 316

Glossary 324

Index 328

Quote Attributions 335

Acknowledgments 336