About Life

About Life
Author: Paul S. Agutter
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 239
Release: 2007-03-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1402054181

This book uses modern biological knowledge to tackle the question of what distinguishes living organisms from the non-living world. The authors first draw on recent advances in cell and molecular biology to develop an account of the living state that applies to all organisms (and only to organisms). This account is then used to explore questions about evolution, the origin of life, and the possibility of extraterrestrial life. The novel approach taken by this book to issues in biology will interest and be accessible to both the general reader as well as students and specialists in the field.

Science as a Way of Knowing

Science as a Way of Knowing
Author: John Alexander Moore
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Total Pages: 548
Release: 1993
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780674794825

This book makes Moore's wisdom available to students in a lively, richly illustrated account of the history and workings of life. Employing rhetoric strategies including case histories, hypotheses and deductions, and chronological narrative, it provides both a cultural history of biology and an introduction to the procedures and values of science.

The Epigenetics Revolution

The Epigenetics Revolution
Author: Nessa Carey
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Total Pages: 353
Release: 2012-03-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0231530714

Epigenetics can potentially revolutionize our understanding of the structure and behavior of biological life on Earth. It explains why mapping an organism's genetic code is not enough to determine how it develops or acts and shows how nurture combines with nature to engineer biological diversity. Surveying the twenty-year history of the field while also highlighting its latest findings and innovations, this volume provides a readily understandable introduction to the foundations of epigenetics. Nessa Carey, a leading epigenetics researcher, connects the field's arguments to such diverse phenomena as how ants and queen bees control their colonies; why tortoiseshell cats are always female; why some plants need cold weather before they can flower; and how our bodies age and develop disease. Reaching beyond biology, epigenetics now informs work on drug addiction, the long-term effects of famine, and the physical and psychological consequences of childhood trauma. Carey concludes with a discussion of the future directions for this research and its ability to improve human health and well-being.

Biology

Biology
Author: B. S. Beckett
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 344
Release: 1986
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780199142606

An established and successful textbook which provides a thorough and comprehensive basis for GCSE syllabuses. The social, environmental, and technological aspects of biology are discussed throughout the book and students are encouraged to explore topics in depth through investigational and experimental work. Simply worded text with clear explanations of important technical terms. Superb structural drawings and easy-to-copy diagrams which show students how to reduce complex information to a simple form. Questions at the end of each chapter designed to reinforce understanding.

The Social Meaning of Modern Biology

The Social Meaning of Modern Biology
Author: Howard Kaye
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2017-07-05
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1351473956

The Social Meaning of Modern Biology analyzes the cultural significance of recurring attempts since the time of Darwin to extract social and moral guidance from the teachings of modern biology. Such efforts are often dismissed as ideological defenses of the social status quo, of the sort wrongly associated with nineteenth-century social Darwinism. Howard Kaye argues they are more properly viewed as culturally radical attempts to redefine who we are by nature and thus rethink how we should live. Despite the scientific and philosophical weaknesses of arguments that "biology is destiny," and their dehumanizing potential, in recent years they have proven to be powerfully attractive. They will continue to be so in an age enthralled by genetic explanations of human experience and excited by the prospect of its biological control.In the ten years since the original edition of The Social Meaning of Modern Biology was published, changes in both science and society have altered the terms of debate over the nature of man and human culture. Kaye's epilogue thoroughly examines these changes. He discusses the remarkable growth of ethology and sociobiology in their study of animal and human behavior and the stunning progress achieved in neuropsychology and behavioral genetics. These developments may appear to bring us closer to long-sought explanations of our physical, mental, and behavioral "machinery." Yet, as Kaye demonstrates, attempts to use such explanations to unify the natural and social sciences are mired in self-contradictory accounts of human freedom and moral choice. The Social Meaning of Modern Biology remains a significant study in the field of sociobiology and is essential reading for sociologists, biologists, behavioral geneticists, and psychologists.

Annelids in Modern Biology

Annelids in Modern Biology
Author: Daniel H. Shain
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 384
Release: 2009-04-22
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0470455195

Annelids offer a diversity of experimentally accessible features making them a rich experimental subject across the biological sciences, including evolutionary development, neurosciences and stem cell research. This volume introduces the Annelids and their utility in evolutionary developmental biology, neurobiology, and environmental/ecological studies, including extreme environments. The book demonstrates the variety of fields in which Annelids are already proving to be a useful experimental system. Describing the utility of Annelids as a research model, this book is an invaluable resource for all researchers in the field.

Chance and Necessity

Chance and Necessity
Author: Jacques Monod
Publisher:
Total Pages: 198
Release: 1997
Genre: Biology
ISBN: 9780140256468

Change and necessity is a statement of Darwinian natural selection as a process driven by chance necessity, devoid of purpose or intent.

Algebraic and Discrete Mathematical Methods for Modern Biology

Algebraic and Discrete Mathematical Methods for Modern Biology
Author: Raina Robeva
Publisher: Academic Press
Total Pages: 383
Release: 2015-05-09
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0128012714

Written by experts in both mathematics and biology, Algebraic and Discrete Mathematical Methods for Modern Biology offers a bridge between math and biology, providing a framework for simulating, analyzing, predicting, and modulating the behavior of complex biological systems. Each chapter begins with a question from modern biology, followed by the description of certain mathematical methods and theory appropriate in the search of answers. Every topic provides a fast-track pathway through the problem by presenting the biological foundation, covering the relevant mathematical theory, and highlighting connections between them. Many of the projects and exercises embedded in each chapter utilize specialized software, providing students with much-needed familiarity and experience with computing applications, critical components of the "modern biology" skill set. This book is appropriate for mathematics courses such as finite mathematics, discrete structures, linear algebra, abstract/modern algebra, graph theory, probability, bioinformatics, statistics, biostatistics, and modeling, as well as for biology courses such as genetics, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, ecology, and evolution. Examines significant questions in modern biology and their mathematical treatments Presents important mathematical concepts and tools in the context of essential biology Features material of interest to students in both mathematics and biology Presents chapters in modular format so coverage need not follow the Table of Contents Introduces projects appropriate for undergraduate research Utilizes freely accessible software for visualization, simulation, and analysis in modern biology Requires no calculus as a prerequisite Provides a complete Solutions Manual Features a companion website with supplementary resources

Modern Biology

Modern Biology
Author: V. B. Rastogi
Publisher: Pitambar Publishing
Total Pages: 1044
Release: 1997
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9788120904965