Biological Science, 4th Edition

Supports and motivates you as you learn to think like a biologist.

 

Building upon Scott Freeman’s unique narrative style that incorporates the Socratic approach and draws you into thinking like a biologist, the Fourth Edition has been carefully refined to motivate and support a broader range of learners as they are introduced to new concepts and encouraged to develop and practice new skills. Each page of the book is designed in the spirit of active learning and instructional reinforcement, equipping novice learners with tools that help them advance in the course—from recognizing essential information in highlighted sections to demonstrating and applying their understanding of concepts in practice exercises that gradually build in difficulty.    

1. Biology and the Tree of Life 

 

I. THE MOLECULES OF LIFE

2. Water and Carbon: The Chemical Basis of Life

3. Protein Structure and Function 

4. Nucleic Acids and the RNA World 

5. An Introduction to Carbohydrates 

6. Lipids, Membranes, and the First Cells 

 

II. CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

7. Inside the Cell 

8. Cell-Cell Interactions 

9. Cellular Respiration and Fermentation 

10. Photosynthesis 

11. The Cell Cycle 

 

III. GENE STRUCTURE AND EXPRESSION

12. Meiosis 

13. Mendel and the Gene 

14. DNA and the Gene: Synthesis and Repair

15. How Genes Work 

16. Transcription, RNA Processing, and Translation 

17. Control of Gene Expression in Bacteria 

18. Control of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes 

19. Analyzing and Engineering Genes

20. Genomics 

 

IV. DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

21. Principles of Development 

22. An Introduction to Animal Development 

23. An Introduction to Plant Development

 

V. EVOLUTIONARY PROCESSES AND PATTERNS

24. Evolution by Natural Selection 

25. Evolutionary Processes

26. Speciation 

27. Phylogenies and the History of Life 

 

VI. THE DIVERSIFICATION OF LIFE

28. Bacteria and Archaea

29. Protists 

30. Green Algae and Land Plants

31. Fungi

32. An Introduction to Animals

33. Protostome Animals

34. Deuterostome Animals

35. Viruses

 

VII. HOW PLANTS WORK

36. Plant Form and Function 

37. Water and Sugar Transport in Plants 

38. Plant Nutrition 

39. Plant Sensory Systems, Signals, and Responses

40. Plant Reproduction 

 

VIII. HOW ANIMALS WORK

41. Animal Form and Function 

42. Water and Electrolyte Balance in Animals 

43. Animal Nutrition 

44. Gas Exchange and Circulation

45. Electrical Signals in Animals 

46. Animal Sensory Systems and Movement 

47. Chemical Signals in Animals 

48. Animal Reproduction 

49. The Immune System in Animals 

 

IX. ECOLOGY

50. An Introduction to Ecology 

51. Behavioral Ecology 

52. Population Ecology 

53. Community Ecology 

54. Ecosystems 

55. Biodiversity and Conservation