Synopses & Reviews
From the groundbreaking partnership of W. H. Freeman and Scientific American comes this one-of-a-kind introduction to the science of biology and its impact on the way we live. In Biology for a Changing World, two experienced educators and a science journalist explore the core ideas of biology through a series of chapters written and illustrated in the style of a Scientific American article. Chapters dont just feature compelling stories of real people—each chapter is a newsworthy story that serves as a context for covering the standard curriculum for the non-majors biology course. Updated throughout, the new edition offers new stories, additional physiology chapters, a new electronic Instructor's Guide, and new pedagogy.
About the Author
Michèle Shuster, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the biology department at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. She focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning, studying introductory biology, microbiology, and cancer biology classes at the undergraduate level, as well as working on several K-12 science education programs. Michèle is an active participant in programs that provide mentoring in scientific teaching to postdoctoral fellows, preparing the next generation of undergraduate educators. She is the recipient of numerous teaching awards, including a the Westhafer award for Teaching Excellence at NMSU. Michèle received her Ph.D. from the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University School of Medicine, where she studied meiotic chromosome segregation in yeast.
Janet Vigna, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the biology department at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. She is a science education specialist in
the Integrated Science Program, training and mentoring K-12 science teachers. Janet has 18 years of undergraduate teaching experience, with a special interest in effectively teaching biology to nonmajors. She has recently been recognized with the GVSU Outstanding Teacher Award. Her scholarly interests include biology curriculum development, the effective use of digital media in science education, and research on the effects of biological pesticides on amphibian communities.She received her Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Iowa.
Matthew Tontonoz has been a development editor for textbooks in introductory biology, cell biology, biochemistry, evolution, and environmental science. After a brief stint in medical school in California, he realized he was better suited to saving sentences than saving lives. He received his B.A. in biology from Wesleyan University and his M.A. in the history and sociology of science from the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently staff science writer at the Cancer Research Institute, where he covers advances in cancer immunology and blogs about the history of medicine. Gunjan Sinha has been writing about science for over a decade. Her articles have been published in Science, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, Scientific American, and several other magazines and journals. She holds a graduate degree in molecular genetics from the University of Glasgow, Scotland and a graduate degree in journalism from New York University. She currently works as a freelance science journalist and lives in Berlin, Germany.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 The Process of Science
Java Report
Chapter 2 Chemistry and Molecules of Life
Mission to Mars
Chapter 3 Cell Function and Structure
Wonder Drug
M1 Milestones in Biology
Scientific Rebel
Chapter 4 Nutrition, Metabolism, Enzymes
The Peanut Butter Project
Chapter 5 Energy Flow and Photosynthesis
The Future of Fuel
Chapter 6 Dietary Energy and Cellular Respiration
Supersize Me?
Chapter 7 DNA Structure and Replication
Biologically Unique
M2 Milestones in Biology
The Model Makers
Chapter 8 Genes to Proteins
Medicine from Milk
M3 Milestones in Biology
Sequence Sprint
Chapter 9 Cell Division and Mitosis
Nature's Pharmacy
Chapter 10 Mutations and Cancer
Fighting Fate
Chapter 11 Single-Gene Inheritance and Meiosis
Rock for a Cause
M4 Milestones in Biology
Mendel's Garden
Chapter 12 Complex Inheritance
Q&A: Genetics
Chapter 13 Stem Cells and Cell Differentiation
Grow Your Own
Chapter 14 Natural Selection and Adaptation
Bugs that Resist Drugs
M5 Milestones in Biology
Adventures in Evolution
Chapter 15 Nonadaptive Evolution and Speciation
Urban Evolution
Chapter 16 Evidence for Evolution
A Fish with Fingers?
Chapter 17 Life on Earth
Q&A: Evolution
Chapter 18 Prokaryotic Diversity
Lost City
Chapter 19 Eukaryotic Diversity
Rain Forest Riches
Chapter 20 Human Evolution
Skin Deep
Chapter 21 Population Ecology
On the Tracks of Wolves and Moose
Chapter 22 Community Ecology
What's Happening to Honey Bees?
Chapter 23 Ecosystem Ecology
The Heat is On
Chapter 24 Sustainability
The Makings of a Green City
M6 Milestones in Biology
Progress or Poison?