Life: The Science of Biology

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Discussion of COVID-19 pandemic is introduced in chapter 1, with further information also added to chapters 17, 19, 21, 24, 40, and 53.

Figure 1.5 Historians credit Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) as the first to define the scientific method. (credit: Paul van Somer) Connect the Concepts foster thinking about the big picture—a task that can be overwhelming for introductory biology students—by demonstrating how certain important terms and concepts relate to discussions in another chapter. Continuing in the tradition of Life, the 12th Edition Digital Update embraces an active learning approach that is seamlessly integrated throughout the text and media. Features are as follows: The 12th edition of Life: The Science of Biology continues to be engaging, active, and focused on teaching the skills that students need to master. New pedagogical features work in conjunction with powerful updates to the online suite of materials in LaunchPad to support the mission of Life by teaching students the skills and understanding of experimentation and data they need to succeed in introductory biology and ultimately in their future STEM careers. Life's potent combination of expertly crafted media, assessment, pedagogy and engagement makes this new edition the best resource yet for biology students. New Podcast Interviews highlight current research areas and the diverse scientists involved in that research. These include reflection assignments to help students understand how the concepts they are learning are reflected in real world research.Recall that a hypothesis is a suggested explanation that one can test. To solve a problem, one can propose several hypotheses. For example, one hypothesis might be, “The classroom is warm because no one turned on the air conditioning.” However, there could be other responses to the question, and therefore one may propose other hypotheses. A second hypothesis might be, “The classroom is warm because there is a power failure, and so the air conditioning doesn’t work.” Science is a process for learning about the natural world. Most scientific investigations involve the testing of potential answers to important research questions. For example, oncologists ( cancer doctors) are interested in finding out why some cancers respond well to chemotherapy while others are unaffected. Based on their growing knowledge of molecular biology, some doctors suspect a connection between a patient’s genetics and their response to chemotherapy. Many years of research have produced numerous scientific papers documenting the evidence for a connection between cancer, genetics, and treatment response. Once published, scientific information is available for anyone to read, learn from, or even question/dispute. This makes science an iterative, or cumulative, process, where previous research is used as the foundation for new research. Our current understanding of any issue in the sciences is the culmination of all previous work. Chromosomes, the carriers of DNA, are distributed evenly between the daughter cells during cell division. Therefore, each daughter cell will have the same chromosome set as the mother cell. H. Craig Heller is the Lorry I. Lokey/Business Wire Professor in Biological Sciences and Human Biology at Stanford University. He has taught in the core biology courses at Stanford since 1972 and served as Director of the Program in Human Biology, Chairman of the Biolo-gical Sciences Department, and Associate Dean of Research. Dr. Heller is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recipient of the Walter J. Gores Award for excellence in teaching and the Kenneth Cuthberson Award for Exceptional Service to Stanford University.

From the first edition to the present, Life has set the standard as the most balanced experiment-based introductory biology text. This edition builds on this legacy, again teaching fundamental concepts and the latest developments by taking students step by step through the research that revealed them.

Figure 1.7 Scientists use two types of reasoning, inductive and deductive reasoning, to advance scientific knowledge. As is the case in this example, the conclusion from inductive reasoning can often become the premise for deductive reasoning. Finally, the conclusion section summarizes the importance of the experimental findings. While the scientific paper almost certainly answers one or more scientific questions that the researchers stated, any good research should lead to more questions. Therefore, a well-done scientific paper allows the researchers and others to continue and expand on the findings. New Interactive Homework Assignments (improved from the older Activities content) drive conceptual understanding.