What Is Life? A Guide to Biology with Physiology by Jay Phelan - Fourth Edition, 2018 from Macmillan Student Store

What Is Life? A Guide to Biology with Physiology

Fourth  Edition©2018 Jay Phelan

About

What is Life? gives you everything you need to succeed in your non-majors biology course and to understand why biology matters in your life. What is Life? is fully experienced through LaunchPad, Macmillan Learning’s online learning system, which includes an ebook, animations and videos, and practice problems to help you make the grade!

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Table of Contents

Part 1. The Facts of Life
1 Scientific thinking
2 The chemistry of biology
3 Molecules of life
4 A tour of the cell
5 Energy

Part 2. Genetics, Evolution, and Behavior
6 DNA and the expression of genes
7 Genomics and biotechnology
8 Chromosomes and cell division
9 Genes and inheritance

Part 3. Evolution and the Diversity of Life
10 Evolution and natural selection
11 Evolution and behavior
12 The origin and diversification of life on earth
13 Animal diversification
14 Plant and Fungi diversity
15 Evolution and diversity among the microbes

Part 4. Ecology and the Environment
16 Population ecology
17 Ecosystems, communities, and species interactions
18 Conservation biology

Part 5. Plant Life
19 Plant structure and nutrient transport
20 Growth, development, and environmental responses in plants

Part 6. Health and Physiology
21 Introduction to animal physiology
22 Circulation and respiration
23 Nutrition and digestion
24 Nervous and motor systems
25 Hormones
26 Reproduction and development
27 Immunity and health

Jay Phelan

Jay Phelan teaches biology at UCLA, where he has taught introductory biology in large lectures for majors and nonmajors for fifteen years. He received his PhD in evolutionary biology from Harvard in 1995, and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Yale and UCLA. His primary area of research is evolutionary genetics, and his original research has been published in Evolution, Experimental Gerontology, and the Journal of Integrative and Comparative Biology, among others. His research has been featured on Nightline, CNN, the BBC, and NPR; in Science Times and Elle; and in more than a hundred newspapers. He is the recipient of more than a dozen teaching awards.  With Terry Burnham, Jay is the coauthor of the international best-seller Mean Genes: From Sex to Money to Food—Taming Our Primal Instincts. Written for the general reader, Mean Genes explains in simple terms how knowledge of the genetic basis of human nature can empower individuals to lead more satisfying lives. Writing for a nonscientific audience has honed Phelan’s writing style to one that is casual and inviting to students but also scientifically precise.