1Words in boldface are defined in the glossary at the end of the book.

Generally, we think of the branches of science, such as physics, chemistry, geology, mathematics,

and biology, as distinct entities. Certainly what they study is different. Physics

deals with matter, energy, motion, and force. Chemistry deals with matter and its properties

and transformations. Geology deals with the Earth. Biology studies life. But beneath

these differences there are connections.The knowledge of one group of scientists

impinges on and is important to other groups of scientists.The organisms that biologists

study are subject to the same laws of physics as the rest of matter.All are pulled by gravity,

have mass, harness and utilize energy, and perform work. Many of the properties of

organisms can be explained in terms of chemical reactions.The energy you are using to

hold and read this book comes largely from the chemical breakdown of glucose in your

cells.To understand the history of organisms we turn to geology and look for signs of previous

life and clues to their activities recorded in rocks by fossils we find there.

Biologists are constantly confronted with these questions: How big is it? How many

of them are there? How much is being produced? How probable is it that my results are

reproducible? Mathematics is the tool biologists use to record their observations, analyze

their data, and express their conclusions.

As we explore biology we will need to explore some aspects of physics, chemistry,

and geology, and we will make frequent use of numbers.There is only one natural world

and it is studied by all scientists.

The science of biology is as diverse as the living forms with which it is concerned. But

there are unifying themes, "big ideas," that emerge from this diversity to make sense of

it all and provide a framework for understanding biology. BioInquiry is organized around

the most important of these big ideas. In the upcoming paragraphs we will introduce

the unifying themes of biology and the people whose names are XXXXX XXXXX them.

As we shall see in BioInquiry, however, all of these ideas had long histories and cannot

truly be credited to a single person.The names associated with the ideas are of the people

who first tested them scientifically.Today, after decades of confirmation, these ideas

are the major theories of biology.

testable explanation for the diversity of life, or, in other words, why there are

the generations. Second, the mechanism for this species change is called natural selection.

Both aspects of Darwin's theory are discussed in Chapter 2.

most important theory. Indeed, most agree that contemporary biology began when Darwin

published his book, The Origin of Species, in 1859. More than any other single idea,

evolution ties together and interrelates with all of the other ideas and theories of biology.

evolution, Gregor Mendel, a monk living in a monastery in eastern Europe, was grappling

with another concept: How are traits from parents inherited by offspring? The principles

of inheritance proposed from his experiments with common pea plants have been

successfully applied to all organisms. Mendel proved that the traits, or characteristics, of

organisms pass from one generation to the next (Figure 1-5) by means of hereditary

"factors," now called genes. Darwin and Mendel published their first significant findings

within a few years of each other, but unlike Darwin, Mendel's results were largely ignored

characteristics from their parents.

Offspring often resemble parents, but they

are seldom identical to them. Gregor

Mendel was the first to describe principles

that explain these seemingly paradoxical

observations.

1-2 What Is Biology? 11

for the first 35 years. They were rediscovered in the early 20th century and have since

become one of the foundation stones of modern biology. Chapter 3 explains Mendel's

findings; Chapter 8 puts them in the context of Darwinian evolution and shows how

intimately connected these two ideas-evolution and inheritance-really are.

One of the triumphs of 20th-century biology was how much we were able to extend

our understanding of genes and inheritance, a process that continues today. Indeed, it was

Gregor Mendel's results that gave rise to the modern science of genetics and molecular

biology developed in Chapters 5, 6, and 7.

Mendel, proposed the cell theory, which states that all organisms are composed of cells

and that all cells come from preexisting cells.They realized that the cell is the smallest

unit capable of exhibiting all of the characteristics of life. Unlike Darwin's and Mendel's

theories, this one owes its discovery to technology. Cells could not be observed until

after the microscope was developed and refined around the beginning of the 17th century.

Thereafter, people could see things not visible to the unaided eye.The history and

implications of the cell theory, as it came to be known, are described in Chapter 4.

century. Biological classification started much earlier. Biologists deal with millions of

species. Organizing and keeping track of so many "items" is a daunting task. In the late

18th century, Carolus Linneaus distinguished himself by classifying living organisms according

to their similarities and differences.Thanks to Darwin's theory of evolution by

natural selection nearly one hundred years later, classification schemes came to be based

less on similarities and differences in form and more on evolutionary relatedness among

species. Species that diverged from the same ancestors were grouped into the same categories.

This evolutionary approach is how we organize and classify organisms today.

Chapter 9 describes biological classification.

govern energy in the inanimate universe. Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier's experiments of

the late 18th century helped to place the chemistry of life into the context of a larger

understanding of chemistry and energetics. Some of the important principles that have

emerged from those experiments, including the unique network of chemical reactions

in cells (metabolism), are described in Chapter 10.

best when their internal conditions are maintained within rather narrow limits.

Organisms tolerate widely varying external conditions by maintaining stable conditions

internally-a condition known as homeostasis.The manner in which they do so constitutes

the study of physiology.We address some of the many strategies that different

organisms have evolved to maintain a constant internal environment in Chapters 11,

12, and 13.

in any part of the biological community or the physical environment invariably cause

changes in other parts.This concept recognizes that organisms do not exist alone, but are

part of populations of similar beings, communities comprising many different living

things, and environments that include important nonliving features.This is the youngest

of biology's major ideas, a product largely of the 20th century. Unlike the other major

theories of biology, this one has no readily identifiable "parent." Rather it was forged

more slowly by a widely separated and diverse group of specialists. It is perhaps the

most complex of biological concepts, fusing together not only major ideas of biology, but

other sciences as well. The concept is the backbone of ecology, a topic addressed in

Chapters 14, 15, and 16.

1Words in boldface are defined in the glossary at the end of the book.

Generally, we think of the branches of science, such as physics, chemistry, geology, mathematics,

and biology, as distinct entities. Certainly what they study is different. Physics

deals with matter, energy, motion, and force. Chemistry deals with matter and its properties

and transformations. Geology deals with the Earth. Biology studies life. But beneath

these differences there are connections.The knowledge of one group of scientists

impinges on and is important to other groups of scientists.The organisms that biologists

study are subject to the same laws of physics as the rest of matter.All are pulled by gravity,

have mass, harness and utilize energy, and perform work. Many of the properties of

organisms can be explained in terms of chemical reactions.The energy you are using to

hold and read this book comes largely from the chemical breakdown of glucose in your

cells.To understand the history of organisms we turn to geology and look for signs of previous

life and clues to their activities recorded in rocks by fossils we find there.

Biologists are constantly confronted with these questions: How big is it? How many

of them are there? How much is being produced? How probable is it that my results are

reproducible? Mathematics is the tool biologists use to record their observations, analyze

their data, and express their conclusions.

As we explore biology we will need to explore some aspects of physics, chemistry,

and geology, and we will make frequent use of numbers.There is only one natural world

and it is studied by all scientists.

The science of biology is as diverse as the living forms with which it is concerned. But

there are unifying themes, "big ideas," that emerge from this diversity to make sense of

it all and provide a framework for understanding biology. BioInquiry is organized around

the most important of these big ideas. In the upcoming paragraphs we will introduce

the unifying themes of biology and the people whose names are XXXXX XXXXX them.

As we shall see in BioInquiry, however, all of these ideas had long histories and cannot

truly be credited to a single person.The names associated with the ideas are of the people

who first tested them scientifically.Today, after decades of confirmation, these ideas

are the major theories of biology.

testable explanation for the diversity of life, or, in other words, why there are

the generations. Second, the mechanism for this species change is called natural selection.

Both aspects of Darwin's theory are discussed in Chapter 2.

most important theory. Indeed, most agree that contemporary biology began when Darwin

published his book, The Origin of Species, in 1859. More than any other single idea,

evolution ties together and interrelates with all of the other ideas and theories of biology.

evolution, Gregor Mendel, a monk living in a monastery in eastern Europe, was grappling

with another concept: How are traits from parents inherited by offspring? The principles

of inheritance proposed from his experiments with common pea plants have been

successfully applied to all organisms. Mendel proved that the traits, or characteristics, of

organisms pass from one generation to the next (Figure 1-5) by means of hereditary

"factors," now called genes. Darwin and Mendel published their first significant findings

within a few years of each other, but unlike Darwin, Mendel's results were largely ignored

characteristics from their parents.

Offspring often resemble parents, but they

are seldom identical to them. Gregor

Mendel was the first to describe principles

that explain these seemingly paradoxical

observations.

1-2 What Is Biology? 11

for the first 35 years. They were rediscovered in the early 20th century and have since

become one of the foundation stones of modern biology. Chapter 3 explains Mendel's

findings; Chapter 8 puts them in the context of Darwinian evolution and shows how

intimately connected these two ideas-evolution and inheritance-really are.

One of the triumphs of 20th-century biology was how much we were able to extend

our understanding of genes and inheritance, a process that continues today. Indeed, it was

Gregor Mendel's results that gave rise to the modern science of genetics and molecular

biology developed in Chapters 5, 6, and 7.

Mendel, proposed the cell theory, which states that all organisms are composed of cells

and that all cells come from preexisting cells.They realized that the cell is the smallest

unit capable of exhibiting all of the characteristics of life. Unlike Darwin's and Mendel's

theories, this one owes its discovery to technology. Cells could not be observed until

after the microscope was developed and refined around the beginning of the 17th century.

Thereafter, people could see things not visible to the unaided eye.The history and

implications of the cell theory, as it came to be known, are described in Chapter 4.

century. Biological classification started much earlier. Biologists deal with millions of

species. Organizing and keeping track of so many "items" is a daunting task. In the late

18th century, Carolus Linneaus distinguished himself by classifying living organisms according

to their similarities and differences.Thanks to Darwin's theory of evolution by

natural selection nearly one hundred years later, classification schemes came to be based

less on similarities and differences in form and more on evolutionary relatedness among

species. Species that diverged from the same ancestors were grouped into the same categories.

This evolutionary approach is how we organize and classify organisms today.

Chapter 9 describes biological classification.

govern energy in the inanimate universe. Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier's experiments of

the late 18th century helped to place the chemistry of life into the context of a larger

understanding of chemistry and energetics. Some of the important principles that have

emerged from those experiments, including the unique network of chemical reactions

in cells (metabolism), are described in Chapter 10.

best when their internal conditions are maintained within rather narrow limits.

Organisms tolerate widely varying external conditions by maintaining stable conditions

internally-a condition known as homeostasis.The manner in which they do so constitutes

the study of physiology.We address some of the many strategies that different

organisms have evolved to maintain a constant internal environment in Chapters 11,

12, and 13.

in any part of the biological community or the physical environment invariably cause

changes in other parts.This concept recognizes that organisms do not exist alone, but are

part of populations of similar beings, communities comprising many different living

things, and environments that include important nonliving features.This is the youngest

of biology's major ideas, a product largely of the 20th century. Unlike the other major

theories of biology, this one has no readily identifiable "parent." Rather it was forged

more slowly by a widely separated and diverse group of specialists. It is perhaps the

most complex of biological concepts, fusing together not only major ideas of biology, but

other sciences as well. The concept is the backbone of ecology, a topic addressed in

Chapters 14, 15, and 16.

Grammar and Writing Guides: APA Reference and Citation Examples

Click on any link below to view the information.

Overview

The following examples provide information about how to format citations in text and how to format the corresponding source on the reference page. The examples are consistent with the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. You may want to access http://null/apastyle.asp for information about the sixth edition of the manual.

Basic guidelines for formatting citations in the text

• Place the complete citation within parentheses.
• Use the words in the first part of the citation exactly as they appear in the References so that the source in the text can easily be located in the References.
• Use the author's last name and year for the citation: (Smith, 2008).
• Place the year in the citation, but do not include the month and day.
• Use only the last name of the author, and never include the first name or initials except in a personal communication.
• Place the name of a group author (corporations, organizations, and government agencies) first when no individual author is listed in the source.
• Use the first two or three words of the title of the work when no author is listed: (Writing Executive Summaries, 2007) or ("Evaluating a Case Study," 2008). Capitalize all major words of the title.
• Use italics for titles of books, periodicals, and reports. Use quotation marks for titles of articles, chapters, or web pages.
• Include the page or paragraph number for a direct quotation: p. or pp. for page numbers, para. for paragraph numbers.
• Place any necessary punctuation after the final parenthesis of the citation unless it is a block quotation.
• Never use a URL address in the citation.

Basic guidelines for formatting the References page

• Place the references in alphabetical order. (Do not number references.)
• Use periods to separate each major element in the reference: Name, A. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, 24(4), 13-16.
• Include the author's last name and first and middle initials: Smith, G. Q. (Always use initials instead of authors' first/middle names.)
• Place the year in parentheses after the author's name: Smith, G. Q. (2008). If no year is available, put (n.d.) in parentheses.
• Place the name of a group author (corporations, organizations, and government agencies) first when no individual author is listed in the source.
• Place the title of a book or article first when no author is listed in the source.
• Capitalize the following elements of the first title mentioned in the reference: first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon or a dash.
• Capitalize all major words of the second title mentioned in the reference (e.g., journal titles, newspaper titles, book titles)
• Use italics for titles of books, journals, newspapers, and movies.
• Never use quotation marks or italics for article titles.
• Include a retrieval date only for Internet sources that contain content that can change over time, such as Wikis.
• Use the DOI number for electronic sources rather than the name of a database: doi:xxxxxx. If the document does not contain a DOI number, use the URL of the publisher's home page: Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxx. (Do not use periods at the end of a DOI number or URL address.)
• Include database retrieval information only for sources with limited circulation.
• Never include a source that is not mentioned in the paper.

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Grammar and Writing Guides: APA Reference and Citation Examples

Click on any link below to view the information.

Overview

The following examples provide information about how to format citations in text and how to format the corresponding source on the reference page. The examples are consistent with the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. You may want to access http://null/apastyle.asp for information about the sixth edition of the manual.

Basic guidelines for formatting citations in the text

• Place the complete citation within parentheses.
• Use the words in the first part of the citation exactly as they appear in the References so that the source in the text can easily be located in the References.
• Use the author's last name and year for the citation: (Smith, 2008).
• Place the year in the citation, but do not include the month and day.
• Use only the last name of the author, and never include the first name or initials except in a personal communication.
• Place the name of a group author (corporations, organizations, and government agencies) first when no individual author is listed in the source.
• Use the first two or three words of the title of the work when no author is listed: (Writing Executive Summaries, 2007) or ("Evaluating a Case Study," 2008). Capitalize all major words of the title.
• Use italics for titles of books, periodicals, and reports. Use quotation marks for titles of articles, chapters, or web pages.
• Include the page or paragraph number for a direct quotation: p. or pp. for page numbers, para. for paragraph numbers.
• Place any necessary punctuation after the final parenthesis of the citation unless it is a block quotation.
• Never use a URL address in the citation.

Basic guidelines for formatting the References page

• Place the references in alphabetical order. (Do not number references.)
• Use periods to separate each major element in the reference: Name, A. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, 24(4), 13-16.
• Include the author's last name and first and middle initials: Smith, G. Q. (Always use initials instead of authors' first/middle names.)
• Place the year in parentheses after the author's name: Smith, G. Q. (2008). If no year is available, put (n.d.) in parentheses.
• Place the name of a group author (corporations, organizations, and government agencies) first when no individual author is listed in the source.
• Place the title of a book or article first when no author is listed in the source.
• Capitalize the following elements of the first title mentioned in the reference: first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon or a dash.
• Capitalize all major words of the second title mentioned in the reference (e.g., journal titles, newspaper titles, book titles)
• Use italics for titles of books, journals, newspapers, and movies.
• Never use quotation marks or italics for article titles.
• Include a retrieval date only for Internet sources that contain content that can change over time, such as Wikis.
• Use the DOI number for electronic sources rather than the name of a database: doi:xxxxxx. If the document does not contain a DOI number, use the URL of the publisher's home page: Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxx. (Do not use periods at the end of a DOI number or URL address.)
• Include database retrieval information only for sources with limited circulation.
• Never include a source that is not mentioned in the paper.

Search the Site | Home | Writing Style | Grammar Mechanics | Grammar Glossary | Common Errors in English | Grammar Girl Podcasts

Plagiarism | Writing and Style Information | Writing and Style Samples | English Language Learners | Writing English for Speakers of Other Languages

Writing Wizards | Software Tutorials | Site Map