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| biology how life works pdf: How Life Works Andrew Matthews, 2018-02-27 A fun, whimisical primer to the New Thought movement. THE MYTH: Success makes you happy. THE FACT: Happiness makes you successful. It's not about who you know, or even what you know. It's about how good you feel, which, luckily for you, is entirely within your own power. Discover how to feel good, replace patterns of fear and failure with love and kindness, and create the life of abundance you've always dreamt of: • Doing work you love • Surrounded by people you love • And with the love of your life 'In a Nutshell' features throughout provide useful reminders of the key valuable lessons in each chapter. How Life Works is illustrated with 90 of Andrew's trademark sketches. My cartoons illustrate the message, says Andrew. Cartoons also remind us not to take life too seriously. |
| biology how life works pdf: Concepts of Biology Samantha Fowler, Rebecca Roush, James Wise, 2023-05-12 Black & white print. Concepts of Biology is designed for the typical introductory biology course for nonmajors, covering standard scope and sequence requirements. The text includes interesting applications and conveys the major themes of biology, with content that is meaningful and easy to understand. The book is designed to demonstrate biology concepts and to promote scientific literacy. |
| biology how life works pdf: Biology Sandra Alters, 1996 Designed for a one or two semester non-majors course in introductory biology taught at most two and four-year colleges. This course typically fulfills a general education requirement, and rather than emphasizing mastery of technical topics, it focuses on the understanding of biological ideas and concepts, how they relate to real life, and appreciating the scientific methods and thought processes. Given the authors' work in and dedication to science education, this text's writing style, pedagogy, and integrated support package are all based on classroom-tested teaching strategies and learning theory. The result is a learning program that enhances the effectiveness & efficiency of the teaching and learning experience in the introductory biology course like no other before it. |
| biology how life works pdf: Exploring the Way Life Works Mahlon B. Hoagland, Bert Dodson, Judith Hauck, 2001 The perfect answer for any instructor seeking a more concise, meaninful, and flexible alternative to the standard introductory biology text. |
| biology how life works pdf: Introduction to Molecular Biology Oksana Ableitner, 2022-01-07 Oksana Ableitner offers a practical, clearly structured and easy to understand introduction to complicated definitions and structures in chemistry and molecular biology for work in the molecular biology laboratory. The author is guided by her experience in working with students and uses many illustrations to visualize abstract knowledge. An understanding of this matter is an essential basis for successful work with DNA and RNA in order to ensure high quality results. For responsible activities in application - such as genetic research or the determination of various pathogens - it is essential to be confident in dealing with the basics of these sensitive, fast and specific analytical methods. This Springer essential is a translation of the original German 2nd edition essentials, Einführung in die Molekularbiologie by Oksana Ableitner, published by Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature in 2018. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the serviceDeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation. Springer Nature works continuously to further the development of tools for the production of books and on the related technologies to support the authors. |
| biology how life works pdf: Amazing Numbers in Biology Rainer Flindt, 2006-12-21 This book of tables provides comparative data from the fields of zoology, botany, microbiology, and human biology. It is a must for everyone interested in biology but also of help for all parents to address questions such as Mama/Papa, how old can a ... be? The plain facts of life from all areas of biology, including such topics as growth rates of hair and nails, and ages and weights of seeds are simply fascinating. Biology comes alive in this comprehensive and entertaining reference work. Warning: Anybody who begins browsing through this book will not easily stop reading! |
| biology how life works pdf: Loose-leaf Version for Biology How Life Works James Morris, Daniel Hartl, Andrew Knoll, Robert Lue, Melissa Michael, Andrew Berry, Andrew Biewener, Brian Farrell, N. Michele Holbrook, 2015-11-19 Biology: How Life Works was written in response to recent and exciting changes in biology, education, and technology with the goal of helping students to think like biologists. The text, visual program, and assessments were developed together to provide students with the best resources to gain an understanding of modern biology. Content is selected carefully, is integrated to illustrate the connections between concepts, and follows six themes that are crucial to biology: the scientific method, chemical and physical principles, cells, evolution, ecological systems, and human impact. The second edition continues this approach, but includes expanded coverage of ecology, new in-class activities to assist instructors in active teaching, new pedagogical support for visual synthesis maps, and expanded and improved assessment. |
| biology how life works pdf: The Lives of a Cell Lewis Thomas, 1978-02-23 Elegant, suggestive, and clarifying, Lewis Thomas's profoundly humane vision explores the world around us and examines the complex interdependence of all things. Extending beyond the usual limitations of biological science and into a vast and wondrous world of hidden relationships, this provocative book explores in personal, poetic essays to topics such as computers, germs, language, music, death, insects, and medicine. Lewis Thomas writes, Once you have become permanently startled, as I am, by the realization that we are a social species, you tend to keep an eye out for the pieces of evidence that this is, by and large, good for us. |
| biology how life works pdf: Out Of Control Kevin Kelly, 2009-04-30 Out of Control chronicles the dawn of a new era in which the machines and systems that drive our economy are so complex and autonomous as to be indistinguishable from living things. |
| biology how life works pdf: Evolution Education Re-considered Ute Harms, Michael J. Reiss, 2019-07-16 This collection presents research-based interventions using existing knowledge to produce new pedagogies to teach evolution to learners more successfully, whether in schools or elsewhere. ‘Success’ here is measured as cognitive gains, as acceptance of evolution or an increased desire to continue to learn about it. Aside from introductory and concluding chapters by the editors, each chapter consists of a research-based intervention intended to enable evolution to be taught successfully; all these interventions have been researched and evaluated by the chapters’ authors and the findings are presented along with discussions of the implications. The result is an important compendium of studies from around the word conducted both inside and outside of school. The volume is unique and provides an essential reference point and platform for future work for the foreseeable future. |
| biology how life works pdf: Biology at Work Kingsley R. Browne, 2002-06-06 Does biology help explain why women, on average, earn less money than men? Is there any evolutionary basis for the scarcity of female CEOs in Fortune 500 companies? According to Kingsley Browne, the answer may be yes. Biology at Work brings an evolutionary perspective to bear on issues of women in the workplace: the glass ceiling, the gender gap in pay, sexual harassment, and occupational segregation. While acknowledging the role of discrimination and sexist socialization, Browne suggests that until we factor real biological differences between men and women into the equation, the explanation remains incomplete. Browne looks at behavioral differences between men and women as products of different evolutionary pressures facing them throughout human history. Womens biological investment in their offspring has led them to be on average more nurturing and risk averse, and to value relationships over competition. Men have been biologically rewarded, over human history, for displays of strength and skill, risk taking, and status acquisition. These behavioral differences have numerous workplace consequences. Not surprisingly, sex differences in the drive for status lead to sex differences in the achievement of status. Browne argues that decision makers should recognize that policies based on the assumption of a single androgynous human nature are unlikely to be successful. Simply removing barriers to inequality will not achieve equality, as women and men typically value different things in the workplace and will make different workplace choices based on their different preferences. Rather than simply putting forward the nature side of the debate, Browne suggests that dichotomies such as nature/nurture have impeded our understanding of the origins of human behavior. Through evolutionary biology we can understand not only how natural selection has created predispositions toward certain types of behavior but also how the social environment interacts with these predispositions to produce observed behavioral patterns. |
| biology how life works pdf: The Vital Question Nick Lane, 2015-04-23 Why is life the way it is? Bacteria evolved into complex life just once in four billion years of life on earth-and all complex life shares many strange properties, from sex to ageing and death. If life evolved on other planets, would it be the same or completely different? In The Vital Question, Nick Lane radically reframes evolutionary history, putting forward a cogent solution to conundrums that have troubled scientists for decades. The answer, he argues, lies in energy: how all life on Earth lives off a voltage with the strength of a bolt of lightning. In unravelling these scientific enigmas, making sense of life's quirks, Lane's explanation provides a solution to life's vital questions: why are we as we are, and why are we here at all? This is ground-breaking science in an accessible form, in the tradition of Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species, Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, and Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel. |
| biology how life works pdf: What is Life? Addy Pross, 2012-09-27 Seventy years ago, Erwin Schrödinger posed a profound question: 'What is life, and how did it emerge from non-life?' This problem has puzzled biologists and physical scientists ever since. Living things are hugely complex and have unique properties, such as self-maintenance and apparently purposeful behaviour which we do not see in inert matter. So how does chemistry give rise to biology? What could have led the first replicating molecules up such a path? Now, developments in the emerging field of 'systems chemistry' are unlocking the problem. Addy Pross shows how the different kind of stability that operates among replicating molecules results in a tendency for chemical systems to become more complex and acquire the properties of life. Strikingly, he demonstrates that Darwinian evolution is the biological expression of a deeper, well-defined chemical concept: the whole story from replicating molecules to complex life is one continuous process governed by an underlying physical principle. The gulf between biology and the physical sciences is finally becoming bridged. This new edition includes an Epilogue describing developments in the concepts of fundamental forms of stability discussed in the book, and their profound implications. Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas, and shaped the way we think. |
| biology how life works pdf: The Way Life Works Mahlon B. Hoagland, Bert Dodson, 1998 In the tradition of David Macaulay's The Way Things Work, this popular-science book--a unique collaboration between a world-renowned molecular biologist and an equally talented artist--explains how life grows, develops, reproduces, and gets by. Full color. From the Hardcover edition. |
| biology how life works pdf: Synthetic Sophia Roosth, 2017-03 In the final years of the twentieth century, emigres from mechanical and electrical engineering and computer science resolved that if the aim of biology was to understand life, then making life would yield better theories than experimentation. Sophia Roosth, a cultural anthropologist, takes us into the world of these self-named synthetic biologists who, she shows, advocate not experiment but manufacture, not reduction but construction, not analysis but synthesis. Roosth reveals how synthetic biologists make new living things in order to understand better how life works. What we see through her careful questioning is that the biological features, theories, and limits they fasten upon are determined circularly by their own experimental tactics. This is a story of broad interest, because the active, interested making of the synthetic biologists is endemic to the sciences of our time. |
| biology how life works pdf: Vascular Biology of the Placenta Yuping Wang, 2017-06-23 The placenta is an organ that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall, thereby allowing nutrient uptake, waste elimination, and gas exchange via the mother's blood supply. Proper vascular development in the placenta is fundamental to ensuring a healthy fetus and successful pregnancy. This book provides an up-to-date summary and synthesis of knowledge regarding placental vascular biology and discusses the relevance of this vascular bed to the functions of the human placenta. |
| biology how life works pdf: The Chironomidae P.D. Armitage, L.C. Pinder, P.S. Cranston, 2012-12-06 The dipteran family Chironomidae is the most widely distributed and frequently the most abundant group of insects in freshwater, with rep resentatives in both terrestrial and marine environments. A very wide range of gradients of temperature, pH, oxygen concentration, salinity, current velocity, depth, productivity, altitude and latitude have been exploited, by at least some chironomid species, and in grossly polluted environments chironomids may be the only insects present. The ability to exist in such a wide range of conditions has been achieved largely by behavioural and physiological adaptations with relatively slight morphological changes. It has been estimated that the number of species world-wide may be as high as 15000. This high species diversity has been attributed to the antiquity of the family, relatively low vagility leading to isolation, and evolutionary plasticity. In many aquatic ecosystems the number of chironomid species present may account for at least 50% of the total macroinvertebrate species recorded. This species richness, wide distribution and tolerance to adverse conditions has meant that the group is frequently recorded in ecological studies but taxonomic difficulties have in the past prevented non-specialist identification beyond family or subfamily level. Recent works, including genetic studies, have meant that the family is receiving much more attention globally. |
| biology how life works pdf: Conservation Biology Fred Van Dyke, 2008-02-28 Fred Van Dyke’s new textbook, Conservation Biology: Foundations, Concepts, Applications, 2nd Edition, represents a major new text for anyone interested in conservation. Drawing on his vast experience, Van Dyke’s organizational clarity and readable style make this book an invaluable resource for students in conservation around the globe. Presenting key information and well-selected examples, this student-friendly volume carefully integrates the science of conservation biology with its implications for ethics, law, policy and economics. |
| biology how life works pdf: The Cell Biology of Sponges T.L. Simpson, 2012-12-06 Modem biology owes much to the study of favorable model systems which fa cilitates the realization of critical experiments and results in the introduction of new concepts. Examples of such systems are numerous and studies of them are regularly recognized by the scientific community. The 1983 Nobel Prize in Med icine and Physiology is a magnificent example in which com plants served as the experimental model. In a manner somewhat more modest, other biological systems have attracted recognition due to their critical phylogenetic position, or indeed because of their uniqueness which distinguishes them from all other organisms. Assuredly, among the whole assemblage ofliving organisms, sponges stand out as worthy of interest by scientists: they are simultaneously models, an important group in evolution, and animals unlike others. As early as the beginning of this century, sponges appeared as exceptional models for the study of phenomena of cell recognition. Innumerable works have been dedicated to understanding the mechanisms which assure the reaggregation of dissociated cells and the reconstitution of a functional individual. Today, re search on these phenomena is at the ultimate, molecular level. Through an as semblage of characteristics the sponges are, based upon all available evidence, the most primitive Metazoans. Their tissues-perhaps one can say their cell groups-are loosely assembled (they possess no tight or gap junctions), cell dif ferentiation appears highly labile, and they do not develop any true organs. But, they are most certainly Metazoans. |
| biology how life works pdf: Deep Life Tullis C. Onstott, 2017 APPENDIX A: Chronology of the Exploration of Subsurface Life -- APPENDIX B: Chronology of the Meeting of the U.S. DOE's SSP Meetings -- NOTES -- REFERENCES -- INDEX |
| biology how life works pdf: Molecular Biology of the Cell , 2002 |
| biology how life works pdf: How Nature Works Per Bak, 2013-11-11 Self-organized criticality, the spontaneous development of systems to a critical state, is the first general theory of complex systems with a firm mathematical basis. This theory describes how many seemingly desperate aspects of the world, from stock market crashes to mass extinctions, avalanches to solar flares, all share a set of simple, easily described properties. ...a'must read'...Bak writes with such ease and lucidity, and his ideas are so intriguing...essential reading for those interested in complex systems...it will reward a sufficiently skeptical reader. -NATURE ...presents the theory (self-organized criticality) in a form easily absorbed by the non-mathematically inclined reader. -BOSTON BOOK REVIEW I picture Bak as a kind of scientific musketeer; flamboyant, touchy, full of swagger and ready to join every fray... His book is written with panache. The style is brisk, the content stimulating. I recommend it as a bracing experience. -NEW SCIENTIST |
| biology how life works pdf: Cave Biology Aldemaro Romero Díaz, 2009-07-23 A critical examination of current knowledge and ideas on cave biology, with emphasis on evolution, ecology, and conservation. |
| biology how life works pdf: The Inner Workings of Life Eberhard O. Voit, 2016-05-19 An easy-to-read introductory text, comprised of concise vignettes that explain key concepts within systems biology without using jargon. |
| biology how life works pdf: The Systems View of Life Fritjof Capra, Pier Luigi Luisi, 2014-04-10 The first volume to integrate life's biological, cognitive, social, and ecological dimensions into a single, coherent framework. |
| biology how life works pdf: Mind in Life Evan Thompson, 2010-09-30 How is life related to the mind? The question has long confounded philosophers and scientists, and it is this so-called explanatory gap between biological life and consciousness that Evan Thompson explores in Mind in Life. Thompson draws upon sources as diverse as molecular biology, evolutionary theory, artificial life, complex systems theory, neuroscience, psychology, Continental Phenomenology, and analytic philosophy to argue that mind and life are more continuous than has previously been accepted, and that current explanations do not adequately address the myriad facets of the biology and phenomenology of mind. Where there is life, Thompson argues, there is mind: life and mind share common principles of self-organization, and the self-organizing features of mind are an enriched version of the self-organizing features of life. Rather than trying to close the explanatory gap, Thompson marshals philosophical and scientific analyses to bring unprecedented insight to the nature of life and consciousness. This synthesis of phenomenology and biology helps make Mind in Life a vital and long-awaited addition to his landmark volume The Embodied Mind: Cognitive Science and Human Experience (coauthored with Eleanor Rosch and Francisco Varela). Endlessly interesting and accessible, Mind in Life is a groundbreaking addition to the fields of the theory of the mind, life science, and phenomenology. |
| biology how life works pdf: The Serengeti Rules Sean B. Carroll, 2024-08-20 One of today's most accomplished biologists and gifted storytellers reveals the rules that regulate all life How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions, and shows how their discoveries matter for our health and the health of the planet we depend upon. One of the most important revelations about the natural world is that everything is regulated—there are rules that regulate the amount of every molecule in our bodies and rules that govern the numbers of every animal and plant in the wild. And the most surprising revelation about the rules that regulate life at such different scales is that they are remarkably similar—there is a common underlying logic of life. Carroll recounts how our deep knowledge of the rules and logic of the human body has spurred the advent of revolutionary life-saving medicines, and makes the compelling case that it is now time to use the Serengeti Rules to heal our ailing planet. Bold and inspiring, The Serengeti Rules illuminates how life works at vastly different scales. Read it and you will never look at the world the same way again. |
| biology how life works pdf: Jakob von Uexküll Carlo Brentari, 2015-02-18 The book is a comprehensive introduction to the work of the Estonian-German biologist Jakob von Uexküll. After a first introductory chapter by Morten Tønnessen and a second chapter on Uexküll's life and philosophical background, it contains four chapters devoted to the analysis of his main works. They are followed by a vast eighth chapter which deals with the influence Uexküll had on other philosophers and scientists. Finally, the author discloses his conclusions, focused on the possibility of updating Uexküll’s work. As far as the key issue is concerned, the Uexküllian Umwelt is the perceptive and operative world which surrounds animal species; it is a subjective species-specific construction which provides living organisms with great security and behaviour stability. The relationship that the animal carries out with its environment is a complex system of semiotic interactions: its behaviour is not a set of mechanical reactions, but a spontaneous attribution of meaning to the outside world. |
| biology how life works pdf: Artificial Life Christopher G. Langton, 1997 This book brings together a series of overview articles that appeared in the first three issues of the groundbreaking journal Artificial Life. |
| biology how life works pdf: Sophie's World Jostein Gaarder, 2010-07-15 The international bestseller about life, the universe and everything. 'A simply wonderful, irresistible book' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'A terrifically entertaining and imaginative story wrapped round its tough, thought-provoking philosophical heart' DAILY MAIL 'Remarkable ... an extraordinary achievement' SUNDAY TIMES When 14-year-old Sophie encounters a mysterious mentor who introduces her to philosophy, mysteries deepen in her own life. Why does she keep getting postcards addressed to another girl? Who is the other girl? And who, for that matter, is Sophie herself? To solve the riddle, she uses her new knowledge of philosophy, but the truth is far stranger than she could have imagined. A phenomenal worldwide bestseller, SOPHIE'S WORLD sets out to draw teenagers into the world of Socrates, Descartes, Spinoza, Hegel and all the great philosophers. A brilliantly original and fascinating story with many twists and turns, it raises profound questions about the meaning of life and the origin of the universe. |
| biology how life works pdf: Atomic Habits (Tamil) James Clear, 2023-07-14 நீங்கள் உங்கள் வாழ்க்கையை மாற்ற விரும்பினால், நீங்கள் பிரம்மாண்டமாக சிந்திக்க வேண்டும் என்று மக்கள் நினைக்கின்றனர். ஆனால், பழக்கங்களைப் பற்றி விரிவாக ஆய்வு செய்து அதில் உலகப் புகழ்பெற்ற நிபுணர்களில் ஒருவராகத் திகழுகின்ற ஜேம்ஸ் கிளியர் அதற்கு வேறொரு வழியைக் கண்டுபிடித்துள்ளார். தினமும் காலையில் ஐந்து நிமிடங்கள் முன்னதாகவே எழுந்திருத்தல், ஒரு பதினைந்து நிமிடங்கள் மெதுவோட்டத்தில் ஈடுபடுதல், கூடுதலாக ஒரு பக்கம் படித்தல் போன்ற நூற்றுக்கணக்கான சிறிய தீர்மானங்களின் கூட்டு விளைவிலிருந்துதான் உண்மையான மாற்றம் வருகிறது என்று அவர் கூறுகிறார்.<br>இந்தக் கடுகளவு மாற்றங்கள் எப்படி உங்கள் வாழ்க்கையைப் பெரிதும் மாற்றக்கூடிய விளைவுகளாக உருவெடுக்கின்றன என்பதை ஜேம்ஸ் இப்புத்தகத்தில் தெளிவாக வெளிப்படுத்துகிறார். அதற்கு அறிவியற்பூர்வமான விளக்கங்களையும் அவர் கொடுக்கிறார். ஒலிம்பிக்கில் தங்கப் பதக்கம் வென்றவர்கள், முன்னணி நிறுவனத் தலைவர்கள், புகழ்பெற்ற அறிவியலறிஞர்கள் ஆகியோரைப் பற்றிய உத்வேகமூட்டும் கதைகளைப் பயன்படுத்தி அவர் தன்னுடைய கோட்பாடுகளை விளக்கும் விதம் சுவாரசியமூட்டுவதாக இருக்கிறது.<br>இச்சிறு மாற்றங்கள் உங்கள் தொழில்வாழ்க்கையின்மீதும் உங்கள் உறவுகளின்மீதும் உங்கள் தனிப்பட்ட வாழ்வின்மீதும் அளப்பரிய தாக்கம் ஏற்படுத்தி அவற்றைப் பரிபூரணமாக மாற்றும் என்பது உறுதி. |
| biology how life works pdf: Biology 2e Mary Ann Clark, Jung Ho Choi, Matthew M. Douglas, 2018-03-28 Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the biological sciences, and offer everyday applications. The book also includes various types of practice and homework questions that help students understand-and apply-key concepts. |
| biology how life works pdf: The Fourth Industrial Revolution Klaus Schwab, 2017-01-03 The founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum on how the impending technological revolution will change our lives We are on the brink of the Fourth Industrial Revolution. And this one will be unlike any other in human history. Characterized by new technologies fusing the physical, digital and biological worlds, the Fourth Industrial Revolution will impact all disciplines, economies and industries - and it will do so at an unprecedented rate. World Economic Forum data predicts that by 2025 we will see: commercial use of nanomaterials 200 times stronger than steel and a million times thinner than human hair; the first transplant of a 3D-printed liver; 10% of all cars on US roads being driverless; and much more besides. In The Fourth Industrial Revolution, Schwab outlines the key technologies driving this revolution, discusses the major impacts on governments, businesses, civil society and individuals, and offers bold ideas for what can be done to shape a better future for all. |
| biology how life works pdf: Biology for AP ® Courses Julianne Zedalis, John Eggebrecht, 2017-10-16 Biology for AP® courses covers the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester Advanced Placement® biology course. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology for AP® Courses was designed to meet and exceed the requirements of the College Board’s AP® Biology framework while allowing significant flexibility for instructors. Each section of the book includes an introduction based on the AP® curriculum and includes rich features that engage students in scientific practice and AP® test preparation; it also highlights careers and research opportunities in biological sciences. |
| biology how life works pdf: Fungi Kevin Kavanagh, 2011-08-04 Fungi: Biology and Applications, Second Edition provides a comprehensive treatment of fungi, covering biochemistry, genetics and the medical and economic significance of these organisms at introductory level. With no prior knowledge of the subject assumed, the opening chapters offer a broad overview of the basics of fungal biology, in particular the physiology and genetics of fungi and also a new chapter on the application of genomics to fungi. Later chapters move on to include more detailed coverage of topics such as antibiotic and chemical commodities from fungi, new chapters on biotechnological use of fungal enzymes and fungal proteomics, and fungal diseases of humans, antifungal agents for use in human therapy and fungal pathogens of plants. |
| biology how life works pdf: Life's Edge Carl Zimmer, 2021-03-18 ‘This book is not just about life, but about discovery itself. It is about error and hubris, but also about wonder and the reach of science. And it is bookended with the ultimate question: How do we define the thing that defines us?’ – Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Gene We all assume we know what life is, but the more scientists learn about the living world – from protocells to brains, from zygotes to pandemic viruses – the harder they find it to locate the edges of life, where it begins and ends. What exactly does it mean to be alive? Is a virus alive? Is a foetus? Carl Zimmer investigates one of the biggest questions of all: What is life? The answer seems obvious until you try to seriously answer it. Is the apple sitting on your kitchen counter alive, or is only the apple tree it came from deserving of the word? If we can’t answer that question here on earth, how will we know when and if we discover alien life on other worlds? The question hangs over some of society’s most charged conflicts – whether a fertilized egg is a living person, for example, and when we ought to declare a person legally dead. Life’s Edge is an utterly fascinating investigation by one of the most celebrated science writers of our time. Zimmer journeys through the strange experiments that have attempted to recreate life. Literally hundreds of definitions of what that should look like now exist, but none has yet emerged as an obvious winner. Lists of what living things have in common do not add up to a theory of life. It’s never clear why some items on the list are essential and others not. Coronaviruses have altered the course of history, and yet many scientists maintain they are not alive. Chemists are creating droplets that can swarm, sense their environment, and multiply – have they made life in the lab? Whether he is handling pythons in Alabama or searching for hibernating bats in the Adirondacks, Zimmer revels in astounding examples of life at its most bizarre. He tries his own hand at evolving life in a test tube with unnerving results. Charting the obsession with Dr Frankenstein’s monster and how Coleridge came to believe the whole universe was alive, Zimmer leads us all the way into the labs and minds of researchers working on engineering life from the ground up. |
| biology how life works pdf: Bacteriophages David R. Harper, Stephen T. Abedon, Benjamin H. Burrowes, Malcolm L. McConville, 2021-01-30 This first major reference work dedicated to the mannifold industrial and medical applications of bacteriophages provides both theoretical and practical insights into the emerging field of bacteriophage biotechnology. The book introduces to bacteriophage biology, ecology and history and reviews the latest technologies and tools in bacteriophage detection, strain optimization and nanotechnology. Usage of bacteriophages in food safety, agriculture, and different therapeutic areas is discussed in detail. This book serves as essential guide for researchers in applied microbiology, biotechnology and medicine coming from both academia and industry. |
| biology how life works pdf: What is Life? the Physical Aspect of the Living Cell & Mind and Matter Erwin Schrödinger, 1967 |
| biology how life works pdf: Essentials of Glycobiology Ajit Varki, Maarten J. Chrispeels, 1999 Sugar chains (glycans) are often attached to proteins and lipids and have multiple roles in the organization and function of all organisms. Essentials of Glycobiology describes their biogenesis and function and offers a useful gateway to the understanding of glycans. |
| biology how life works pdf: Edexcel International GCSE (9-1) Biology Student Book (Edexcel International GCSE (9-1)) Jackie Clegg, Sue Kearsey, Gareth Price, Mike Smith, 2021-11-12 Exam Board: Edexcel Level & Subject: International GCSE Biology and Double Award Science First teaching: September 2017 First exams: June 2019 |
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Oct 27, 2009 · I have been studying Biology by correspondence through Unilearn for the last couple of months. I have completed my required 10 modules so getting ready to sit the exam. …
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Dec 3, 2006 · Biology is the study of living things… In this we study about the structure , function , interactions, of living organisms…It is a vast field divided into many branches. December 3, …
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Dec 20, 2007 · Evolution does'nt makes sense to me. According to Darwin, humans have evolved from apes. I want to know why some apes evolved into humans, why not all evolved?
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Feb 15, 2006 · The string theory is a notion of cuantum physics that tries to explain how is it that our space and time can expand and contract influenced by the energy of everything…
How do I cram for the exam??? - Biology Forum
Oct 27, 2009 · I have been studying Biology by correspondence through Unilearn for the last couple of months. I have completed my required 10 modules so getting ready to sit the exam. …
Definition of a solution - Biology Forum
Jan 28, 2007 · In my introductory biology class, we are learning about how water creates aqueous solutions. I am not sure about the definition of a solution, however. Does a solution mean that …
DNA 3' end & 5' end - Biology Forum
Jul 19, 2011 · I can't quite grasp the "ends" of DNA. When we say "3' end", does it mean that we can only add the nucleotides to the 5's, and not the 3's?
WHAT A BIOLOGY? - Biology Forum
Dec 3, 2006 · Biology is the study of living things… In this we study about the structure , function , interactions, of living organisms…It is a vast field divided into many branches. December 3, …
Evolution - Biology Forum
Dec 20, 2007 · Evolution does'nt makes sense to me. According to Darwin, humans have evolved from apes. I want to know why some apes evolved into humans, why not all evolved?
what is depolymerisation - Biology Forum
Jul 23, 2006 · I think depolymerisation is the removal of the monomers, in this case the removal of the monomers of microtubules.
Topics Archive - Biology Forum
360 Wiki Writers. General Discussion. 2; 2
Imperfect Design - Biology Forum
Aug 28, 2007 · Imperfect Design Darwin’s theory of Evolution explains how living things adapt to changing environments over time so as to survive and procreate the species.
Meniscus? - Biology Forum
Apr 21, 2006 · My biology teacher gave us instructions on how to set up a potometer. According to him the way to measure the rate of transpiration is to measure the distance moved by the …
What is the String Theory? - Biology Forum
Feb 15, 2006 · The string theory is a notion of cuantum physics that tries to explain how is it that our space and time can expand and contract influenced by the energy of everything…
