1. Introduction: Ten Themes in the Study of Life.

I. THE CHEMISTRY OF LIFE.

2. The Chemical Context of Life.
3. Water and the Fitness of the Environment.
4. Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life.
5. The Structure and Function of Macromolecules.
6. An Introduction to Metabolism.

II. THE CELL.

7. A Tour of the Cell.
8. Membrane Structure and Function.
9. Cellular Respiration: Harvesting Chemical Energy.
10. Photosynthesis.
11. Cell Communication.
12. The Cell Cycle.

III. GENETICS.

13. Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles.
14. Mendel and the Gene Idea.
15. The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance.
16. The Molecular Basis of Inheritance.
17. From Gene to Protein.
18. Microbial Models: The Genetics of Viruses and Bacteria.
19. The Organization and Control of Eukaryotic Genomes.
20. DNA Technology and Genomics.
21. The Genetic Basis of Development.

IV. MECHANISMS OF EVOLUTION.

22. Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life.
23. The Evolution of Populations.
24. The Origin of Species.
25. Phylogeny and Systematics.

V. THE EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY.

26. Early Earth and the Origin of Life.
27. Prokaryotes and the Origins of Metabolic Diversity.
28. The Origins of Eukaryotic Diversity.
29. Plant Diversity I: How Plants Colonized Land.
30. Plant Diversity II: The Evolution of Seed Plants.
31. Fungi.
32. Introduction to Animal Evolution.
33. Invertebrates.
34. Vertebrate Evolution and Diversity.

VI. PLANT FORM AND FUNCTION.

35. Plant Structure and Growth.
36. Transport in Plants.
37. Plant Nutrition.
38. Plant Reproduction and Development.
39. Control Systems in Plants.

VII. ANIMAL FORM AND FUNCTION.

40. An Introduction to Animal Structure and Function.
41. Animal Nutrition.
42. Circulation and Gas Exchange.
43. The Body's Defenses.
44. Controlling the Internal Environment.
45. Chemical Signals in Animals.
46. Animal Reproduction.
47. Animal Development.
48. Nervous Systems.
49. Sensory and Motor Mechanisms.

VIII. ECOLOGY.

50. An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere.
51. Behavioral Biology.
52. Population Ecology.
53. Community Ecology.
54. Ecosystems.
55. Conservation Biology.

About the Author

Neil A. Campbell has taught general biology for 30 years, and with Dr. Reece, has coauthored Biology, Sixth Edition, the most widely used text for biology majors. His enthusiasm for sharing the fun of science with students stems from his own undergraduate experience. He began at Long Beach State College as a history major, but switched to zoology after general education requirements "forced" him to take a science course. Following a B.S. from Long Beach, he earned an M.A. in Zoology from UCLA and a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from the University of California, Riverside.

He has published numerous articles on how certain desert plants thrive in salty soil and how sensitive plant (Mimosa) and other legumes move their leaves. His diverse teaching experiences include courses for non-biology majors at Cornell University, Pomona College, and San Bernardino Valley College, where he received the first Outstanding Professor Award in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UC Riverside, which recognized him as the university's Distinguished Alumnus for 2001. In addition to Biology, Sixth Edition, he is coauthor of Essential Biology.

Jane B. Reece has worked in biology publishing since 1978, when she joined the editorial staff of Benjamin Cummings. Her education includes an A.B. in Biology from Harvard University, an M.S. in Microbiology from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in Bacteriology from the University of California, Berkeley. At UC Berkeley and later as a post-doctoral fellow in genetics at Stanford University, her research focused on genetic recombination in bacteria. Dr. Reece taught biology at Middlesex County College (New Jersey) and Queensborough Community College (New York). During her 12 years as an editor at Benjamin Cummings, she played major roles in a number of successful textbooks. Subsequently, she was a coauthor of The World of the Cell, Third Edition, with W. M. Becker and M. F. Poenie. With Dr. Campbell, she coauthors Biology, Sixth Edition, and Essential Biology.

Table of Contents

About the Author