Content:

1. Introduction: Themes in the Study of Life 1

Unit One The Chemistry
2. The Chemical Context of Life 30
3. Water and Fitness of the Enviroment 46
4. Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life 58
5. The Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules 68

Unit Two The Cell
6. A Tour of the Cell 94
7. Membrane Structure and Function 125
8. An Introduction to Metabolism 142
9. Cellular Respiration: Harvesting Chemical Energy 162
10. Photosynthesis 185
11. Cell Communication 206
12. The Cell Cycle 228

Unit Three Genetics
13. Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles 248
14. Mendel and the Gene Idea 262
15. The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance 286
16. The Molecular Basis of Inheritance 305
17. From Gene to Protein 325
18. Regulation of Gene Expression 351
19. Viruses 381
20. Biotechnology 396
21. Genomes and Their Evolution 426

Unit Four Mechanisms of Evolution
22. Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life 452
23. The Evolution of Populations 468
24. The Origin of Species 487
25. The History of Life on Earth 507

Unit Five The Evolutionary History of Biological Diversity
26. Phylogeny and the Tree of Life 536
27. Bacteria and Archaea 556
28. Protists 575
29. Plant Diversity I: How Plants Colonized Land 600
30. Plant Diversity II: The Evolution of Seed Plants 618
31. Fungi 636
32. An Introduction to Animal Diversity 654
33. Invertebrates 666
34. Vertebrates 698

Unit Six Plant Form and Function
35. Plant Structure, Growth, and Development 738
36. Resource Acquisition and Transport 764
37. Soil and Plant Nutrition 785
38. Angiosperm Reproduction and Biotechnology 801
39. Plant Response to Internal and External Signals 821

Unit Seven Animal Form and Function
40. Basic Principles of Animal Form and Function 852
41. Animal Nutrition 875
42. Circulation and Gas Exchange 898
43. The Immune System 930
44. Osmoregulation and Excretion 954
45. Hormones and the Endocrine System 975
46. Animal Reproduction 997
47. Animal Development 1021
48. Neurons, Synapses, and Signaling 1047
49. Nervous System 1064
50. Sensory and Motor Mechanisms 1087
51. Animal Behavior 1120

Unit Eight Ecology
52. An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere 1148
53. Population Ecology 1174
54. Community Ecology 1198
55. Ecosystems 1222
56. Conservation Biology and Restoration Ecology 1245