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The Biology Book: From the Origin of Life to Epigenetics, 250 Milestones in the History of Biology
From the emergence of life, to Leewenhoek's microscopic world, to GMO crops, The Biology Book presents 250 landmarks in the most widely studied scientific field. Brief, engaging, and colorfully illustrated synopses introduce readers to every major subdiscipline, including cell theory, genetics, evolution, physiology, thermodynamics, molecular biology, and ecology. With information on such varied topics as paleontology, pheromones, nature vs. nurture, DNA fingerprinting, bioenergetics, and so much more, this lively collection will engage everyone who studies and appreciates the life sciences.
528 pages, Hardcover
First published January 6, 2015
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419 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 26, 2015
A perfect book for those who have an interest in biology, but are many years past the time when they took the subject in school.
Each milestone is the subject of a single entry - only one page long - written in a scholarly but very readable style and illustrated with a bold, colorful photo or drawing, on its opposite page.
The wide variety of entries ensures that your attention never flags. It also serves to remind you that biology is a remarkable field which deserves to get the kind of media attention so often lavished on astronomy. Will the Neil deGrasse Tyson of biology please step forward?
Each milestone is the subject of a single entry - only one page long - written in a scholarly but very readable style and illustrated with a bold, colorful photo or drawing, on its opposite page.
The wide variety of entries ensures that your attention never flags. It also serves to remind you that biology is a remarkable field which deserves to get the kind of media attention so often lavished on astronomy. Will the Neil deGrasse Tyson of biology please step forward?
November 1, 2024
Broad Range of Topics with Nothing in Them
There are virtually no applicable illustrations for any of The Chapters, only Creative Commons photos that are incidentally associated with The very brief chapter descriptions that are minimally available.
A book like this has a great potential to be ‘Fun’, but this is Not !
Not informative, Not enjoyable.
Very disappointing ( ! )
There are virtually no applicable illustrations for any of The Chapters, only Creative Commons photos that are incidentally associated with The very brief chapter descriptions that are minimally available.
A book like this has a great potential to be ‘Fun’, but this is Not !
Not informative, Not enjoyable.
Very disappointing ( ! )
June 16, 2017
It might be OK for a high school student, but I found that most of the entries were too simplistic. The chronological layout felt random :-/
February 12, 2019
A great review of biological concepts learned in school.
August 31, 2025
Amazing
Words cannot explain, you have to read for yourself to witness the details. From the early times to present modern day biology.
Words cannot explain, you have to read for yourself to witness the details. From the early times to present modern day biology.
April 20, 2025
Like all of these "The [Insert Subject] Book" series, there is a long list of stories of the subject's greatest hits that last only 1 page with the other page dedicated to an image. They're great stories, where you learn where certain biology concepts were first formulated. What did people originally think before the modern picture made things more clear? This book answers that in brief stories.
Straight to the point. Refreshers on familiar stories. Introduction to new ones. Fun for any enjoyer of biology, like I am.
The only issue I have with books from this series or the similar DK series of "Big Ideas Simply Explained," is that it can be exhausting reading these stories back to back, as there isn't much cohesion of ideas from one page to the next. My recommendation is to read this book as supplementary alongside another book or while taking a biology class. Reading one or two stories, even to children, can be a fun way to mix things up.
Straight to the point. Refreshers on familiar stories. Introduction to new ones. Fun for any enjoyer of biology, like I am.
The only issue I have with books from this series or the similar DK series of "Big Ideas Simply Explained," is that it can be exhausting reading these stories back to back, as there isn't much cohesion of ideas from one page to the next. My recommendation is to read this book as supplementary alongside another book or while taking a biology class. Reading one or two stories, even to children, can be a fun way to mix things up.
April 24, 2016
This book contains 250 milestones in Biology, including some that we have to estimate, like the origin of life. It also contains some dark history in biology, mainly in eugenics, but doesn't go into depth. The book is printed in a straight-forward manner, with the text on the left side of the book and an image related to the text on the right side of the book.
The page will begin with the general title of the milestone and its approximate date, along with the names and active years of the founders. Let us take the Helix Structure of DNA for example. On the very top is the title of the finding, with the year 1953 in the left margin. Below the title are the names of the relevant people, namely James Watson, Rosalind Franklin and Francis Crick. Below that is a blurb about the finding and how it was also a race between the Watson Crick Franklin team and Linus Pauling. At the very bottom of the page is a description of the image on the next page.
Since it is printed in a layman friendly manner, it is quite easy to digest the information. They include some specialized language, but most of it is explained in the blurb. I really enjoyed it, though I don't think I will read it again.
The page will begin with the general title of the milestone and its approximate date, along with the names and active years of the founders. Let us take the Helix Structure of DNA for example. On the very top is the title of the finding, with the year 1953 in the left margin. Below the title are the names of the relevant people, namely James Watson, Rosalind Franklin and Francis Crick. Below that is a blurb about the finding and how it was also a race between the Watson Crick Franklin team and Linus Pauling. At the very bottom of the page is a description of the image on the next page.
Since it is printed in a layman friendly manner, it is quite easy to digest the information. They include some specialized language, but most of it is explained in the blurb. I really enjoyed it, though I don't think I will read it again.
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December 11, 2015570.9 G354 2015
July 22, 2016
This book it made me feel like I was reading some Wikipedia articles packed together so "tightly". I couldn't read more than half of it.
April 7, 2017
Great summary of the important milestones in the field of biology. Fun little read!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews