Authoritative, thorough, and engaging, The Science of Biology achieves an optimal balance of scholarship and teachability, never losing sight of either the science or the student. The first introductory text to present biological concepts through the research that revealed them, Life covers the full range of topics with an integrated experimental focus that flows naturally from the narrative. This approach helps to bring the drama of classic and cutting-edge research to the classroom--but always in the context of reinforcing core ideas and the innovative scientific thinking behind them. Students will experience biology not just as a litany of facts or a highlight reel of experiments, but as a rich, coherent discipline.
Not too in-depth, if the purpose is to use it to study you're going to need other textbooks. However, it covers pretty much all the bases and is really engaging to read. Especially worthwile is the companion CD-ROM, with lots of schematics and animations (also found online on the book's website) that explain all major processes in a clear and simple fashion.