Includes index.

Contents: The science of biology --The nature of molecules and the properties of water -- The chemical building blocks of life -- Cell structure -- Membranes -- Energy and metabolism -- How cells harvest energy -- Photosynthesis -- Cell communication -- How cells divide -- Sexual reproduction and meiosis -- Patterns of inheritance -- Chromosomes, mapping, and the meiosis-inheritance connection -- DNA : the genetic material -- Genes and how they work -- Control of gene expression -- Biotechnology -- Genomics -- Cellular mechanisms and development -- Genes within populations -- The evidence for evolution -- The origin of species -- Systematics and the phylogenies revolution -- Genome evolution -- Evolution of development -- The tree of life -- Viruses -- Prokaryotes -- Protists -- Green plants -- Fungi -- Overview of Animal diversity -- Noncoelomate invertebrates -- Coelomate invertebrates -- Vertebrates -- Plant form -- Vegetative plant development -- Transport in plants -- Plants nutrition and soil -- Plant deference responses -- Sensory systems in plants -- Plant reproduction -- The animal body and principles of regulation -- The nervous system -- Sensory systems -- The endocrine system -- The musculoskeletal system -- The digestive system -- The respiratory system -- The circulatory system -- Osmotic regulation and the urinary system -- The immune system --The reproductive system ; Animal development -- Behavioral biology ; Ecology of individuals and populations -- Community ecology ; Dynamics of ecosystems -- The biosphere -- Conservation biology.