Biological Science: Evol/Ecol (Volume 2) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Infused with the spirit of inquiry, Freeman's Biological Science helps teach readers the fundamentals while introducing them to the excitement that drives the science. By presenting unifying concepts and methods of analysis, this book helps its readers learn to think like biologists and gives them the tools they need for success in understanding more advanced subjects. Volume 2 of a nine-part organization covers topics under the general headings of: the origin and early evolution of life, cell functions, gene structure and expression, developmental biology, evolutionary patterns and processes, the diversification of life, how plants work, how animals work, and ecology. For science enthusiasts who want to be inspired with a sense of wonder and excitement that makes learning about biology interesting and fun.

From the Back Cover

Infused with the spirit of inquiry, Freeman's Biological Science helps teach readers the fundamentals while introducing them to the excitement that drives the science. By presenting unifying concepts and methods of analysis, this book helps its readers learn to think like biologists and gives them the tools they need for success in understanding more advanced subjects. Volume 2 of a nine-part organization covers topics under the general headings of: the origin and early evolution of life, cell functions, gene structure and expression, developmental biology, evolutionary patterns and processes, the diversification of life, how plants work, how animals work, and ecology. For science enthusiasts who want to be inspired with a sense of wonder and excitement that makes learning about biology interesting and fun.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Prentice Hall (March 7, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 013093206X
• ISBN-13: 978-0130932068
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,178,825 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars University Lvl Bio Student's Opinion, March 20, 2005

By	DC (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biological Science (With CD-ROM) (Hardcover)

This is the worst bio book I have read. I've had at least 3 different biology courses with their respective books, but this one was so bad I felt obligated to warn others. I don't bother with these reviews but in this case the book "earned" it.

The pros: I am at length impressed at Freeman's attempt to draw an inquisitive experimental nature into a bio book. He talks about many interesting scientific experiments and really introduces you to the scientific method. His diagrams while usually not as detailed as other biology books are sufficient.

The cons: What Dr. Freeman attempts in his book forces him to leave out a lot of basic bio. A multitude of biology terms are just missing, as if they never existed. What's worse is that this terminology is actually required on bio tests. I had to refer extensively to my professor's notes and look up the missing terms through the web to make the grade.
Unfortunately Dr. Freeman is not a very clear writer either, at least in this volume. He talks about many important topics but with his writing style, I have actually mentally missed many important points. He just doesn't emphasize what you need to know in basic biology. There are many decent biology books that have the organization you need to sort through the unimportant and the important material but Freeman's somewhat conversational style muddles his book.
Furthermore, many of his multiple choice practice problems in the text have incorrect solutions in the back of the book. In fact for some odd reason the solutions in the back of the book cover all the volumes. I felt he should have instead devoted the answers to the correct solution and the reasoning behind the solution instead of putting up these additional answers to volumes I don't have and don't intend to purchase. The index and the glossary do the same thing; they pull material from all volumes. It would have benefitted his book if he used that extra space to put in more indexed topics that actually appear in this volume. The result was that the usage of these back pages was disgracefully subpar and inefficient. In addition, the included CD is outdated for macs with OS X. To be fair, I don't know about its functionability on the PC, since I predominately use OS X. From what I've heard the CD is actually one of the most useful parts of the book, so keep this in mind.

In summary if you are a student who is well versed in biology, this book will frustrate you to no end. I acquired the paperback version for $25 from another student of which I felt was not worth that price. The book only functions well as a supplement when you want to read more about the experiments done in biology. It should not be used as the main reading material. In this regard I have to be brutally honest. The book fails miserably. There are many other better bio books to invest your money in and you will know the difference if you've read a few of them.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars too much focus on experiments that certain details are not explained as well., December 15, 2005

By	Shann Yu "Go Rice Owls!!!" (Nashville, TN) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Biological Science (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

After acing Introductory Bio the previous year with Campbell & Reece's Biology, I returned this year as an undergrad TA for the same class. The professor had switched to this book, which is by far just a piece of crap next to the Campbell & Reece book.

This textbook seems to put too much emphasis on experiments done in the past that all the material is lost beneath piles and piles of experimental 'abstracts'. I once misunderstood the textbook, specifically on the differences between genes important in developmental biology, and ended up giving wrong information on a Q&A session. I ended up having to spend a lot of time tracking down every single person who had come to the session in order to let them know about the error.

Now I say Campbell & Reece is better because it makes better use of its diagrams and figures in order to clarify points made in the text itself. Freeman does not do as good of a job in this way. I guess it does a mediocre job of enabling you to delve out relationships between experimental results and conclusions that have been deduced from those experiments. But for one who is studying introductory biology I, I do not personally see the purpose of looking at experimental data just yet. With all the definitions and concepts that need to be understood first, the emphasis should not be as much on experiments than on developing concepts and throwing in experiments every once in a while.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great CD-ROM, Great Information, Interesting Research, December 13, 2005

By	Emily K. Nelson "Fantasy geek" (Grand Forks, ND) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Biological Science (2nd Edition) (Hardcover)

I love biology and the book was a huge help in my lecture class this year. The layout flowed well from one section to the next, and from all the chapters we covered there was very little extraneous data. Everything we needed to know what contained in the chapters and detailed enough to understand the basic concepts. The study questions at the end of the chapter also helped with the basic understanding of the material.

The CD-ROM was extremely helpful with studying for tests or clarifying a chapter that was a bit confusing. For each concept there is a PDF worksheet, a pre-quiz, an animation with video and audio and text, and a post quiz. The CD-Rom was the biggest help in studying for my final, I'm more confident that I will pass because of this CD-ROM.

And on the web tutorial browser used, I had ZERO problems with the program working within my Mozilla Firefox browser. No Netscape needed.

The book isn't perfect for everyone. If your teacher strays from the book in lectures, you may need other sources to help clarify some concepts. My teachers never strayed farther than their own experiences in the field that were very closely related to the topics we were studying at the time. Most cases, the book will be all you need for raw information and the CD-ROM can help clarify a topic even more and help you study for your tests. Don't be afraid of the book, it's large but very much worth the money.