Customer Reviews

Essential Biology with Physiology

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I used this book to homeschool my 13 year old daughter, who went on to obtain a 750 on the SAT II Biology. I also taught a class to homeschoolers using THE WAY LIFE WORKS (much cheaper) as the main text, but using many of the CD-ROM activites from ESSENTIAL BIOLOGY as class material. I especially liked the MendAliens for genetics problems! There are many useful activites, quizzes, and chapter tests, wonderful graphics. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand "essential" biology.

My 16 year old just finished this book for homeschool biology. It was comprehensive, thorough, yet easy for her to follow. The illustrations are excellent and prolific. It had quizes she could take to track her progress. I highly recommmend this book for high school biology.

I read this textbook as part of a biology class this summer.

Overall, one could make an argument that it deserves more than two stars because it's not really worse than typical college textbooks. I don't buy that.

First, the good points: its introduction, scientific method coverage, population, community, and ecosystem ecology sections were very good. The scientific method coverage, in particular, took pains to define the scope of scientific discourse very precisely, and explicitly stated that other fields such as religion can also help us to know nature. I appreciated that.

The community and ecosystem sections, in particular, seemed well-written. They didn't just state ideas; they described the studies that supported them and actively encouraged critical thinking about those studies and their results. In my class, we read those sections first, so I had high hopes for the textbook as a whole.

The book covers a very broad set of topics, and some in surprisingly deep detail. It has a good index and glossary as well.

Unfortunately, most of the book follows this pattern:

Thing A performs function X. Thing B performs function Y. Thing C does Z. They fit together as A-B-C. See figure 8-23h.

(repeat over and over, with different values of ABC, XYZ.)

That is, very little explanation of why we believe this is the case, how we learned about it, how the scientific method was applied in the acquisition of this knowledge, or any disagreement among biologists as to the accuracy of the information. They did have very occasional sections on this, but entire chapters might be almost completely devoid of it. Almost never does the book cite its sources for facts either.

As I was reading the chapters on cells -- which have amazingly intricate chemical properties spelled out -- I kept wondering: when and how did we manage to figure THIS out? It was almost never explained. It would have been so fascinating if it had been.

Then there is the tendency to put out rather unsupportable statements, such as this little gem from page 595:

"Composed of up to 100 billion intricately organized neurons, with a much larger number of supporting cells, the human brain is more powerful than the most sophisticated computer." OK, thought-provoking, yes. But how can you scientifically evaluate the power of a computer and a brain on objective terms? I'm not sure I can evaluate the power of a computer on objective terms (the word "power" is just way too imprecise), let alone that of a brain. They cite no source of that, there is no discussion or background of it. It's just thrown out there, then discarded. I hate that. If you're going to say something that interesting, at least make a feeble attempt to back it up!

They also have a habit of saying things are "almost always" true, such as on p. 383, where they say "Solar energy powers nearly all ecosystems." But they rarely explain what the exceptions are, leaving you to wonder whether a given example is an exception or a rule. (OK, so it's more obvious here, but it happens elsewhere).

They do have a number of helpful figures in the book, though they've probably gone overboard on the photos of athletes and things. Yes, muscles make us run. I get it already.

This is an introductory textbook, so perhaps I am overly harsh here. But I've read other introductory textbooks that are more given to precise language, and don't have chapters that are just endless lists of definitions and functions, but explain how we got there. This book could have so easily been excellent.

This is a good book for biology class - it had the CD and was in good shape.
The book is easy to understand and relate to - IT is idenitcal to the UOP version that is required.

Textbook was in great condition. No missing, torn, or stained pages. The cover did not have any damages; surprising considering the book is a soft-cover.

I had to use this book for my freshman year in college. It was excellent, very thourough and clear. I love the chapter summaries which help a lot, especially if you need a study guide. I am beginning to reread this book in order to review basic biology and it has everything you need to know! It applies biology to current topics, issues, and research in the world today.

So I had to use this book for my Bio # class (Intro to Bio) and it was a great book to read. Granted, I had an awesome Bio teacher but the book itself is written in a matter that anyone can understand. It has great visual aides in the book to help you memorize parts of a cell or be able to understand the metabolic pathway. I highly recommend using this book for anybody who wants to get a head start about biology.

I am happy with the way topics are explained in this book. The pictures and diagrams are beautiful and easy to understand. I could very easily sell this book when my class ends but I am going to keep it. I also like the website that is connected with this book. If you are geared more towards learning online, the website is very helpful.

As a customer that is not used to buying online, I was very hesitant about ordering this book, but it was necessarry for my class project, so I jumped in and bought it. This vendor gave a good description of the product and delivered the product well wrapped. The product was delivered within the timeframe that the vendor stated. Next time that I need to buy a product, I will know that this vendor is reliable and will not hesitate to purchase from him. Thank you,
Satisfied Customer

The book came fast and in better shape than expected. Also got a personal e-mail from the seller,nice touch.