BIOLOGY UNDERSTANDING LIVING MATTER no harm to other animals Why do humans have blood but trees have sap How do some species survive in extreme temperatures Life is not only infinitely variable but also incred ibly tenacious Although individual organisms within a species die and even an entire spe cies may become extinct die out life itself SurVVes As recently as a few centuries ago people had little idea how life initially began nor did they understand exactly how it worked They had neither the tools nor the vocabulary to accurately observe and describe the incredible complexity of living organisms The tireless work of several influential scientists helped change that by offering explanations to how and why species change over time and by developing systems to categorize an eventual torrent of biological information The study of biology is vast encompass ing an understanding of what defines life and how life works and how it continues to change The following pages examine the discipline of biology as a whole They not only look at the fundamentals of biologi cal processes and how species relate to each other and the environment but also explore the important discoveries that have influ enced biology over the centuries and how the 10
INTRODUCTION different disciplines within biology interact with each other As the body of knowledge grows biolo gists can provide insights that help in other fields such as medicine anthropology and even history As environmental issues become more pressing biology can inform the debate about how these problems arose and how to find solutions Biologists have answered some of the questions of how life works but many questions remain and new ones constantly arise Indeed perhaps the most intriguing questions to consider are those that have not yet been asked 11
CHAPTER 1 THE STUDY OF LIVING THINGS he scientific study of living things is called biology Biologists strive to understand the natural world and its living inhabitants plants animals fungi protozoa algae bacteria archaea and viruses by asking why and how the pro cesses of life occur Why do living organisms interact with each other in particular ways When did they evolve How are biological processes carried out within organs tissues and cells To answer these broad questions biologists must answer many specific ones How does an animal s liver break down fat How does a green plant convert water and carbon dioxide into sugar Where do mos quitoes go in the winter Some investigations require years of scientific research Today many myster ies remain unsolved but continued study leads toward a better understanding of living things and the environment they depend on 12
THE STUDY OF LIVING THINGS NE Rain forests like this one in Dominica are estimated to contain millions of different life forms many of which have not been discovered yet Randolph Femmer NBII Image Gallery The annual output of biological research today is so massive that no single individual can possibly acquire all of the information Because of this areas of specialization have developed allowing scientists to focus on their own research yet remain informed on key developments in their fields 13
