 |  Life, 4/e Ricki Lewis,
University of New York at Albany
Mariëlle Hoefnagels,
University of Oklahoma
Douglas Gaffin,
University of Oklahoma
Bruce Parker,
Utah Valley State College
Book Preface| The Changing Face of Biology—And Life
To say that the field of biology is changing rapidly is certainly an understatement. Only 50 years ago, James Watson and Francis Crick deciphered the three-dimensional structure of DNA. Now, with just a small DNA sample, biologists can decipher entire genomes—from the simplest bacterium whose genes hold clues to what it is to be alive, to species that seemingly straddle evolutionary leaps, to the most complex plant or animal. On a more practical level, DNA technology and the new life science of genomics have confirmed certain historical references, unraveled the tangled ancestries of wine grapes, and even helped prove the innocence of death row inmates.
Biologists continue to use the molecules of life to reveal new glimpses of the evolutionary relationships that bind all organisms, even species that once thrived in a long-ago, vastly different world. As a result, the way in which biologists classify life is fundamentally different from what it was just a generation ago. Everywhere we look, it’s easy to find evidence that these are exciting times for biologists. To reflect these profound shifts in the field, Life also has changed. New Author Team
The fourth edition of Life brings together four outstanding biologists. Our team begins with Ricki Lewis. She is well known for her ability to weave together solid biology content with interesting stories, real-life case studies, and applications to student life. With expertise in genetics and science communication, she has published countless articles in magazines, journals, newspapers, and encyclopedias. Her role as contributing editor to The Scientist gives her a heads up on much ongoing research, which finds its way into the pages of Life. She is also the author of a human genetics textbook and a collection of essays on discovery in the life sciences, and coauthor of human anatomy and physiology textbooks. Ricki has taught a variety of courses at the University at Albany, Empire State College, and Miami University and is a genetic counselor.
Joining forces with Ricki Lewis for the fourth edition of Life are three new coauthors, and we are proud to introduce ourselves: Douglas Gaffin and Mariëlle Hoefnagels of the University of Oklahoma, and Bruce Parker of Utah Valley State College. We are all active instructors who use multimedia approaches to teach undergraduate biology to hundreds of majors and nonmajors each semester.
Devotion to, and passion about, teaching unite our team. We thoroughly enjoy telling those interesting stories that are so easy to find at all levels of biology, from molecules to ecology—the stories that, when told correctly, mesmerize even the most reluctant students, causing them to perk up and think “Wow, I never knew that! So that’s why . . . !” We all love to watch students get excited about learning a subject they once viewed as too hard or too intimidating. Our enthusiasm for teaching and respect for students have earned us all recognition on our campuses as outstanding teachers.
Our areas of scientific expertise—animal physiology, plant-microorganism interactions, and molecular biology and
biochemistry—provide an excellent complement to Ricki’s extensive knowledge of genetics. As a result, the fourth edition of Life has comprehensive, up-to-date content in all subject areas. But we were careful not to sacrifice Ricki’s wonderful way with words.
Life has always had a unique style, reflecting a mix of scientific expertise and journalistic experience. The writing style is neither an authoritative voice talking down to the reader, nor an attempt to water down complicated science—nor a hodgepodge of the two. Life’s voice is uniquely clear and exciting. The result is a textbook with substantial content that is accessible to students by mixing in interesting stories and practical applications that make biology relevant to student life.
Our complementary areas of interest and dedication to sharing the wonder of biology with students led the four of us to a united vision for Life. We wanted to produce the excellent textbook we were waiting for ourselves—one that is readable, accurate, up-to-date, interesting, and presented in an attractive format that appeals to students. We believe the fourth edition of Life meets our goals. Consider the other changes to this edition. New Content
To keep up with the shifts reverberating throughout biology, and to bring the book more in line with the order in which many instructors teach biology, we overhauled Life’s Table of Contents. The first five units have been reorganized and rolled into three (Cell Biology, Genetics and Biotechnology, and Evolution). These new units emphasize the concepts that are common to all life. In the next three units, the book introduces the diversity of life and explores the structures and processes unique to plant and animal life. The final unit considers ecology, concluding with a chapter that addresses environmental challenges today’s students may well have to solve.
Life’s revamped Table of Contents also introduces several new and reorganized chapters. New chapter 16 is devoted to speciation and extinction, with many fascinating examples of evolution in action. Another new chapter, on viruses and other infectious agents (chapter 19) explores the significance of viruses as emerging pathogens, as useful tools in biotechnology, and also as windows on evolutionary change. To expand coverage of plant life, we added a chapter on transport systems in plants (chapter 27). We moved coverage of animal reproduction and development (chapter 40) to close the unit on animal organ systems, in response to many requests. In addition, animal diversity is now covered in two chapters (24 and 25). Finally, numbered sections throughout reveal at a glance the major themes of each chapter.
Perhaps the greatest change and challenge in Life is also the greatest change in the science of life—how to categorize organisms. We completely rewrote Unit 4, The Diversity of Life, to reflect new classification schemes that combine traditional and molecular approaches to taxonomy. Yet we were careful to explain along the way that the molecular data currently providing such a wealth of new information have also thrown the classification of life into upheaval—and acknowledge that the classification schemes we present in this book are provisional. It is important for students to realize that biological facts and concepts are not written in stone. Although we know that the next edition may see even more changes in this unit, we would rather present the current state of taxonomic thought than perpetuate out-of-date classification schemes.
In revising Unit 4, we evaluated and reevaluated the traditional order in which textbooks typically present life’s diversity—prokaryotic organisms (bacteria and archaea), followed by protista, fungi, plants, and animals. However, much new scientific evidence suggests that fungi are actually more closely related to animals than to plants. In response to the current state of the science, we placed the chapter on fungi (chapter 23) after plants and before animals, better reflecting how evolution probably unfolded. It is a seemingly minor change, but an important one because it reflects a philosophical shift in how biologists classify life. New Art and Photo Program
As we examined every word of text in the book, we also scrutinized every piece of art with a critical look at how it works with the text. We added many figures to support the new textual material, and modified many others—then professional biological illustrators rendered each piece anew. The new art is not only visually spectacular, but also pedagogically sound, and it gives Life a consistent look from cover to cover. Repeating themes provide continuity, from biochemical reactions to life cycles to feedback loops in animal physiology to evolutionary tree diagrams. Use of color, arrows, and symbols is standardized throughout the text, easing learning. So, for example, DNA, membranes, and other cell structures have a consistent look and color throughout. We have also selected unusual and interesting photos to show students glimpses of the natural world that they may never have seen before. The new art and photos are combined in page layouts that are attractive and interesting—and above all, help students learn.
Highlights on Health, Biotechnology, and Scientific Inquiry
We believe that understanding science and scientific thought is one of the most important things that students should gain from their college experience. Life has always emphasized the practical side of biology, and the fourth edition continues that tradition. Each chapter begins with a compelling essay describing a real-life scientific issue, ranging from the worldwide decline of amphibian populations to the evolutionary impact of the varied shapes of male genitalia (in beetles). The content in each chapter supports and expands upon the ideas presented in the opening essays.
Each chapter features one or more boxes highlighting the relevance of the content to health, biotechnology, or scientific inquiry. “Health” boxes provide a human touch. Health 19.1, for example, explores how birds brought influenza and West Nile virus infection to human populations. “Biotechnology” boxes showcase how science segues into practical applications, with looks at such diverse tools as PCR, gene therapy, in vitro evolution, artificial photosynthesis, and molecular taxonomy. A new technique explored in Biotechnology 27.1, for example, is rhizosecretion, a method to coax plants growing in hydroponic culture to secrete useful proteins—some encoded by genes from other species—through their roots. “Investigating Life” features help remove some of the mystique of science, leading the reader through the ways that scientists think when carrying out real investigations and experiments. Investigating Life 14.1, for example, presents compelling evidence of evolution among animals inhabiting a polluted river, taking the reader through the critical experiments and the logic that inspired them step by step. Along different lines, Investigating Life 28.1 invites students to predict the structures of mutant flowers, given a few simple rules governing the interaction between three flower development genes. New Innovative and Integrative Media Support
The fourth edition of Life includes an innovative, comprehensive support package. As we wrote Life, we talked a lot about which supplements we would use as instructors. At the top of our list were computer files of textbook art, presented in a format that we could really USE in our multimedia lectures. Most textbooks offer bitmapped files of text art, but small text size and image contrast that is not optimized for large lecture halls often limit the utility of these computer files in the classroom. As instructors, we wanted more flexibility—files we could manipulate ourselves so we could tell our own stories in our own way. As a result, Life now offers PowerPoint-compatible, vectorized art files that the instructor can manipulate as he or she sees fit. Life is among the first textbooks to offer this feature.
The vectorized art is just one component of an innovative and integrated new program of media support for faculty and students. Instructor presentations will come alive with CD-ROMs that include not only the vectorized art, but also Life’s photos and animations. The online Essential Study Partner, which links to Life’s Online Learning Center, enhances learning, and the new BioCourse.com site rounds out Life’s integrated ancillaries. A Word of Thanks
No single person, no matter how educated, “knows” all of biology. Even an author team whose collective expertise covers most of the field must rely on an almost unimaginable amount of feedback. We greatly appreciate the help of the many reviewers, consultants, and focus group members—committed teachers who went the extra mile to help make this book what it is. We could not have done it without them. We are indebted to Randy Moore and Fred Spiegel for their contributions to the plant life unit. And we are grateful to the students in Dr. Gaffin’s Spring 2000 Zoology Capstone Course for their valuable insights as they critiqued portions of the manuscript.
We thank the team at McGraw-Hill who guided us in this new view of Life—Michael Lange, Publisher; Patrick Reidy, Sponsoring Editor; Margaret Horn and Suzanne Guinn, Developmental Editors; and Joyce Berendes, Project Manager. We also thank the talented artists and media wizards at Precision Graphics who so beautifully translated our vision. Finally, we hope that both faculty and students will enjoy using our text as much as we loved creating it.We encourage readers to contact us with questions, comments, and suggestions. For at the pace at which biology is progressing, the next edition is just around the corner!
We offer special thanks to the reviewers who spent hours poring over chapter drafts in meticulous detail, spotting errors and inconsistencies, confirming what works and gently critiquing what doesn’t, and pointing out sections that we could clarify.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education