Cover: Life: The Science of Biology Digital Update, 12th Edition by David M. Hillis; Craig H. Heller; Sally D. Hacker; David W. Hall; Marta J. Laskowski; Lauren A. O'Connell; David E. Sadava

Life: The Science of Biology Digital Update

Twelfth Edition  ©2023 David M. Hillis; Craig H. Heller; Sally D. Hacker; David W. Hall; Marta J. Laskowski; Lauren A. O'Connell; David E. Sadava Formats: Achieve, E-book, Print

Authors

  • Headshot of David M. Hillis

    David M. Hillis

    David M. Hillis is the Alfred W. Roark Centennial Professor in Integrative Biology at the University of Texas at Austin, where he also has directed the Center for Computational Biology and Bioinformatics, the Biodiversity Center, and the School of Biological Sciences. Dr. Hillis has taught courses in introductory biology, genetics, evolution, systematics, and biodiversity. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was awarded a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Fellowship, and has served as President of the Society for the Study of Evolution and of the Society of Systematic Biologists. He served on the National Research Council committee that wrote the report BIO 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Biology Education for Research Biologists, and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the National Academies Scientific Teaching Alliance.


  • Headshot of H. Craig Heller

    H. Craig Heller

    H. Craig Heller is the Lorry I. Lokey/Business Wire Professor in Biological Sciences and Human Biology at Stanford University. He has taught in the core biology courses at Stanford since 1972 and served as Director of the Program in Human Biology, Chairman of the Biolo-gical Sciences Department, and Associate Dean of Research. Dr. Heller is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a recipient of the Walter J. Gores Award for excellence in teaching and the Kenneth Cuthberson Award for Exceptional Service to Stanford University. His research is on the neurobiology of sleep and circadian rhythms, mammalian hibernation, the regulation of body temperature, the physiology of human performance, and the neurobiology of learning. He has done research on a huge variety of animals and physiological problems, including sleeping kangaroo rats, diving seals, hibernating bears, photo-periodic hamsters, and exercising athletes. Dr. Heller has extended his enthusiasm for promoting active learning via the development of a two-year curriculum in human biology for the middle grades, through the production of Virtual Labs—interactive computer-based modules to teach physiology.


  • Headshot of Sally D. Hacker

    Sally D. Hacker

    Sally D. Hacker is Professor at Oregon State University where she has been a faculty member since 2004. She has taught courses in introductory ecology, community ecology, invasion biology, field ecology, and marine biology. She was awarded the Murray F. Buell Award by the Ecological Society of America and the Young Investigator Prize by the American Society of Naturalists. Dr. Hacker’s research explores the structure, function, and services of natural and managed ecosystems under varying contexts of species interactions and global change. She has conducted research with plants and animals in rocky intertidal, salt marsh, seagrass, and coastal dune ecosystems. Her work has most recently focused on the protective role of dune ecosystems in mitigating coastal vulnerability due to climate change. In addition to the textbooks Life: The Science of Biology and Ecology (Sinauer Associates), she is author or coauthor on numerous articles and book chapters exploring community ecology, species interactions, marine invasions, and ecosystem services important to coastal management. She is particularly interested in promoting active and experiential learning for students interested in ecology and field-emersion experiences.


  • Headshot of David W. Hall

    David W. Hall

    David W. Hall taught a variety of classes at Wake Forest University, the University of Texas, and the University of Georgia during his academic career. He especially enjoyed teaching introductory biology and genetics to undergraduates and received several teaching awards for his efforts in the classroom. Ever since high school, he has been captivated by the living world but was initially overwhelmed by the enormous diversity of life. However, he soon realized that there are fundamental principles that unite all organisms, which greatly facilitates the study of biology. Helping students learn these principles was the foundation of his biological teaching.


  • Headshot of Marta J. Laskowski

    Marta J. Laskowski

    Marta J. Laskowski is a Professor in the Biology Department at Oberlin College. Dr. Laskowski has mentored undergraduate students in research and has taught introductory biology, skills-based first year seminars (Feeding the World), plant physiology, and plant development. She heads an effort at Oberlin, funded by the HHMI Inclusive Excellence program, to enhance the climate for and success of a diverse student population in STEM. One of her numerous journal articles resulted in a Guinness World Record for the fastest opening flower (Cornus canadensis; bunchberry). A college class in developmental biology so captivated her that she decided to focus her research on discovering the intricate sub-cellular interactions that establish the plant root system.


  • Headshot of David E. Sadava

    David E. Sadava

    David E. Sadava is the Pritzker Family Foundation Professor of Biology, Emeritus, at the Keck Science Center of Claremont McKenna, Pitzer, and Scripps, three of The Claremont Colleges. In addition, he is Adjunct Professor of Cancer Cell Biology at the City of Hope Medical Center. Twice winner of the Huntoon Award for superior teaching, Dr. Sadava has taught courses on introductory biology, biotechnology, biochemistry, cell biology, molecular biology, plant biology, and cancer biology. In addition to Life: The Science of Biology, he is the author or coauthor of books on cell biology and on plants, genes, and crop biotechnology. His research has resulted in many papers coauthored with his students, on topics ranging from plant biochemistry to pharmacology of narcotic analgesics to human genetic diseases. For the past 15 years, he has investigated multi-drug resistance in human small-cell lung carcinoma cells with a view to understanding and overcoming this clinical challenge. At the City of Hope, his current work focuses on new anti-cancer agents from plants.


  • Headshot of Lauren A. O'Connell

    Lauren A. O'Connell

    Lauren A. O’Connell is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Stanford University where she has won many awards for teaching, service, and research. She believes students learn science best by doing genuine science, and thus, she teaches many hands-on laboratory experiences for undergraduate students, both in the classroom and in her own laboratory. The long-term goal of her research program is to combine principles from evolution and ecology with animal behavior and physiology to understand how animal traits evolve and diversify. Most recently, her work has focused on the neurobiology of social behavior and the physiology of chemical defenses in amphibians and reptiles. She is also passionate about diversifying who has access to and who participates in the scientific process with the belief that diversifying the scientific workforce is critical to solving the most pressing planetary and biomedical challenges of our time.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Part one The Science of Life and Its Chemical Basis

 1 Studying Life
 2 Small Molecules and the Chemistry of Life
 3 Proteins, Carbohydrates, and Lipids
 4 Nucleic Acids and the Origin of Life

Part two Cells

 5 Cells: The Working Units of Life
 6 Cell Membranes
 7 Cell Communication and Multicellularity

Part three Cells and Energy

 8 Energy, Enzymes, and Metabolism
 9 Pathways that Harvest Chemical Energy
 10 Photosynthesis: Energy from Sunlight

Part four Genes, Genomes, and Heredity

 11 The Cell Cycle and Cell Division
 12 Inheritance, Genes, and Chromosomes
 13 DNA and Its Role in Heredity
 14 From DNA to Protein: Gene Expression
 15 Gene Mutation and Molecular Medicine
 16 Regulation of Gene Expression
 17 Genomes
 18 Recombinant DNA and Biotechnology

Part five The Processes and Patterns of Evolution

 19 Processes of Evolution
 20 Reconstructing and Using Phylogenies
 21 Evolution of Genes and Genomes
 22 Speciation
 23 The History of Life on Earth

Part six The Evolution of Diversity

 24 Bacteria, Archaea, and Viruses
 25 The Origin and Diversification of Eukaryotes
 26 Plants without Seeds: From Water to Land
 27 The Evolution of Seed Plants
 28 The Evolution and Diversity of Fungi
 29 Animal Origins and the Evolution of Body Plans
 30 Protostome Animals
 31 Deuterostome Animals
 

Part seven Flowering Plants: Form and Function

 32 The Plant Body
 33 Transport in Plants
 34 Plant Nutrition
 35 Regulation of Plant Growth
 36 Reproduction in Flowering Plants
 37 Plant Responses to Environmental Challenges

Part eight Animals: Form and Function

 38 Physiology, Homeostasis, and Temperature Regulation
 39 Animal Hormones
 40 Immunology: Animal Defense Systems
 41 Animal Reproduction
 42 Animal Development
 43 Neurons, Glia, and Nervous Systems
 44 Sensory Systems
 45 The Mammalian Nervous System
 46 Musculoskeletal Systems
 47 Gas Exchange
 48 Circulatory Systems
 49 Nutrition, Digestion, and Absorption
 50 Salt and Water Balance and Nitrogen Excretion
 51 Animal Behavior

Part nine Ecology

 52 The Physical Environment and Biogeography of Life
 53 Populations
 54 Species Interactions
 55 Communities
 56 Ecosystems
 57 A Changing Biosphere

Product Updates

Improvements and updates in Achieve include:

  • Goal Setting and Reflection Surveys help students learn how their expectations and behaviors contribute to achieving their own personal goals for the course. Instructors benefit from easy-to-access reports so they can gain important insights into their students’ expectations, confidence, and personal challenges.
  • New Podcast Interviews highlight current research areas and the diverse scientists involved in that research. These include reflection assignments to help students understand how the concepts they are learning are reflected in real world research.
  • Active Lecture Slides combine iClicker questions with the Powerpoint slides to help instructors provide more active learning opportunities. These work well with iClicker, which students can use for no additional cost through Achieve.
  • New Interactive Homework Assignments (improved from the older Activities content) drive conceptual understanding.
  • New questions have been added to the Adaptive Quizzes (formerly known as LearningCurve)
  • New questions have been added to the test bank.

Improvements and updates to the text content include:

  • Discussion of COVID-19 pandemic is introduced in chapter 1, with further information also added to chapters 17, 19, 21, 24, 40, and 53.
  • Both the narrative and art are updated to reflect the latest research and advances in biology.
  • New co-author Lauren O’Connell from Stanford University offers a new voice to the physiology chapters.

Life 12e digital update is comprehensive and engaging

Life: The Science of Biology is engaging, active, and focused on teaching the skills that students need to master the majors biology course.

The new 12e Digital Update introduces fully updated text content and an improved online suite of materials in Achieve to support the mission of Life. Life teaches students the skills and understanding of concepts, experimentation, and data they need to succeed in introductory biology and ultimately in their future STEM careers.

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David M. Hillis; Craig H. Heller; Sally D. Hacker; David W. Hall; Marta J. Laskowski; David E. Sadava | Twelfth Edition | ©2020 | ISBN:9781319307066

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