evolution

Although the material in this book is challenging, it throughly explains the material at hand. The CD-ROM is very useful and explained the material in simple terms.

Worst bio book I have ever read (i have read about 9 different bio books). I am one of those people who never write reviews on books--I usually am the reader. This book was so bad that I actually felt obligated to to write about it so i may warn others (beleive me, I am pretty lazy). The book tries to get you to enjoy the old and cutting edge research behind all scientific data. Big emphasis on the word TRIES. It fails at accomplishing this task. The main task of a biology book is to teach you biology. Unlike most books, Biological Science's goal is to make people enjoy biology and the research behind it. People who already have somewhat of an interest in biology should turn away from this book because it fails in letting the reader discover on his/her OWN that biolgy is an exciting and an enjoyable field to study. Instead the book tries to accomplish this task for you which is its greatest mistake. To add to the trouble, the book has terrible organization (mainly when making points within each chapter). In trying to show all the cutting edge technology and important points in a fashionable way, it makes itself dizzy--it jumps from one point to the next. I would continue about the faults of Biologial Science but I am tired and hungry and I don't hate this book enough to keep writing more about it (pretty sad huh...?). So take my advice and talk to your professor about changing this book if you find out that you have to read it--chances are that won't happen but best of luck in your efforts.

I think this text is very well done. The writing is clear and the examples and graphics are very useful. The CD rom, although it does need some massaging to work (requires Netscape 4 or 5, and shockwave I forget which), the necessary programs are included on the CD. Once it's up and running, it's great! The tutorials and activities are very useful in clarifying the information- it even shows a movie of Mitosis and Meiosis happening side by side, to illustrate the similarities and differences- something which otherwise is difficult to envision and comprehend at the intro level. The web resources that also come with this book are very useful. The CD rom is repeated there (so you don't have to "downgrade" your software), plus it has quite a bit of extra material.

I would use this text if I were teaching an college, or even high school, intro bio course.