Biology Investigating Life on Earth (The Jones and Bartlett/Bookmark Series in Biology)

By Vernon L. Avila

This exciting edition of Avila's popular biology textbook offers current, accurate, clearly written and well organized information, including seven new chapters. Written for introductory biology courses, this text represents the philosophy that an understanding of the principles of biology from a cellular perspective is key to a biological literacy and a full appreciation of the many intricacies of life.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0867209429
• ISBN13: 9780867209426
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC
• Length: 979 Pages
• Weight: 4.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 11.3" x 1.5" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Regarding Science-Ejected Vitalism:

Vitalism is a hugely science-ejected concept, though many CAM or 'natural health' cabals claim that vitalism survives scientific scrutiny. Some favorite quotes from this book: "vitalism is a philosophy that explains life in terms of a life force [...per] things are alive because the possess a vital life force [...vitalism] is untestable [ & therefore not scientific or baseable in science...] the concept of soul or life force is untestable -- it is a matter of faith, an article of belief, or a question that philosophers call metaphysical (meaning beyond or above physical reality) [...] mechanism is a testable philosophy that attributes life to natural laws [...] mechanism states that since life is a natural phenomenon, life processes are subject to the natural laws of physics & chemistry [p.010...] the majority of biologists today follow mechanistic philosophy in their work, since mechanism can generate the testable questions that vitalism cannot [...per] biologists study life by trying to understand more about the natural laws of chemistry & physics & how they apply to the phenomenon we call life [p.011...] vitalism, the philosophy that a vital life force is responsible for life, is not testable [...while] the philosophy of mechanism, which states that life is a natural phenomenon subject to natural laws, is testable, & serves as the philosophical perspective for the study of life [p.023]."