The Ideas of Biology

by John Tyler Bonner

Book Overview

"The great achievement of this book," observed the distinguished science writer Gerald Wendt, "is that it presents the basic concepts of biology in concise, lucid, orderly form and thus gradually and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486424197
• ISBN13: 9780486424194
• Release Date: November 2002
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 6.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Best critical synthesis of biology concepts I have read

I found a four dollar copy of this book at my hometown used book store. I read it on the plane coming back. It's slim, only 160 pages, and I thoroughly enjoyed every paragraph. Bonner explains in the beginning that Biology, more than most sciences, is a large collection of facts. Students are often so overwhelmed by the memorization of these facts that they are unable to synthesize the important concepts. Bonner then takes us on a journey through the Cell, Evolution, Genetics, and Development, and finally a description of how life is built from the simple to the complex, which brings us to ecology and conservation. I highly recommend this for the biology student who wants to gel all the information you've learned into a coherent narrative. This discussion of what the science of life really *means* is very helpful, and beautifully written. Though the science, being from 1962, is clearly a little behind the bleeding edge, these "big ideas" haven't changed much.