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Biology For Dummies, Second Edition PDF

388 Pages·2010·3.85 MB·English
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spine=.7680” Science/Life Sciences/Biology Making Everything Easier!™ 2nd Edition The fast and easy way 2nd Edition to understand biology Open the book and find: gy From molecules to animals, cells to ecosystems, this friendly (cid:129) Plain-English explanations of how Biolo guide answers all your questions about how living things living matter works work. Written in plain English and packed with helpful (cid:129) The parts and functions of cells B illustrations, tables, and diagrams, it cuts right to the chase (cid:129) How food works as a source of with easy-to-absorb explanations of the life processes i energy common to all organisms. o (cid:129) T he 411 on reproduction and (cid:129) Biology 101 — get the lowdown on how life is studied and open a genetics l window on the world’s organisms o (cid:129) Fascinating facts about DNA (cid:129) Jump into the gene pool — discover how cell reproduction technology g and genetics work, from making sense of Mendel’s Law of Segregation to dealing with DNA (cid:129) The biology of bacteria and viruses y (cid:129) Explore the living world — find out how ecology and evolution (cid:129) H ow humans affect the circle of life are the glue that holds everything together (cid:129) An overview of human anatomy (cid:129) Let’s get physical — peruse the principles of physiology to get a handle on animal structure and function (cid:129) Innate human defenses (and adaptive ones, too!) (cid:129) Go green — take a look at the life of plants and understand how they acquire energy, reproduce, and so much more Learn to: (cid:129) Identify and dissect the many structures Go to Dummies.com ® and functions of plants and animals for videos, step-by-step examples, how-to articles, or to shop! (cid:129) Grasp the latest discoveries in evolutionary, reproductive, and ecological biology (cid:129) Think like a biologist and use scientific methods $19.99 US / $23.99 CN / £14.99 UK Rene Fester Kratz, PhD, is a Biology Instructor at Everett Community ISBN 978-0-470-59875-7 Rene Fester Kratz, PhD College and a member of the North Cascades and Olympic Science Author of Molecular and Cell Biology Partnership. Donna Rae Siegfried has been published in Prevention, For Dummies Runner’s World, Men’s Health, and Organic Gardening. Donna Rae Siegfried Kratz Siegfried Writer and former college professor spine=.7680” Get More and Do More at Dummies.com ® 2nd Edition Start with FREE Cheat Sheets 2nd Edition Cheat Sheets include Apps (cid:129) Checklists Mobile (cid:129) Charts (cid:129) Common Instructions (cid:129) And Other Good Stuff! To access the Cheat Sheet created specifically for this book, go to www.dummies.com/cheatsheet/biology Get Smart at Dummies.com Dummies.com makes your life easier with 1,000s of answers on everything from removing wallpaper to using the latest version of Windows. Check out our There’s a Dummies App for This and That (cid:129) Videos (cid:129) Illustrated Articles (cid:129) Step-by-Step Instructions With more than 200 million books in print and over 1,600 unique Plus, each month you can win valuable prizes by entering titles, Dummies is a global leader in how-to information. Now our Dummies.com sweepstakes. * you can get the same great Dummies information in an App. With topics such as Wine, Spanish, Digital Photography, Certification, Want a weekly dose of Dummies? Sign up for Newsletters on (cid:129) Digital Photography and more, you’ll have instant access to the topics you need to (cid:129) Microsoft Windows & Office know in a format you can trust. (cid:129) Personal Finance & Investing (cid:129) Health & Wellness To get information on all our Dummies apps, visit the following: (cid:129) Computing, iPods & Cell Phones www.Dummies.com/go/mobile from your computer. (cid:129) eBay www.Dummies.com/go/iphone/apps from your phone. (cid:129) Internet (cid:129) Food, Home & Garden Find out “HOW” at Dummies.com *Sweepstakes not currently available in all countries; visit Dummies.com for official rules. Biology FOR DUMmIES ‰ 2 ND EDITION by Rene Fester Kratz, PhD, and Donna Rae Siegfried 0011__559988775577--ffffiirrss..iinndddd ii 55//77//1100 1111::4400 PPMM Biology For Dummies®, 2nd Edition Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc. 111 River St. Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774 www.wiley.com Copyright © 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permit- ted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http:// www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, Making Everything Easier, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/ or its affi liates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITH- OUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS. THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION. THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES. IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM. THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZA- TION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE. FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ. For general information on our other products and services, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. For technical support, please visit www.wiley.com/techsupport. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Control Number: 2010926846 ISBN: 978-0-470-59875-7 Manufactured in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0011__559988775577--ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiii 55//77//1100 1111::4400 PPMM About the Authors Rene Fester Kratz, PhD, teaches cellular biology and microbiology. She is a member of the North Cascades and Olympic Science Partnership, where she helped create inquiry-based science courses for future teachers. Kratz is also the author of Molecular and Cell Biology For Dummies and Microbiology The Easy Way. Donna Rae Siegfried has written about pharmaceutical and medical topics for 15 years in publications including Prevention, Runner’s World, Men’s Health, and Organic Gardening. She has taught anatomy and physiology at the college level. She is also the author of Anatomy & Physiology For Dummies. 0011__559988775577--ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiiiii 55//77//1100 1111::4400 PPMM 0011__559988775577--ffffiirrss..iinndddd iivv 55//77//1100 1111::4400 PPMM Dedication To the memory of Cindy Fuller Kratz Berdan, RN. Thanks for all of your encouragement over the years. —Rene Kratz Author’s Acknowledgments Thanks to Matt Wagner, of Fresh Books, Inc., for helping me (Rene) fi nd the opportunity to work on the second edition of this book. And thanks to all the great people at Wiley who made it happen: editors Tim Gallan and Jennifer Tebbe, acquisitions editor Erin Calligan Mooney, art coordinator Alicia South, and technical reviewers Michael Pratt and Medhane Cumbay. Thanks also to Sheree Montgomery, the project coordinator in Composition, and Kathryn Born, who worked on the art. On the home front, thanks to my husband, Dan, and my sons, Hueston and Dashiel, for all of their love and support. —Rene Kratz 0011__559988775577--ffffiirrss..iinndddd vv 55//77//1100 1111::4400 PPMM Publisher’s Acknowledgments We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our Dummies online registration form located at http://dummies.custhelp.com. For other comments, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 877-762-2974, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3993, or fax 317-572-4002. Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following: Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Composition Services Development Project Coordinator: Sheree Montgomery Senior Project Editor: Tim Gallan Illustrator: Kathryn Born Acquisitions Editor: Lindsay Lefevere Layout and Graphics: Ashley Chamberlain Copy Editor: Jennifer Tebbe Proofreaders: Laura Bowman, Lindsay Littrell Senior Editorial Assistant: David Lutton Indexer: Potomac Indexing, LLC Technical Editors: Medhane G. Cumbay, Michael W. Pratt Editorial Manager: Michelle Hacker Editorial Assistants: Jennette ElNaggar, Rachelle S. Amick Art Coordinator: Alicia B. South Cover Photos: © Digital Art/Corbis Cartoons: Rich Tennant (www.the5thwave.com) Publishing and Editorial for Consumer Dummies Diane Graves Steele, Vice President and Publisher, Consumer Dummies Kristin Ferguson-Wagstaffe, Product Development Director, Consumer Dummies Ensley Eikenburg, Associate Publisher, Travel Kelly Regan, Editorial Director, Travel Publishing for Technology Dummies Andy Cummings, Vice President and Publisher, Dummies Technology/General User Composition Services Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services 0011__559988775577--ffffiirrss..iinndddd vvii 55//77//1100 1111::4400 PPMM Contents at a Glance Introduction ................................................................ 1 Part I: Biology Basics .................................................. 7 Chapter 1: Exploring the Living World ............................................................................9 Chapter 2: How Life Is Studied .......................................................................................13 Chapter 3: The Chemistry of Life ...................................................................................27 Chapter 4: The Living Cell...............................................................................................47 Chapter 5: Acquiring Energy to Run the Motor ...........................................................65 Part II: Cell Reproduction and Genetics: Let’s Talk about Sex, Baby ......................................... 79 Chapter 6: Dividing to Conquer: Cell Division..............................................................81 Chapter 7: Making Mendel Proud: Understanding Genetics ....................................101 Chapter 8: Reading the Book of Life: DNA and Proteins ...........................................113 Chapter 9: Engineering the Code: DNA Technology ..................................................129 Part III: It’s a Small, Interconnected World ............... 141 Chapter 10: Biodiversity and Classifi cation ...............................................................143 Chapter 11: Observing How Organisms Get Along ....................................................159 Chapter 12: Evolving Species in an Ever-Changing World ........................................183 Part IV: Systems Galore! Animal Structure and Function ........................................................... 203 Chapter 13: Pondering the Principles of Physiology .................................................205 Chapter 14: Moving and Shaking: Skeletal and Muscular Systems ..........................211 Chapter 15: Going with the Flow: Respiratory and Circulatory Systems ...............221 Chapter 16: Checking Out the Plumbing: Animal Digestive and Excretory Systems ......................................................................................................241 Chapter 17: Fighting Back: Human Defenses ..............................................................259 Chapter 18: The Nervous and Endocrine Systems, Messengers Extraordinaire ...277 Chapter 19: Reproduction 101: Making More Animals ..............................................295 0022__559988775577--ffttoocc..iinndddd vviiii 55//77//1100 1111::4400 PPMM Part V: It’s Not Easy Being Green: Plant Structure and Function .................................... 319 Chapter 20: Living the Life of a Plant ..........................................................................321 Chapter 21: Probing into Plant Physiology .................................................................333 Part VI: The Par t of Tens .......................................... 341 Chapter 22: Ten Great Biology Discoveries ................................................................343 Chapter 23: Ten Ways Biology Affects Your Life .......................................................347 Index ...................................................................... 351 0022__559988775577--ffttoocc..iinndddd vviiiiii 55//77//1100 1111::4400 PPMM

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An updated edition of the ultimate guide to understanding biologyEver wondered how the food you eat becomes the energy your body needs to keep going? The theory of evolution says that humans and chimps descended from a common ancestor, but does it tell us how and why? We humans are insatiably curiou
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