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Concepts of Biology

Authors

Samantha Fowler
Clayton State University
Rebecca Roush
Sandhills Community College
James Wise
Hampton University

Contributors

Nick Reeves
Mt. San Jacinto College
Jean DeSaix
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Barbara Kuehner
Hawaii Community College
Brenda Leady
University of Toledo
Lisa Boggs
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
Sherryl Broverman
Duke University
David Byres
Florida State College at Jacksonville
Bernie Marcus
Genesee Community College
Flora Mhlanga
Lipscomb University
Madeline Mignone
Dominican College
Elizabeth Nash
Long Beach City College
Mark Newton
San Jose City College
Diana Oliveras
University of Colorado Boulder
Joel Piperberg
Millersville University
Ann Reisenauer
San Jose State University
Lynn Rumfelt
Gordon College
Mark Belk
Brigham Young University
Aaron Cassill
The University of Texas at San Antonio
Karen Champ
College of Central Florida
Sue Chaplin
University of St. Thomas
Diane Day
Clayton State University
Michael Rutledge
Middle Tennessee State University
Ann Paterson
Williams Baptist College
Donald Slish
SUNY Plattsburgh
David Hunnicutt
St. Norbert College
Edward Saiff
Ramapo College of New Jersey
Brian Shmaefsky
Kingwood College
Gary Shultz
Marshall University
Anh-Hue Tu
Georgia Southwestern State University
Elena Zoubina
Bridgewater State University

Developers

Jordan Gardner
Software Engineer
David Hanks
Software Engineer
John Turner
Software Engineer

Editors

Holly Adams
Copy Editor
Edition 1
(rev. 4027)

Concepts of Biology is designed for the single-semester introduction to biology course for non-science majors, which for many students is their only college-level science course. As such, this course represents an important opportunity for students to develop the necessary knowledge, tools, and skills to make informed decisions as they continue with their lives. Rather than being mired down with facts and vocabulary, the typical non-science major student needs information presented in a way that is easy to read and understand. Even more importantly, the content should be meaningful. Students do much better when they understand why biology is relevant to their everyday lives. For these reasons, Concepts of Biology is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. We also strive to show the interconnectedness of topics within this extremely broad discipline. In order to meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, we maintain the overall organization and coverage found in most syllabi for this course. A strength of Concepts of Biology is that instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Concepts of Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

Concepts of Biology by OpenStax is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution License v4.0.

To purchase a print version of this textbook, please visit openstax.org.

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