Preface

Summary

There are many excellent introductory biology textbooks available, so why write another? The answer lies partly in the rapid expansion of modern biology and partly in the needs and aspirations of modern students.

The second half of the 20th century and the early 21st century have seen such major developments as the unravelling of the structure of DNA, the complete cataloguing of the genome of humans and other species, and the first successful cloning. These developments are reflected in university biology curricula, which offer new units and courses in subjects such as molecular genetics and biotechnology and a much greater prominence for molecular biology in introductory textbooks. Simultaneously, other biologists have noted with concern the impacts of climate change, increasing human populations and changing technologies on natural environments and other species. They note that the rate of extinction in species at present is well above the background extinction rate shown in the fossil record, suggesting that the world is in a period of human-caused mass extinction that is reducing our biological heritage. These realisations are reflected in the curricula too, with new courses and units in conservation biology and restoration biology, as well as chapters on conservation in introductory textbooks.

Students majoring in biology at university need a thorough grounding in all these new areas as well as the more traditional aspects of the discipline. They are well served by existing textbooks, but many non-majors lack the space in their crowded timetables to cover all the topics in such detail.