Know It All Biology

Nicholas Battey is a Professor of Plant Development at the University of Reading whose expertise lies in pure and applied plant biology as well as a strong interest in the history of biology on wildlife. Mark Fellowes has been passionate about wildlife since an early age, spending his formative years in the wilds of the west of Ireland surveying birds and bringing bits of the countryside back home. He completed his BSc in zoology and a PhD in evolutionary biology at Imperial College London. Following a brief post-doctoral stint at the NERC Centre for Population Biology at Imperial, he joined Reading as a lecturer. Since then he became Professor of Ecology, and he is now Pro-Vice Chancellor at the University. Professor Fellowes has published several books and numerous papers in research journals. He undertakes a range of outreach work to engage the public and media in the importance of biodiversity and was listed as one of the UK’s 100 most influential men under the age of 40 by Esquire magazine.  

CONTENTS
Foreword 6–7
Introduction 8–11
Life 12–33
14 GLOSSARY
16 What is life?
18 Prokaryotes vs Eukaryotes
20 Viruses
22 Profile: Lynn Margulis
24 Bacteria & Archea
26 Fungi
28 Plants
30 Animals
32 Controversy: synthetic life
Growth & Reproduction 34–51
36 GLOSSARY
38 Mitosis & meiosis
40 Development: animal
42 Development: plant
44 Reproduction: animals
46 Reproduction: plants
48 Profile: Elizabeth Blackburn
50 Controversy: GM organisms
Genetics 52–69
54 GLOSSARY
56 DNA, RNA & chromatin
58 Mendelian genetics
60 Population genetics
62 Epigenetics
64 Genomics
66 Profile: Bill Hamilton
68 Controversy: Genetic prediction of disease susceptibility
From Genes to Organisms 70–91
72 GLOSSARY
74 Transcription & translation
76 Protein structure & function
78 Profile: Harald zur Hausen
80 Cell communication & hormones
82 Immunity
84 Neurons & the nervous system
86 Muscles
88 Circulatory system
90 Controversy: stem cells for replacement organisms
Energy & Nutrition 92–109
94 GLOSSARY
96 Energy flow: ATP, respiration
98 Profile: Norman Borlaug
100 Photosynthesis
102 Metabolism
104 Nutrition
106 Excretion
108 Controversy: Cellulose & biofuels
Evolution 110–131
112 GLOSSARY
114 Microevolution
116 Macroevolution
118 Sexual selection
120 Coevolution
122 Profile: Charles Darwin
124 Mutualisms
126 Behaviour
128 Language
130 Controversy: Why we age
Ecology 132–153
134 GLOSSARY
136 Biogeography – biomes
138 Population ecology
140 Food webs
142 Global energy flow
144 Profile: Bob May
146 Climate change biology
148 Invasive species
150 Extinction
152 Controversy: the Anthropocene
Notes on Contributors 154–55
Resources 156–57
Index 158–59
Acknowledgements 160