Table of Contents

1. Learning about Human Biology.
2. Chemistry of Life.
3. Cells and How They Work.
4. Tissues, Organs, and Organ Systems.
5. The Skeletal System.
6. The Muscular System.
7. Circulation: The Heart and Blood Vessels.
8. Blood.
9. Immunity and Disease.
10. The Respiratory System.
11. Digestion and Nutrition.
12. The Urinary System.
13. The Nervous System.
14. Sensory Systems.
15. The Endocrine System.
16. Reproductive Systems.
17. Development and Aging.
18. Cell Reproduction.
19. Introduction to Genetics.
20. Chromosomes and Human Genetics.
21. DNA, Genes, and Biotechnology.
22. Genes and Disease: Cancer.
23. Principles of Evolution.
24. Principles of Ecology.
25. Human Impacts on the Biosphere.

About the Author

Beverly McMillan has been a science writer for more than 25 years and is coauthor of a college text in human biology, now in its eighth edition. She was worked extensively in educational and commercial publishing, including 8 years in editorial management positions in the college divisions of Random House and McGraw-Hill. In a multifaceted freelance career, Bev also has written or coauthored 10 trade books, as well as story panels for exhibitions at the Science Museum of Virginia and the San Francisco Exploratorium. She has worked as a radio producer and speechwriter for the University of California system and as science writer and media relations advisor for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science of the College of William and Mary. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. For the past two decades, Cecie Starr has been known as one of the best-selling biology textbook authors. Her texts, appreciated for their clarity in both the written word and the visual representation of biological concepts, include multiple editions of BIOLOGY: THE UNITY AND DIVERSITY OF LIFE, BIOLOGY: CONCEPTS AND APPLICATIONS, and BIOLOGY TODAY AND TOMORROW. Her original dream was to become an architect. Instead of building houses, she now builds, with care and attention to detail, incredible texts based on this philosophy: "I invite students into a chapter through an intriguing story. Once inside, they get the great windows that biologists construct on the world of life. Biology is not just another house. It is a conceptual mansion. I hope to do it justice."