Discover Biology - Core Topics Edition

Discover a chapter organization that promotes scientific understanding.

Each chapter in Discover Biology opens with a story that engages student interest and helps to answer the all-too-common question, “Why should I care about biology?"

That story is revisited at the end of the chapter, demonstrating how the core chapter reading allows for a more sophisticated understanding of the chapter opening story.

Discover artwork presented at the right level of detail for nonmajors.

Discover Biology is written and illustrated from the ground up for nonmajors. Each chapter’s content and artwork is consistently presented with just the right level of detail to promote scientific literacy.

For the fourth edition, Anu Singh-Cundy reevaluated every piece of art with an eye toward keeping the presentation simple and avoiding excessive detail. Many of the figures include concise bubble captions that guide students through the figure’s most important features.

Discover features that highlight key concepts and biology’s relevance to everyday life.

• New Concept Checks throughout the text promote long-term retention of the material by asking students to think critically about the chapter reading.
• Nearly 200 bracketed pronunciation guides accompany difficult to pronounce key terms and scientific names.
• Recognizing that mastering scientific terminology is a key part of true scientific literacy, Discover Biology includes Helpful to Know marginal annotations. These encourage deep understanding of vocabulary that will serve students through their next exam and beyond.
• Biology Matters boxes on topics such as human health and the environment connect chapter content to information of practical importance, with the goal of raising student awareness of the opportunities they have to make choices in their own lives.
• Science Toolkit boxes give students insight into the methods, tools, and ideas that scientists employ in their research.
• Biology on the Job boxes examine how biological literacy can help in “nonbiological” careers such as crime-scene investigation and biotech investing.

Discover Biology in the News

The Biology in the News sections strengthen scientific literacy. Actual news stories in the textbook, on the DVD, and on the website show students how their coursework helps them to make sense of current events.

Discover Comprehensive Chapter Reviews

These straightforward and clearly presented summaries of the chapter’s key concepts and terms are presented along with multiple choice questions and answers to help students reinforce what they’ve learned.