Biological Sciences, Revised Edition

Kyle Kirkland

Description

Biological Sciences, Revised Edition covers a wide range of topics under the vast umbrella of biology, the study of life. Students will learn about the methods and applications of the field through an exploration of disciplines, such as neurology, genetics, and virology. This newly revised edition uses scientific journal articles, reports, and press releases to offer the latest from key scientists and researchers in the field.

Chapters include:

• Brain Imaging: Searching for Sites of Perception and Consciousness


• The Human Genome in Health and Disease


• Protein Structure and Function


• Biodiversity—The Complexity of Life


• The Biology and Evolution of Viruses


• Regeneration—Healing by Regrowing.

Sujets

• Life Sciences
• Sciences et techniques
• Biology
• Research
• Scientist
• Discovery
• Science

Informations

• Publié par: Infobase Publishing
• Date de parution: 01 mai 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438195919
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Biological Sciences, Revised Edition
Copyright © 2020 by Kyle Kirkland
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For more information, contact:
Facts On File An imprint of Infobase 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001
ISBN 978-1-4381-9591-9
You can find Facts On File on the World Wide Web at http://www.infobase.com
Contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapters Brain Imaging: Searching for Sites of Perception and Consciousness The Human Genome in Health and Disease Protein Structure and Function Biodiversity—The Complexity of Life The Biology and Evolution of Viruses Regeneration—Healing by Regrowing Final Thoughts Support Materials Chronology: Brain Imaging Chronology: The Human Genome in Health and Disease Chronology: Protein Structure and Function Chronology: Biodiversity Chronology: The Biology and Evolution of Viruses Chronology: Regeneration Glossary Index
Preface

Discovering what lies behind a hill or beyond a neighborhood can be as simple as taking a short walk. But curiosity and the urge to make new discoveries usually require people to undertake journeys much more adventuresome than a short walk, and scientists often study realms far removed from everyday observation—sometimes even beyond the present means of travel or vision. Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus's (1473–1543) heliocentric (Sun-centered) model of the solar system, published in 1543, ushered in the modern age of astronomy more than 400 years before the first rocket escaped Earth's gravity. Scientists today probe the tiny domain of atoms, pilot submersibles into marine trenches far beneath the waves, and analyze processes occurring deep within stars.
Many of the newest areas of scientific research involve objects or places that are not easily accessible, if at all. These objects may be trillions of miles away, such as the newly discovered planetary systems, or they may be as close as inside a person's head; the brain, a delicate organ encased and protected by the skull, has frustrated many of the best efforts of biologists until recently. The subject of interest may not be at a vast distance or concealed by a protective covering, but instead it may be removed in terms of time. For example, people need to learn about the evolution of Earth's weather and climate in order to understand the changes taking place today, yet no one can revisit the past.
Frontiers of Science is an eight-volume set that explores topics at the forefront of research in the following sciences: biological sciences chemistry computer science Earth science marine science physics space and astronomy weather and climate
The set focuses on the methods and imagination of people who are pushing the boundaries of science by investigating subjects that are not readily observable or are otherwise cloaked in mystery. Each volume includes six topics, one per chapter, and each chapter has the same format and structure. The chapter provides a chronology of the topic and establishes its scientific and social relevance, discusses the critical questions and the research techniques designed to answer these questions, describes what scientists have learned and may learn in the future, highlights the technological applications of this knowledge, and makes recommendations for further reading. The topics cover a broad spectrum of the science, from issues that are making headlines to ones that are not as yet well known. Each chapter can be read independently; some overlap among chapters of the same volume is unavoidable, so a small amount of repetition is necessary for each chapter to stand alone. But the repetition is minimal, and cross-references are used as appropriate.
Scientific inquiry demands a number of skills. The National Committee on Science Education Standards and Assessment and the National Research Council, in addition to other organizations such as the National Science Teachers Association, have stressed the training and development of these skills. Science students must learn how to raise important questions, design the tools or experiments necessary to answer these questions, apply models in explaining the results and revise the model as needed, be alert to alternative explanations, and construct and analyze arguments for and against competing models.
Progress in science often involves deciding which competing theory, model, or viewpoint provides the best explanation. For example, a major issue in biology for many decades was determining if the brain functions as a whole (the holistic model) or if parts of the brain carry out specialized functions (functional localization). Recent developments in brain imaging resolved part of this issue in favor of functional localization by showing that specific regions of the brain are more active during certain tasks. At the same time, however, these experiments have raised other questions that future research must answer.
The logic and precision of science are elegant, but applying scientific skills can be daunting at first. The goals of the Frontiers of Science set are to explain how scientists tackle difficult research issues and to describe recent advances made in these fields. Understanding the science behind the advances is critical because sometimes new knowledge and theories seem unbelievable until the underlying methods become clear. Consider the following examples. Some scientists have claimed that the last few years are the warmest in the past 500 or even 1,000 years, but reliable temperature records date only from about 1850. Geologists talk of volcano hot spots and plumes of abnormally hot rock rising through deep channels, although no one has drilled more than a few miles below the surface. Teams of neuroscientists—scientists who study the brain—display images of the activity of the brain as a person dreams, yet the subject's skull has not been breached. Scientists often debate the validity of new experiments and theories, and a proper evaluation requires an understanding of the reasoning and technology that support or refute the arguments.
Curiosity about how scientists came to know what they do—and why they are convinced that their beliefs are true—has always motivated me to study not just the facts and theories but also the reasons why these are true (or at least believed). I could never accept unsupported statements or confine my attention to one scientific discipline. When I was young, I learned many things from my father, a physicist who specialized in engineering mechanics, and my mother, a mathematician and computer systems analyst. And from an archaeologist who lived down the street, I learned one of the reasons why people believe Earth has evolved and changed—he took me to a field where we found marine fossils such as shark's teeth, which backed his claim that this area had once been under water! After studying electronics while I was in the air force, I attended college, switching my major a number of times until becoming captivated with a subject that was itself a melding of two disciplines—biological psychology. I went on to earn a doctorate in neuroscience, studying under physicists, computer scientists, chemists, anatomists, geneticists, physiologists, and mathematicians. My broad interests and background have served me well as a science writer, giving me the confidence, or perhaps I should say chutzpah, to write a set of books on such a vast array of topics.
Seekers of knowledge satisfy their curiosity about how the world and its organisms work, but the applications of science are not limited to intellectual achievement. The topics in Frontiers of Science affect society on a multitude of levels. Civilization has always faced an uphill battle to procure scarce resources, solve technical problems, and maintain order. In modern times, one of the most important resources is energy, and the physics of fusion potentially offers a nearly boundless supply. Technology makes life easier and solves many of today's problems, and nanotechnology may extend the range of devices into extremely small sizes. Protecting one's personal information in transactions conducted via the Internet is a crucial application of computer science.
But the scope of science today is so vast that no set of eight volumes can hope to cover all of the frontiers. The chapters in Frontiers of Science span a broad range of each science but could not possibly be exhaustive. Selectivity was painful (and editorially enforced) but necessary, and in my opinion, the choices are diverse and reflect current trends. The same is true for the subjects within each chapter—a lot of fascinating research did not get mentioned, not because it is unimportant, but because there was no room to do it justice.
Extending the limits of knowledge relies on basic science skills as well as ingenuity in asking and answering the right questions. The 48 topics discussed in these books are not straightforward laboratory exercises but complex, gritty research problems at the frontiers of science. Exploring uncharted territory presents exceptional challenges but also offers equally impressive rewards, whether the motivation is to solve a practical problem or to gain a better understanding of human nature. If this set encourages some of its readers to plunge into a scientific frontier and conquer a few of its unknowns, the books will be worth all the effort required to produce them.
Acknowledgments

Thanks go to Frank K. Darmstadt, executive editor at Facts On File, and the FOF staff for all their hard work, which I admit I sometimes made a little bit harder. Thanks also to Tobi Zausner for researching and locating so many great photographs. I also appreciate the time and effort of a large number of researchers who were k