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Biology
Definition: The study of living organisms and |
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Click Here for my page on general science... |
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Click Here for my page on Life... |
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Click Here for my page on Evolution... |
The 1976 edition of the Basic Biology textbook, by Richard A. Goldsby, starts out with, "Biology is defined as the study of life. But what is life?"Mr. Goldsby said, "To explore the characteristics of life in general, three approaches are available. The first can be called the functional approach. It is based on a simple idea: life is what life does. It is easy to list all the characteristic activities of life, or the behavior of living things. In fact, a few decades ago such lists were often used as the basis for defining life. But this was a purely physiological definition. The second approach is genetic. [Goldsby's emphasis] It is based on the premise that if we can learn how life began we will then understand what life is. Finally there is the structural approach. We can try to understand life by studying the physical and chemical organization of life. Each of these approaches has its limitations. Together, however, they form the basic tools with which the biologist is able to explore the nature of life and the nature of all living things." (p. I)
In his page IX summary, Goldsby went on to say, "We can easily classify most things as being either living or nonliving. But what do we use as the basis for such classification? Exobiologists at NASA have concluded that only two characteristics can be considered truly fundamental to life. One is the ability to reproduce. The other is the ability to produce and perpetuate genetic variation among offspring. The second characteristic is important because it enables a species to survive drastic environmental change by itself changing. Individuals with a trait that has survival value under changing conditions are more likely to live and reproduce. Those with the valuable trait will thus pass it on to their offspring. In time, the entire population will possess it."
Goldsby is pointing in the direction of evolution, another subject of interest to me, but the main idea for this page is life and living things. Think, for a moment, how marvelous, wonderful and special living things actually are. Plants, insects, mammals, fish - they're all more wonderful and amazing than anything the human mind could ever invent or imagine. I, myself, am swept away with the mystery of it all and can only begin to explain and illustrate how important living things, all living things, really are in this world. Of course as I write this, in 2006, much of life has been destroyed, or is being destroyed, by human greed and indifference.
Nevertheless, as time permits, I'll add bits and pieces that are of biological interest to this page. With a little luck, my effort my help reverse a trend that's wrecking so much havoc on the natural world. And, there are countless other works equal or better to Godlsby's conttribution. I just happened across his book, exactly 30 years after it was first published, and found it an appropriate start for a fascinating subject - life!
- Roger J. Wendell
Golden, Colorado - spring 2006
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Mushroom I found near Ken Booker's memorial in the Colorado Rockies in August 2004... |
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(deoxyribonucleic acid) adenine thymine guanine cytosine |
Life Defined:
There are currently four biological groups recognized by modern science.
Here's a brief summary of each:
Miscellaneous Definitions:
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Links:
Back to Roger J. Wendell's Home Page...
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