Introduction

Welcome to the science of life; the study of living organisms, to which we all are inseparably adjoined. Biology seeks to understand the structure (anatomy), function (physiology), origin, evolution, and distribution of living things. Your efforts here will provide you knowledge of botany, zoology, and all their numerous subdivisions, from microbiology to population genetics.

Current news headlines are filled with biological topics concerning the genome project, stem cell research, cloning, bioterrorism and even extraterrestrial biology. While this introductory course will not make you an expert on these subjects, it will give you a working knowledge of contemporary topics; help you make informed decisions, and may even set you on a path to further scientific inquiry. It is my sincere hope that your foray into the study of life is as valuable and enlightening to you as it was to me on my first excursion into biology. It instilled in me an unquenchable thirst for knowledge. As this course will also be a new experience in distance education for many of you, I would like to reassure you that you are not alone. Technical support is always available to you from those gregarious gurus at CDE Support or call toll-free 1-888-UTA-DIST, or you can make a local call 817-272-7181. Of course, I will be available through personal email should you need assistance or have questions.

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Science Defined

Herbert Spencer (1861) provided us with this concise definition of science: “Science is organized knowledge.” The word science is from the Latin scire, meaning to know. Science can be seen as pure science and applied science. Science, in its pure context, is the honest search for knowledge of nature. In an applied sense, science is the cognitive attempt at understanding natural processes through evidence, and by doing so build a basis for other discovery. The application of acquired knowledge has allowed us to build technologies that further our understanding of the natural world and improve human welfare. The sciences we speak of are concerned with objectively measurable phenomena dealing with matter and energy, and are often called natural sciences (as opposed to bodies of knowledge addressing the divine, supernatural or paranormal). Natural sciences have historical as well as experimental dimensions. Categorization of the sciences into historical and experimental sciences is helpful in understanding how they obtain knowledge, but you must remember that these categorical definitions have blurry boundaries. One scientific discipline can, and usually does, overlap and draw upon the others.

Historical (Observational) Sciences

The historical (observational) sciences are those branches of science that deal heavily with historical evidence, such as paleontology (the study of fossils and the fossil record) and archaeology (the systematic study of past human life and culture). Extensive observational evidence has built ancient historical records from prehistoric artifacts and fossils by way of the historical sciences. The newest historical science, bioinformatics, uses a vast computer database to gather biological information concerning genetics. The analysis of historical records can be very sophisticated, relying on mathematical and statistical analysis. However, history is in the past and cannot be manipulated so as to conduct an experiment. Nevertheless, historical sciences draw on experimental science to interpret historical evidence, and experimental sciences incorporate historical evidence to help design and interpret experiments examining our natural world.

Experimental Sciences

The experimental sciences rely heavily on experimental evidence obtained by manipulating or testing natural phenomena in some way. An experiment involves manipulating nature in some fashion and seeing what happens. Experimentation formalizes the everyday practice of learning by trial and error. Most people have heard that a good experiment compares results of a “treatment”, where one variable of interest has been changed, to a “control” where nothing has been changed. Today, many experiments are much more sophisticated than this, and may include changes in multiple variables, and several types of controls. Statistical analysis is often necessary to understand the results of such complex experiments. Nevertheless, the essence of an experimental science is that it proceeds by manipulating natural factors, and observing the responses in natural phenomena.

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