Biology

Neurons and Muscles

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$49.95
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$29.95
In Stock Date: 
03/24/2016

A. Malcolm Campbell, Christopher Paradise

Whenever a dancer or an athlete performs amazing feats, it is the consequence of two very interesting cell types: neurons and muscles. When the two of these cell types work together, animals can move in complex ways with surprising control. Not only do they work together to produce movement, they have many traits in common. They both convert chemical signals into electrical information, and then back into chemical information again. This book will examine how neurons process information and communicate to adjacent cells.

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The Source of Genetic Information

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$49.95
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$29.95
In Stock Date: 
03/24/2016

A. Malcolm Campbell, Christopher Paradise

Everyone who has taken any biology class knows that DNA is the heritable material. However, very few people know the evidence that led to this conclusion. Science is a discipline based on evidence not acceptance based on faith in a teacher or other authority. This book presents the historical and scientific context to understand how we know DNA is the heritable material. Furthermore, how the structure of DNA reveals its function will be discussed. The famous double helix shape foretold how it would be replicated.

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Evolution of Eukaryotes

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$29.95
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03/24/2016

A. Malcolm Campbell, Christopher Paradise

Many people have a vague sense that the hypothesized origin of life, in the form of bacteria, sounds plausible. However, few people can fathom how the first eukaryotic cell, complete with nucleus, mitochondria and maybe chloroplast, came into being. This book presents the evidence that reveals the origins of all three DNA-containing organelles. In addition, this book will illustrate how DNA, a molecule that is 2 meters (6 feet) long, can fit into all cells’ nuclei that are only about 2 microns (0.000002 meters) in diameter.

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Photosynthesis

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04/13/2017

A. Malcolm Campbell, Christopher J. Paradise

Perhaps the most important chemical reactions on the planet take place inside a plant’s chloroplasts. In this tiny green organelle, plants have the capacity to capture the energy in light and use that energy to convert CO2 gas into building blocks used to produce all four categories of biological molecules—lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and nucleic acids. Animals could not survive if plants did not exist. Not only do they provide us with oxygen to breathe, they also generate the starting materials for everything we eat.

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Ecological Dynamics

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$49.95
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$29.95
In Stock Date: 
03/24/2016

Christopher Paradise, A. Malcolm Campbell

Population growth, dynamics, and blooms of bacterial, unicellular eukaryotes, and toxic algae are described in this book. Microbes are used to illustrate both exponential and logistic population growth. Microbes are also used to illustrate dynamics in other aspects of ecological systems, including nutrient cycling. The movement of nitrogen in ecological systems is largely affected by microbes, some of which have symbiotic relationships with legumes.

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Behavior and Information Exchange

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$29.95
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03/04/2016

Christopher J. Paradise and A. Malcolm Campbell

Animal behavior includes the exchange of non-heritable information between individuals of the same species. Animals exchange information for a variety of reasons, including mating, defense, and cooperation, and all of these situations will be discussed. This book will describe the functions of communication and information transfer between organisms and explain how animals communicate and find each other through use of different signals. The costs and benefits of using various signals will be evaluated, as will the costs and benefits of living in groups.

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Using DNA Information to Make Proteins

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03/28/2016

A. Malcolm Campbell, Christopher Paradise

Many people were taught that DNA is the “blueprint of the cell,” but what does that really mean? If taken literally, it would reveal a static image of what the cell looks like, but that would be incorrect. DNA codes the necessary information to produce a living being but the DNA itself is insufficient to bring a cell to life. DNA must be transcribed into segments of RNA and the RNA must generate proteins from unassembled amino acids. The conversion of DNA information into functional proteins is often referred to as central dogma, which reflects its critical role in life.

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Cellular Respiration

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03/24/2016

A. Malcolm Campbell, Christopher Paradise

What happens to a meal after it is eaten? Food consists primarily of lipids, proteins and carbohydrates (sugars). How do cells in the body process food once it is eaten and turned it into a form of energy that other cells can use? This book examines some of the classic experimental data that revealed how cells break down food to extract the energy. Metabolism of food is regulated so that energy extraction increases when needed and slows down when not needed. This type of self-regulation is all part of the complex web of enzymes that convert food into energy.

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Cellular Structure and Function

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03/22/2016

A. Malcolm Campbell, Christopher Paradise

All organisms are composed of cells, but what is the definition of a cell? Can size, shape or function be used to distinguish cells from non-living biological systems such as a virus? Whatever the definition of a cell is, it can probably be contradicted by cells with unusual characteristics. For example, there are cells as long as a giraffe’s neck while others are smaller than a mitochondrion. Sometimes it is hard to know the difference between an animal and a plant cell. Despite their diversity of shapes and sizes, cells are small—most of the time.

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Cellular Consequences of Evolution

Cellular Consequences of Evolution
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$29.95
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03/24/2016

A. Malcolm Campbell, Christopher Paradise

Once the first cell arose on Earth, how did genetic diversity arise if DNA replication and cell division generate exact copies? The answer is that neither process is perfect and that changes do occur at each step. Some changes are small and subtle while others are large and dramatic. As DNA mutates, evolution of a population takes place. But when can someone determine if a single species has changed enough to be considered two separate species? How is a species defined and is this definition useful in the real world?

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