Summary

1.1 How Does Science Impact the Everyday World?

Science is increasingly important to society, which often turns to scientists to answer questions
about health, the environment, and other domains of life. (p. 3)

1.2 What Is Science?

Science is a body of knowledge: a collection of unified insights about nature. Science is also a
way of learning: a process of coming to understand the natural world through observation and
experimentation. (p. 6)
The unified insights of science are known as theories. A theory is a general set of principles,
supported by evidence, that explains some aspect of nature. (p. 6)
Science uses the scientific method, in which an observation leads to a question about the natural
world. Then comes a hypothesisa tentative, testable explanation that most often will be tested
through a series of experiments. (p. 6)
In science, every assertion is subject to challenge and revision; scientific claims must be
falsifiable, meaning open to negation through scientific inquiry; and scientific inquiry is limited to
investigating natural explanations for natural phenomena. (p. 9)

1.3 The Nature of Biology

Biology is the study of life. Life is defined by a group of characteristics: Living things can
assimilate energy, respond to their environment, maintain a relatively constant internal
environment, and reproduce. In addition, they possess an inherited information
base, encoded in DNA, that allows them to function; they are composed of one or more cells; they
are evolved from other living things; and they are highly organized compared to inanimate objects.

(p. 9)

Life is organized in a hierarchical manner in increasing complexity: from atoms to molecules,

organelles, cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, organisms, populations, communities,
ecosystems, and the biosphere. (p. 10)

1.4 Special Qualities of Biology

The living world is exceedingly diverse, and as such, biology focuses less on universal rules than
is the case in the physical sciences. (p. 14)
Biologys chief unifying principle is evolution, defined as the gradual modification of populations
of living things over time, with this modification sometimes resulting in the development of new
species. Evolution helps explain the forms and processes seen in living things. (p. 14)

Key Terms

biology 9
evolution 14
hypothesis 6
life sciences 11
science 6
scientific method 6
theory 6
variable 8

Understanding the Basics

Multiple-Choice Questions
(Answers are in the back of the book.)
1. Which of the following statements best describes the nature of a scientific hypothesis?
a. A hypothesis is an idea that is widely accepted as a description of objective reality by a majority
of scientists.
b. A hypothesis must stand alone and not be based on prior knowledge.
c. A hypothesis is a tentative explanation that can be tested, usually through experimentation.

d. A hypothesis must deal with an aspect of the natural world never dealt with before.
e. A hypothesis, when accepted, becomes a scientific law.
2. A theory, as defined in scientific discourse, is:
a. an established fact about the natural world, such as the distance from Earth to the sun.
b. a long-accepted belief about the natural world.
c. a concept that is in doubt among most scientists.
d. a set of principles, supported by evidence, that explains some aspect of nature.
e. an initial assumption about how some aspect of nature works.
3. Pasteurs experiments on spontaneous generation made correct use of a variable in that
Pasteur:
a. varied the bacteria he employed with each experiment.
b. used statistics to prove his hypothesis.
c. observed the bacteria as they were growing in the flasks.
d. held all conditions constant in each test except one.
e. was willing to vary to the extent necessary from the standard hypotheses of his day.
4. Which of the following characteristics are true of all scientific claims? (Select all that apply.)
a. They are capable of negation through further scientific inquiry.
b. They can be negated by expert opinion.
c. They are natural explanations for either natural or supernatural phenomena.
d. They stand or fall solely on the basis of evidence.
e. They are regarded as provisional, pending the addition of new evidence.
5. Evolution is a central, unifying theme in biology because:
a. it is not a falsifiable hypothesis.
b. humans have evolved from ancestors we share with present-day monkeys.
c. the enormously diverse forms of life on Earth have all been shaped by it.
d. it has occurred in the past, even though it no longer operates today.
e. almost all biologists believe in it.
6. Biologists generally define life in terms of a group of characteristics possessed by living
things.Which of the following is not a characteristic of living things?
a. All living things possess an inherited information base, encoded in DNA, that allows them to
function.
b. All living things can respond to their environment.
c. All living things can maintain a relatively constant internal environment.
d. All living things evolved from other living things.
e. All living things are composed of more than one cell.