Biology For Dummies 3rd Edition

Book Preface

About This Book
Biology For Dummies, 3rd Edition, takes a look at the characteristics all living things share. It also provides an overview of the concepts and processes that are fundamental to living things. We make sure to emphasize the most important ideas in biology while taking a look at the diversity of life on planet Earth and our place in it.

Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions
As we wrote this book, we tried to imagine who you are and what you need in order to understand biology. Here’s what we came up with:

You’re a high school student taking biology, possibly in preparation for an advanced placement test or college entrance examination. If you’re having trouble in biology class and your textbook isn’t making much sense, try reading the relevant section of this book first to give yourself a foundation and then go back to your textbook or notes.
You’re a college student who isn’t a science major but is taking a biology class to help fulfill your degree requirements. If you want help following along in class, try reading the relevant sections in this book before you go to a lecture on a particular topic. If you need to fix a concept in your brain, read the related section after class.
You’re someone who just wants to know a little bit more about the living world around you. Good news … this book is your oyster! Read it at your leisure, starting with whatever topic fascinates you most. We include several examples of how biology impacts everyday life to help keep your interest piqued.
Icons Used in This Book
We use some of the familiar For Dummies icons to help guide you and give you new insights as you read the material. Here’s the scoop on what each one means.

remember The information highlighted with the Remember icon is stuff we think you should permanently store in your mental biology file. If you want a quick review of biology, scan through the book reading only the paragraphs marked with Remember icons.

technicalstuff The Technical Stuff icon marks extra information that isn’t necessary to understanding the material in the chapter. If you want to take your understanding of biology to a higher level, or if you just want to build your knowledge base of interesting facts, incorporate these paragraphs into your reading. If you just want the basics and don’t want to bother with nonessential information, skip them.

tip The Tip icon marks pointers that help you remember the facts presented in a particular section so you can better commit them to memory.

Beyond the Book
In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet for more on human biology and physiology, natural selection and biological evolution, and biological reproduction and cell division. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and type Biology For Dummies Cheat Sheet in the Search box.