Principles of Life

It is time to rethink the majors biology introductory textbook.Numerous recent studies, including reports sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, Howard Hughes Medical Institutes, and the National Academies Summer Institute on Undergraduate Education in Biology confirm what a growing number of educators already know: the typical majors biology textbook has become too long, too detailed, and too expensive. These encyclopedic books may still serve some students and teachers well, but far too often the introductory course passes by without students developing a genuine understanding of biology, and a mastery of the core principles and concepts they will need to know as they go on in the discipline.Sinauer Associates and W.H. Freeman are proud to introduce Principles of Life. Written in the spirit of the reform movement that is reinvigorating the introductory majors course, Principles of Life cuts through the thicket of excessive detail and factual minutiae to focus on what matters most in the study of biology today. Students explore the most essential biological ideas and information in the context of the field’s defining experiments, and are actively engaged in analyzing research data. The result is a textbook that is hundreds of pages shorter (and significantly less expensive) than the current majors introductory books.