biology (redirected from biota)

biology, the science that deals with living things. It is broadly divided into zoology, the study of animal life, and botany, the study of plant life. Subdivisions of each of these sciences include cytology (the study of cells), histology (the study of tissues), anatomy or morphology, physiology, and embryology (the study of the embryonic development of an individual animal or plant). Also included in biological studies are the sciences of genetics, evolution, paleontology, and taxonomy or systematics, the study of classification. The methods and attitudes of other sciences are brought to the study of biology in such fields as biochemistry (physiological chemistry), biophysics (the physics of life processes), bioclimatology and biogeography (ecology), bioengineering (the design of artificial organs), biometry or biostatistics, bioenergetics, and biomathematics. Evidences of early human observations of nature are seen in prehistoric cave art. Biological concepts began to develop among the early Greeks. The biological works of Aristotle include his observations and classification of his large collections of animals. The invention of the microscope in the 16th cent. gave a great stimulus to biology, broadening and deepening its scope and creating the sciences of microbiology, the study of microscopic forms of life, and microscopy, the microscopic study of living cells. Among the many who contributed to the science are Claude Bernard, Cuvier, Darwin, T. H. Huxley, Lamarck, Linnaeus, Mendel, and Pasteur. See marine biology.

Bibliography

See T. Lenoir, The Strategy of Life (1989); C. A. Villee et al., Biology (3d ed. 1989); N. A. Campbell, Biology (3d ed. 1993).

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biology

Study of living things and their vital processes. An extremely broad subject, biology is divided into branches. The current approach is based on the levels of biological organization involved (e.g., molecules, cells, individuals, populations) and on the specific topic under investigation (e.g., structure and function, growth and development). According to this scheme, biology's main subdivisions include morphology, physiology, taxonomy, embryology, genetics, and ecology, each of which can be further subdivided. Alternatively, biology can be divided into fields especially concerned with one type of living thing; for example, botany (plants), zoology (animals), ornithology (birds), entomology (insects), mycology (fungi), microbiology (microorganisms), and bacteriology (bacteria). See also biochemistry; molecular biology.

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biology

1. the study of living organisms, including their structure, functioning, evolution, distribution, and interrelationships

2. the structure, functioning, etc., of a particular organism or group of organisms

3. the animal and plant life of a particular region
http://mcb.harvard.edu/BioLinks
http://biology-online.org/
http://cellbiol.com/
www.webref.org/biology/biology.htm

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Biology

A natural science concerned with the study of all living organisms. Although living organisms share some unifying themes, such as their origin from the same basic cellular structure and their molecular basis of inheritance, they are diverse in many other aspects. The diversity of life leads to many divisions in biological science involved with studying all aspects of living organisms. The primary divisions of study in biology consist of zoology (animals), botany (plants), and protistology (one-celled organisms), and are aimed at examining such topics as origins, structure, function, reproduction, growth and development, behavior, and evolution of the different organisms. In addition, biologists consider how living organisms interact with each other and the environment on an individual as well as group basis. Therefore, within these divisions are many subdivisions such as molecular and cellular biology, microbiology (the study of microbes such as bacteria and viruses), taxonomy (the classification of organisms into special groups), physiology (the study of function of the organism at any level), immunology (the investigation of the immune system), genetics (the study of inheritance), and ecology and evolution (the study of the interaction of an organism with its environment and how that interaction changes over time).

The study of living organisms is an ongoing process that allows observation of the natural world and the acquisition of new knowledge. Biologists accomplish their studies through a process of inquiry known as the scientific method, which approaches a problem or question in a well-defined orderly sequence of steps so as to reach conclusions. The first step involves making systematic observations, either directly through the sense of sight, smell, taste, sound, or touch, or indirectly through the use of special equipment such as the microscope. Next, questions are asked regarding the observations. Then a hypothesis—a tentative explanation or educated guess—is formulated, and predictions about what will occur are made. At the core of any scientific study is testing of the hypothesis. Tests or experiments are designed so as to help substantiate or refute the basic assumptions set forth in the hypothesis. Therefore, experiments are repeated many times. Once they have been completed, data are collected and organized in the form of graphs or tables and the results are analyzed. Also, statistical tests may be performed to help determine whether the data are significant enough to support or disprove the hypothesis. Finally, conclusions are drawn that provide explanations or insights about the original problem. By employing the scientific method, biologists aim to be objective rather than subjective when interpreting the results of their experiments. Biology is not absolute: it is a science that deals with theories or relative truths. Thus, biological conclusions are always subject to change when new evidence is presented. As living organisms continue to evolve and change, the science of biology also will evolve. See Animal, Botany, Cell biology, Ecology, Genetics, Immunology, Microbiology, Plant, Taxonomy, Zoology