This pioneering book combines research-focused storytelling with the Socratic method to get students to think like practicing scientists. Each page of the book is designed in the spirit of active learning, asking students to apply critical thinking skills as they learn key concepts. Accounts of real researchers designing and analyzing real experiments, carefully punctuated by thoughtful questions and exercises, train introductory students in the process of DOING biology. Biology and the Tree of Life, Water and Carbon: The Chemical Basis of Life, Protein Structure and Function, Nucleic Acids and the RNA World, An Introduction to Carbohydrates, Lipids, Membranes, and the First Cells, Inside the Cell, Cell-Cell Interactions, Cellular Respiration and Fermentation, Photosynthesis, The Cell Cycle, Meiosis,Mendel and the Gene, DNA and the Gene: Synthesis and Repair, How Genes Work, Transcription and Translation, Control of Gene Expression in Bacteria, Control of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes, Analyzing and Engineering Genes, Genomics, Principles of Development, An Introduction to Animal Development, An Introduction to Plant Development, Evolution by Natural Selection, Evolutionary Processes, Speciation, Phylogenies and the History of Life, 28 Bacteria and Archaea, Protists, Green Plants, Fungi, An Introduction to Animals, Protostome Animals, Deuterostome Animals, Viruses, Plant Form and Function, Water and Sugar Transport in Plants, Plant Nutrition, Plant Sensory Systems, Signals, and Responses,Plant Reproduction, Animal Form and Function, Water and Electrolyte Balance in Animals, Animal Nutrition, Gas Exchange and Circulation, Electrical Signals in Animals, Animal Sensory Systems and Movement, Chemical Signals in Animals, Animal Reproduction, The Immune System in Animals, An Introduction to Ecology, Behavior, Population Ecology, Community Ecology, Ecosystems, Biodiversity and Conservation. Intended for those interested in studying the basics of biology.