Campbell Biology

Citation

Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., Minorsky, P. V., & Orr, R. B. (2020). Campbell Biology (12th ed.). Pearson.

Chapter Summary

The 12th edition has 56 chapters in eight units, preceded by an opening chapter on the themes of biology and followed by appendices (answers, a classification of life, a comparison of the light and electron microscope, and a Scientific Skills Review). The publisher describes it as a text that guides students through every unit of the course, helping them connect concepts across scales, interpret data and build scientific skills. The notes below follow the publisher's contents list, with chapter numbers counted in order.

Chapter 1: Evolution, the Themes of Biology, and Scientific Inquiry

The opening chapter introduces the themes that run through the book, with evolution first among them, and scientific inquiry as a way of working.

Unit 1: The Chemistry of Life (Chapters 2–5)

Four chapters: "The Chemical Context of Life", "Water and Life", "Carbon and the Molecular Diversity of Life" and "The Structure and Function of Large Biological Molecules". They give the chemical basis for the cell chapters that follow.

Unit 2: The Cell (Chapters 6–12)

Seven chapters: "A Tour of the Cell", "Membrane Structure and Function", "An Introduction to Metabolism", "Cellular Respiration and Fermentation", "Photosynthesis", "Cell Communication" and "The Cell Cycle". The unit moves from cell structure to energy and metabolism, then to signalling and division.

Unit 3: Genetics (Chapters 13–21)

Nine chapters: "Meiosis and Sexual Life Cycles", "Mendel and the Gene Idea", "The Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance", "The Molecular Basis of Inheritance", "Gene Expression: From Gene to Protein", "Regulation of Gene Expression", "Viruses", "DNA Tools and Biotechnology" and "Genomes and Their Evolution". The sequence runs from classical inheritance to molecular genetics and genomics.

Unit 4: Mechanisms of Evolution (Chapters 22–25)

Four chapters: "Descent with Modification: A Darwinian View of Life", "The Evolution of Populations", "The Origin of Species" and "The History of Life on Earth".

Unit 5: The Evolutionary History of Biological Diversity (Chapters 26–34)

Nine chapters, from "Phylogeny and the Tree of Life" through "Bacteria and Archaea", "Protists", the two plant chapters ("Plant Diversity I: How Plants Colonized Land" and "Plant Diversity II: The Evolution of Seed Plants"), "Fungi", "An Overview of Animal Diversity" and "An Introduction to Invertebrates", to "The Origin and Evolution of Vertebrates".

Unit 6: Plant Form and Function (Chapters 35–39)

Five chapters: "Vascular Plant Structure, Growth, and Development", "Resource Acquisition and Transport in Vascular Plants", "Soil and Plant Nutrition", "Angiosperm Reproduction and Biotechnology" and "Plant Responses to Internal and External Signals".

Unit 7: Animal Form and Function (Chapters 40–51)

Twelve chapters, from "Basic Principles of Animal Form and Function", "Animal Nutrition" and "Circulation and Gas Exchange" to "The Immune System", "Osmoregulation and Excretion", "Hormones and the Endocrine System", "Animal Reproduction" and "Animal Development", then "Neurons, Synapses, and Signaling", "Nervous Systems", "Sensory and Motor Mechanisms" and "Animal Behavior".

Unit 8: Ecology (Chapters 52–56)

Five chapters: "An Introduction to Ecology and the Biosphere", "Population Ecology", "Community Ecology", "Ecosystems and Restoration Ecology" and "Conservation Biology and Global Change".

Key Concepts

Chapter 1 and Units 1–2

• Themes of biology and scientific inquiry: the unifying ideas of the book, named in the title of Chapter 1.
• Molecular diversity of life: how carbon chemistry and large biological molecules underlie living systems.
• Metabolism, respiration and photosynthesis: the energy chapters of the cell unit.
• Cell communication and the cell cycle: how cells signal and divide.

Units 3–4

• Inheritance and gene expression: Mendelian and chromosomal inheritance, then the path from gene to protein and its regulation.
• Biotechnology and genomes: the DNA tools and genome chapters.
• Descent with modification: the Darwinian view of life that opens the evolution unit, followed by population evolution, speciation and the history of life.

Units 5–8

• Phylogeny and diversity: the tree of life as the frame for bacteria, protists, plants, fungi and animals.
• Form and function: how plants and animals are built and how their systems work.
• Ecology and global change: from populations and communities to ecosystems, conservation and global change.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Complete coverage in one book. The contents list spans chemistry, cells, genetics, evolution, diversity, plant and animal physiology and ecology, so a single volume can serve a whole introductory sequence.
• Study tools built into chapters. The publisher describes Scientific Skills exercises for interpreting data, end-of-chapter Summary of Key Concepts questions and Test Your Understanding questions that prepare students for exam-style questions. The appendix includes a Scientific Skills Review.
• Evolution as an organising idea. The first chapter places evolution among the themes of biology, and a full unit then treats its mechanisms, before the diversity unit.

Limitations

• Too long for one semester. At 56 chapters, instructors and students must select; the course will not cover all eight units in a single term.
• Practice tools are sold separately. The publisher lists Mastering Biology as a separate product from the eTextbook, so students who need the online tutorials must check what their course includes.
• An introductory survey. The book spans all of biology in 56 chapters; a course that needs research-level depth in cell and molecular topics will need a more specialised text, such as Lodish and colleagues' Molecular Cell Biology in the same course list.

Where It Fits in the Course

In the general biology course, Campbell Biology is the comprehensive majors-level survey. Clark, Douglas and Choi's Biology 2e is a two-semester introduction for biology majors that overlaps closely with Campbell's scope, and Fowler, Roush and Wise's Concepts of Biology is an accessible survey for students who want the major ideas without the depth of a majors sequence. Freeman's Biological Science is an inquiry-driven introduction that connects the major areas through evidence and experiments, and Sadava and colleagues' Life: The Science of Biology is another comprehensive introductory text.

For depth, Lodish and colleagues' Molecular Cell Biology treats the cell and molecular topics of an introductory course in research depth, and Milo and Phillips's Cell Biology by the Numbers teaches cellular biology through quantities and estimates. Both are better read after Campbell Chapters 6–12 and 13–21.

How to Use This Book

The publisher lists the book under biology for majors, so it is aimed at undergraduates beginning a biology or life-science degree. The publisher's page names no prerequisites, and the book begins with a chemistry unit.

A practical plan: read Chapter 1, then follow the order of the units for a two-semester sequence, with Units 1–4 in the first semester and Units 5–8 in the second. In a single semester, choose Chapter 1 and Units 1–4, then add selected chapters from the later units that your course uses. Use the Scientific Skills exercises to practise reading graphs and data, and use the Summary of Key Concepts at the end of each chapter to test yourself before moving on. Treat the appendices (answers and the Scientific Skills Review) as reference.