Biology

by Peter H. Raven

Book by Raven, Peter H.

Genres: Biology, Science, Textbooks, Reference, School, Nonfiction, Biography

90 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1942

Reviews

[Mary]

Good book with alot of details

[Chris Duval]

Overall, this was an okay text. I read it not for a course but to update my personal knowledge of the subject originally gained in the 1970s and only supplemented in a piecemeal fashion.

A problem: The authors/ editors do not seem to have a consistent view of their audience, which seems a problem for a textbook. Some parts of the book are moderately challenging, requiring one to bring to active use material learned in earlier chapters; this is particularly so in the coverage of biochemistry and cytology.

Another inconsistency, not unrelated to the first, is in the rigor of the science. For example, the chapters on ecology seemed more loosely reasoned then the book's earlier chapters. My retained knowledge gained from Scientific American articles and from economics showed up gaps in these chapters.

Finally the tone was inconsistent, ranging from dispassionately descriptive to preachy.

Minor point: the glossary needs expansion. It misses terms, not common outside the field, that are used in widely separated parts of the text.

[Alex Brown]

Enjoyable to read and has been a useful reference/refresher when needed. Very large quantity of information covered. Goes into a good amount of depth for an introductory textbook, but stopped before I felt bogged down or overwhelmed.

[Colleen]

I've only gotten through the first portion of this book, using it as teaching material, so take my rating and review with a grain of salt. I'm finished with it for the foreseeable future though so marking as complete. This is a very comprehensive and detailed biology text that does a fantastic job of laying out intro information and then going one step further into that subject's processes. It might be a bit too detailed for someone's first glimpse at these subjects, but is ideal for someone who has had an intro and wants a bit more, or someone revisiting these subjects after a long break away from the material to keep it interesting.

[Ellis]

Pre-read/use:
I thought the previous edition of this book was pretty good. I think this book should be largely similar to the previous edition, but with some better instructor resources. I'm going to ask my students to rate it at the end of the semester and I'll post their rating here with my review.

Post-read/use:
Still good. Not as many updates as I thought there would be. The publisher caught me on this one.

[Modboy]

A fantastic textbook that explains biology in terms of time, energy, evolution, behaviour and ecosystem. The scope is utterly amazing. A good teacher should be able to take this book and show how life scales from the single-cell to the biosphere for each of the many physiological processes we depend on.

[Munkhbat Itgel]

Best in my opinion for high schooler or college student

[Haresh Kumar]

i wants to read because it is interesting books

[Kalman]

Read every word of an earlier edition of this book at least three times.

[Matthew Harwood]

An expansive and fully detailed text book that covers the entire scope of biology. This is a good reference book for early stage researchers and gives a comprehensive overview of the subject.

[Jennifer Pennell]

This book was really comprehensive. It covered a lot of different areas of study in biology. I used it for two classes and have read just about all of it. The graphics are helpful in explaining concepts. I liked that there were quizzes at the end of each chapter with answers in the back of the book. The topics were explained in such a way that somebody new to biology or someone who hasn't studied it in a long time (like myself) can understand it. The book also goes in depth on many topics so even someone versed in this field of study will be able to learn something.

[Brian]

My textbook for next year. Seems to have great examples, lesson ideas, assessment questions, and ways to describe biological phenomena. It is also aligned with state standards, which is wonderful! Looking forward to checking out the audio/visual add-ons.

[Cara]

cannot wait to read a non biology text book. haha

[Laura Petto]

Finals. Ugh. Ugh again.

[Nouf Alfadl]

Al7amdillah!!
B+ after all =D
for the first time!

[Ellis]

Good stuff for everyone here. Too much fun. Again, McGraw-Hill did an excellent job with the teaching/learning resources that accompany this text.

[Kathely]

Reading for Ecology is finished...two classes, 1 paper, and 1 final to go!

[Mimiue]

amazing

[Sohey]

i want to download this book how i can download it

[Maqsood]

i think this book.....

[Cat]

Such a tear causing book so many tears shed

April 12th 2025:
Just because I had to read it again doesn’t change my opinion

[Mei]

Had to buy for biology class. Reads like a textbook but I still enjoyed reading it. Definitely keeping for my library