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Biological Science D.j.taylor,n.p.o.green,g.w. Stout







































This post looks at the beginning of the subject of biology and what it is. The etymology and definitions of this word are discussed, as well as how old it is. This article also goes over different key moments in the history of biology and some influential people in this study. Finally, this article will explore how involved biology can be with other sciences such as physics and chemistry. The Beginning: What Is Biology? Biology is a science that studies living organisms from a holistic perspective. The word biology derives from the Greek " bios" meaning life, and the suffix "-logy" meaning a word describing a science. Originally, biology was used to describe the science that studies non-organic or inorganic matter, but when in 1866 this word was coined to describe the study of living organisms by Robert Brown. This study is now known as zoology. There are six main areas of biology: biomolecular structure/physiology, evolutionary biology/biological diversity, biochemistry/genetics, ecology/environmental issues, population studies, and behavioral responses. Biochemistry is the study of biochemistry; it studies the chemical processes that occur in living organisms, as well as other biological compounds. The main area of biochemistry that is usually discussed is biophysics; through this area, it can be determined how molecules perform their function inside an organism. The first main idea in biophysics was to look at the "decomposition" of molecules which gave rise to other areas such as thermodynamics and kinetics. Biophysics also explained how molecules interact with each other. Later, other areas were added such as molecular biology and nanobiotechnology. Evolutionary biology looks at the changes that occur over time in organisms, and how it is beneficial to the organism. The study of evolution has grown since its first introduction by Darwin through his 1859 publication "On the Origin of Species". Since then, other scientists have brought more to the table including genetics, ecology and math models. Genetics has helped with analyzing DNA structure and how it changes over time which led to an understanding if phenotypic evolution. Another addition was eco-evolutionary dynamics which looks at environment interactions. Math models are used for understanding the course of evolution, giving rise to new concepts such as biodiversity and biodiversity stability. Ecology is the study of the interactions that occur between organisms and their environment. The two main branches of ecology are population ecology and community ecology. Population ecology looks at how populations grow, decline, and interact with each other over time. Community ecology looks at how different species interact with each other within an ecosystem. One main concept in this area is to understand how an ecosystem has many different levels; the biotic level (the interactions between organisms), the abiotic level (the non-living aspects of an ecosystem), and the geographic level (the location). Behavioral responses is a field within biology that looks at how organisms react or act outside their normal behaviors when in certain situations or environments. eccc085e13

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