Updated and expanded treatment of the nature of science and the scientific method is now included. More succinct coverage of metabolism appears in Chapter 3, plus a new chapter-length appendix that allows instructors to substitute more thorough coverage of metabolism, if desired. Evolutionary principles and human evolution have been combined into a single, more streamlined chapter to provide clearer, more concise coverage. The book is organized into two-page concept spreads that begin with a numbered section and end with a boxed summary, placing all the illustrations and text for a given topic on two facing pages. The description of each topic and its reinforcing illustrations are always on the same page or two facing pages.
Visual summaries integrate annotations within the diagrams.
Numerous applications are integrated into the body of the text, in the Chapter Opening Vignettes, and in boxed Focus Essays. At the back of the book is a separate Applications Index of more than 750 applications woven throughout the text that relate biology to our lives. The text written in a lively, engaging manner that conveys the central concepts and applications of human biology succinctly and accurately.