The term came into its modern usage with the six-volume treatise Biologie, oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur (1802–22) by Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus, who announced: The objects of our research will be the different forms and manifestations of life, the conditions and laws under which these phenomena occur, and the causes through which they have been effected.
Termi erdhi ne përdorimin e tij modern nga traktati me gjashte volume i quajtur "Biologie, oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur" ne 1802-1822 nga Gotfrid Reinhold Treviranus i cili deklaroi: "Qëllimi i kërkimit tone do jene format e ndryshme te manifestimit te jetës, kushtet dhe ligjet ne te cilat këto fenomene ndodhin, dhe shkaqet nga te cilat ato janë prekur.