50 BIOLOGY IDEAS YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW is your guide to the most significant and stimulating questions in the study of life. Why do species evolve? Can characteristics be inherited without DNA? Are all organisms made of cells? What makes us human? This book provides succinct answers to all these questions, and many more, in 50 lucid and engaging essays that cover both classic experiments and the latest research. From the mysteries of sex and sleep, from mass extinction to immunity, 50 BIOLOGY IDEAS YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW will open your eyes to the fundamental processes that are vital to life on Earth, including how genes control the growth and behaviour of living things, how a body develops from a single cell, and how environmental forces create natural diversity through evolution. Featuring key concepts explained in simple terms, and with clear diagrams and timelines showing major scientific discoveries within their historical context, this book will give you a complete overview of a fascinating subject. Contents include: Evolution, Genes, Homeostasis, Endosymbiosis, Sex, Multicellularity, Nerves, Genetic Drift, Speciation, Convergent Evolution, Pollination, Mimicry, Laws of Inheritance, DNA, Alternative Splicing, Viruses, Epigenetics, Photosynthesis, Cancer, Differentiation, Regeneration, Morphogenesis, Memory, Sleep, Ageing, Consciousness and the Gaia Hypothesis.

Author Biography

Dr J.V. Chamary is a biologist and award-winning science journalist. He studied biology at Imperial College London and has a PhD in evolutionary genetics from the University of Bath. Keen to tell engaging stories about science, he switched from academia to journalism and spent five years at Focus, the BBC's popular science magazine, where he wrote articles on everything from gay genes and internet memes to the science of death and the origin of life.