What Is Life?: A Guide to Biology with Physiology (Paperback-2021)

Phelan’s dynamic approach to teaching biology is the driving force behind What Is Life?―the most successful new non-majors biology textbook of the millennium. The rigorously updated new edition brings forward the features that made the book a classroom favourite (chapters anchored to intriguing questions about life, spectacular original illustrations, and innovative learning tools) with a more focused and flexible presentation and enhanced art. Available for the first time with Macmillan's new online learning tool, Achieve, What Is Life? teaches students to ask the questions they need to understand how biology plays out in their daily lives. The rigorously updated 5th edition brings forward the features that made the book a classroom favorite (chapters anchored to intriguing questions about life, spectacular original illustrations, innovative learning tools) with a more focused and flexible presentation, enhanced art, and full integration with Achieve, Macmillan’s new online learning system. Achieve supports educators and students throughout the full range of instruction, including assets suitable for pre-class preparation, in-class active learning, and post-class study and assessment. The pairing of a powerful new platform with outstanding biology content provides an unrivaled learning experience.

Jay Phelan teaches biology at UCLA, where he has taught introductory biology in large lectures for majors and non-majors for fifteen years. He received his PhD in evolutionary biology from Harvard in 1995, and his master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Yale and UCLA. His primary area of research is evolutionary genetics, and his original research has been published in Evolution, Experimental Gerontology, and the Journal of Integrative and Comparative Biology, among others. His research has been featured on Nightline, CNN, the BBC, and NPR; in Science Times and Elle; and in more than a hundred newspapers.