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Home Library Encyclopedia Topically Arrangged and Indexed Volume 2 The Marvels of Nature

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Man has long been interested in the wonderful world of life. For one thing, man himself is a living thing and as such is part of the whole complex of life on the earth. His life is intricately interrelated with many other kinds of living thing, both plants and animals, both directly and indirectly.
Man's first experiences with plants and animals were completely practical. Some he learned to use as food; others he feared because they represented a threat to his life. Gradually he accumulated information (and misinformation) about the plants and animals of his immediate region. He learned which plants could safely be used as food and which were not fit to use. He captured animals and used their flesh as food and their skins to cover his body. Over long periods of time he learned to domesticate animals and cultivate plants so that he did not need to roam the forests and fields in search of food. There was not yet an organized body of knowledge about plants and animals. Although some beginnings of this organized study were made by ancient Greeks such as Aristotle and Theophrastus more than 2,000 years ago, the science of biology, as the science that deals with living things is called, was still a long time in coming. A truly scientific approach to the study of living things began in the l7th century, and the term “biology” was first used in the l800s.
Biology deals with every aspect of the life, structure and relationship of plants and animals. It has grown and developed so that it now encompasses many specialized fields. The study of plants is called botany, while zoology is the science of animal life. Botany and zoology in turn are broken down into specialized fields such as bacteriology, the study of bacteria; mycology, the study of fungi; protozoology, the study of one-celled animals (protozoans); entomology, the study of insects; ichthyology, the study of fishes; herpetology, the study of amphibians and reptiles; ornithology, the study of birds; and mammalogy, the study of mammals.
Still other branches of plant and animal study concentrate on particular aspects of their life. Anatomy is concerned with the structure of plants and animals, and physiology with their functions. The study of how plants and animals develop is called embryology. Genetics is the study of heredity; cytology, the study of cell structure and function; pathology, the study of disease processes and their effects on plants and animals; endocrinology, the study of the endocrine glands and their secretions; and ecology, the study of the relationships of living things with their environment, both living and non-living. The science of classification is called taxonomy, and the study of fossil remains of animals and plants of the past is known as paleontology. The science of evolution deals with the history and development of life on the earth, and anthropology is the study of man himself.
This volume is divided into four sections. The first is devoted to a description of basic life processes, both within the lifespan of a living thing and within the ages of life on earth. The second and third sections describe many of the plants and animals on the earth today, with special emphasis on those found in North America. The final section deals with prehistoric plants and animals, from which modern life developed.

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Ketersediaan

R00201

032.ii STO h

Kampus 2 (Reference Self)

Tersedia namun tidak untuk dipinjamkan - No Loan

Informasi Detail

Judul Seri

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No. Panggil

032.ii SCH h

Penerbit

New York : Parents' Magazine Enterprises, Inc.., 1970

Deskripsi Fisik

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Bahasa

English

ISBN/ISSN

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Klasifikasi

030 Ensiklopedia Umum

Tipe Isi

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Tipe Media

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Tipe Pembawa

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Edisi

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Subjek

Ensiklopedia Umum

Info Detail Spesifik

Ensiklopedi berbahasa Inggris, xv + 411 hal. ilus. 19 x 25 cm. indeks hal. x

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