As a supplement to this biology course, I also read a biology textbook, Biology: Discovering Life, by Joseph Levine and Kenneth Miller.  This is an older book I found in the science library, published about 15 years ago.  At first glance, I found the detailed charts and figures and complex terminology to be intimidating and deterring.  I assumed it was just another traditional science textbook where everything is delineated for the reader to memorize with no room for questioning and no pressure to think “outside the box”.  While the majority of the book is conventional, upon closer examination, one important point the book espouses really resonated with the foundations of this class.  Reading this book exposed me to a much different style of teaching.  In my critique of the book, I will focus on a subject I found very enlightening – a fundamental part of this unique science course – our understanding of biology as a dynamic process.

The recent dieting craze – particularly the carb-cutting trend - has created a huge increase in the demand for artificial sweeteners.  According to a 2004 study “as many as 180 million Americans routinely eat and drink sugar-free products such as desserts and artificially sweetened sodas” (1).  As one of countless subscribers to the carb-cutting, low-calorie philosophy, I decided to explore exactly what constitutes artificial sweeteners.  In my explorations, I came across some surprising findings about the chemical composition of various artificial sweeteners and how the body processes them. I focused my research on three sweeteners in particular: Sucralose, which is in the most popular artificial sweetener, Aspartame, which is in the artificial sweeteners, Sweet ‘N Low and Equal, and a new incredibly sweet sweetener called Neotame.  Initially, I expected all these different artificial sweeteners to be chemically dissimilar from less sweet substances; however, further research proved otherwise.

American microbiologist, Salvadore E. Luria wrote a book titled Life: The Unfinished Experiment. The book discusses various concepts in relation to science and the need to understand and approach it in an effective way. In the book Luria mainly focuses on the study of evolution and what can be attributed to it. He objectively approaches the process of evolution and praises the creation of life as an endless progression.

It’s no secret: I’ve got high cholesterol. Well, actually, that’s a bit of an understatement. The truth is that for an 18-year-old, my LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol level is astronomical and my HDL (high-density lipoprotein) cholesterol level is pitiful. According to the American Heart Association, a desirable level of LDL cholesterol—the “bad” kind that can forms clots in your arteries and causes heart attacks or strokes—is below 200 milligrams per decilitre of blood (mg/dL). Between 200 and 239 mg/dL is considered “borderline high risk,” and anything above that is “high risk” (1). Well, my latest LDL count was 240 mg/dL. On the other hand, my HDL cholesterol count is 17 mg/dL, when a desirable level is above 40 mg/dL. To clarify, HDL cholesterol is considered to be “good” cholesterol, though no doctor could really tell me why. Experts have suggested that HDL cholesterol may carry LDL cholesterol away from the arteries and back to the liver, where it is passed through the digestive system and excreted. Other doctors believe that HDL cholesterol “removes excess cholesterol from plaque in the arteries, thus slowing build-up” (2). But ultimately, no one really knows.

   Reading textbooks, especially science textbooks that weigh more than a small child, can be quite tedious. My roommate’s biology book is no exception. While it works as a fine paperweight and mini-table, it also hosts a multitude of information, with such relevant topics as observation, diversity, scale, molecules, cells, the human body, genetics, ecology, evolution, matter and energy. Accompanying the text is a supplemental CD, called “The Student Media for Biology”, with chapter outlines, mini-activities, videos, games, quizzes, flash cards, and more condensed information at which you could shake a stick. Despite the width and breadth of the epic book, I found Biology to be a great resource for biology students (as well it should be, considering it’s hefty price and the measures my roommate took to avoid it). I was particularly impressed with the comprehensive layout and structure of the text.

   Last year on Earth Day, I attended a lecture entitled, “The Truth about Plastics” at my high school. We watched a short documentary about a scientist and his studies of the effects of plastic pollution in marine ecosystems (turtles dying from eating plastic bags, plankton eating plastic and fish eating that plankton and other fish and birds and humans eating that fish). Afterwards, the speaker talked to us about alternatives to plastic and things we as students could do to get involved in the cause. I stopped buying bottled water ad purchased a tin bottle, convinced my mother to buy milk in cartons, and asked for paper shopping bags. Yet plastic is everywhere, and it can’t be denied that some products bring good. Despite plastic’s positive properties and obvious benefits, plastics are harmful to the environment, and their consumption should be reduced.

Written by Mary Roach in 2005, Spook tackles the afterlife from the point of a scientific scholar. She examines the concept of death in relation to what people believe to be true and how people react to certain phenomena. Yet it can be applied to biology because one must have a strong idea of life to recognize death.

Roach tackles many of the concepts that we hold as faith and supernatural such as reincarnation, ethereal beings, and the idea of the soul. The soul is part of life because it is so closely related to how we continue in our world. Without a soul many people believe that we would not be able to go on living, yet it is not something that can be physically seen.
Covering the topic of what is not physically seen, Roach explores the theories of Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Rene Descartes and Duncan MacDougall. Leeuwenhoek was responsible for a theory that believed that the soul came from a preformed human inside the male sex cell and Descartes studied the anatomy looking for the soul. He was able to find what he believed to be a soul in the pineal gland, which he chose mainly because of its location. MacDougall was the first scientist to spend research time measuring a person before and after death to look for a soul. What he found was the difference of 21 grams between a living and a dead person and this number has become synonymous with a soul's correct ‘mass'.

Dissociative Identity Disorder, or more commonly known as Multiple Personality Disorder, is a mental dysfunction where the brain breaks down the person's personality into several different ones. Dissociation, part of the disorder, is part of the brain's natural defense against unpleasantness and one of Freud's five defense mechanisms (3). The person has learned to connect unrelated things in order to cope with their emotional pain. Not curable with drugs or without therapy, this mental disorder has been highly publicized and has a controversy over whether or not it truly exists.

Campbell Reece defined Biology as “the scientific study of life” in the Seventh Edition of his textbook Biology (1). Needless to say, this statement is vague and written as a conclusive fact. It is difficult to question its veracity or scientific merit because it’s not really saying too much in the first place. Instead, Professor Grobstein began his course by similarly suggesting that Biology is the “science of life,” but he then presented a series of additional questions:
• What is science? Why can't it "get it right"?
• What is life? Can one get it "right"?
• Does science = life? (2)

From the start, Grobstein involved his students in the discussion and made them think. Yes, think about science, not just memorize it and move on. He encouraged us all to actively participate in and ask questions about the study of Biology. He acknowledged the fact that much of science is “theory” and not “fact” and that there still exist hundreds of questions that neither he nor anyone else could answer. According to Grobstein, science is simply a series of hypotheses that have not been disproved. On the other hand, Reece wrote in absolutes. It is as if he felt obligated to answer all of the questions about Biology, and therefore life. Grobstein’s lectures did not attempt to account for the unknown, but did often acknowledge it. Ultimately, Grobstein and Reece’s didactic approaches to Biology differed on three particularly interesting subjects: their definitions of life, their approaches to diversity and evolution, and their attitude towards the human brain.

 

Ever since I was younger my sisters have always tried to convince me that I was adopted because I had so many ‘abnormalities’ as they would call it. I have an extremely short tongue that can barely extend over my teeth; two of my toes overlap, and to top it off I developed hand tremors a few weeks after I was born. There are various forms of tremors but the one that I have is called Tetany. Tetany is a condition that can be noted by severe muscle spasms.