Principles of Life cuts through the thicket of excessive detail and factual minutiae to focus on what matters most in the study of biology today. Students explore the most essential biological ideas and information in the context of the field's defining experiments, and are actively engaged in analyzing research data. The result is a textbook that is hundreds of pages shorter (and significantly less expensive) than the current majors introductory books. 

Key features and benefits include: 

OPENING STORIES Capture attention from the outset with a story that sets up an interesting question in a recognizable real-world context (How does caffeine work at the cell membrane?). Students revisit this question and its answer at the end of the chapter, having learned the necessary information to comprehend it. 

KEY CONCEPTS * Each chapter is organized into sections, each of which explores a single essential concept in light of established facts and relevant experimental evidence. * A 'Key Concepts' list begins each chapter. * 'Do You Understand the Concept?' questions conclude each section, progressing from simple recall questions to questions that require critical thinking at higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. * 'Apply the Concept' critical thinking exercises, embedded in the chapter, ask students to interpret data and draw conclusions. These exercises can be used in class or assigned as homework. * A Summary provides a thorough review of the chapter content, including key figures, and directs students to relevant resources online. 

RESEARCH TOOLS This feature focuses on techniques and quantitative methods scientists use to investigate biological systems. 

INVESTIGATION SKILLS * 'Investigation' figures describe a key experiment's hypothesis, methods, results, and conclusion. * 'Analyze the Data' are additional sections where students analyze real data from the experiments. * 'Working with Data' exercises turn these figures into in-class inquiry problems, discussions, or homework assignments. They contain associated questions and expanded materials that are available online. 

FRONTIERS FEATURE In each chapter, these real-world applications of important concepts introduce students to fascinating ongoing avenues of research. 

TEACHABLE ART Investigation figures describe a key experiment's hypothesis, methods, results, and conclusion. Balloon Captions in the figures help students understand the story at a glance, without necessarily relying on the associated text. 

TERMINOLOGY LINKS These cross-references show students the integrative nature of biology by referring them to a more thorough discussion of a key term elsewhere in the book.