Product Description
This volume offers a fact-packed and densely illustrated study guide for GCSE students and beyond. Clear definitions and images aim to strip away the complexities of difficult science concepts. A helpful glossary, comprehensive index and tables, charts and diagrams are also included. It covers topics such as ecology, botany, zoology, reproduction and genetics. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Dictionary of Biology
This is a wonderful book to have in your home. It's great to be able to take books out of the library, but having the book in your home gets read more and looked at more. The topics are broken up into small catagories and easier to understand and learned in bits and pieces. Great illustrations also. This includes trusted websites so that if they want to find out more about a topic, they will know where to find it. I even learned a lot from it. It's very interesting reading. You are never too old to learn more. ... Read more

Product Description
This major revision of the popular reference contains 1,500 new entries, for a total of 4,000, making it the most up-to-date biology dictionary available. All the commonly encountered terms and concepts in biology, biophysics, and biochemistry are covered, as well as terms from medicine and palaeontology. 100 line drawings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Wish I had it in college
This dictionary has been extremely helpful for my continued study in biology.I've got a medical dictionary as well but this one covers the biological words that I have trouble finding elsewhere.

Not that good
Even though it is an Oxford Dictionary, the dictionary as such is not that good. The definitions are not too bad, but it is lacking of a lot of terms.

Essential...
...for anyone who is interested in biology. To uses it you need some prerequisite knowledge (so the book isn't "watered down" with "faux science" factoids), but not much (making it highly accessible to the general public). If you want to take your understanding of biological science to the next level, buy this right now.

Biology dictionary
Our high school age daughter is in honors biology. This dictionary has really improved her grades by giving her alternate definitions/explanations of biology terms/concepts. A great resource!

Maintain that resting potential, now!
The question was: what (or whatever) maintains the resting membrane potential nowadays! I always thought that it was the sodium pump (or Na K ATPase etc.). Recently, I heard: No, it is not the sodium pump that maintains the resting potential. So I checked both the Oxford and the Penguin Dictionaries of Biology. Oxford says that the resting potential is maintained by the sodium pump; however, the Penguin says it is the leaky potassium channels, and sodium pump plays a slight role. Well, it is one of those academic debates, it would seem--which really mean nothing--because nothing is at stake! The debate is from confusing maintenance, recovery, and repair--perhaps. Is it the resting potential (a thing being maintained) or is it the repolarization after a depolarization (a thing in recovery) that we are talking about? Is maintenance still maintenance if you spend energy in extruding the smaller atoms out--well: a running car can be maintained only by spending money? Perhaps, after all, it is only the usual confusion of the frogs in a well: they can only see the stars in their own horizons. The whole biological process has several components, and to know which is the one--well, just take one out and see if the process holds and functions. Which brick is the most important in a wall? Clearly, the truth is never simple, and possibly there is no such thing as the truth. Things evolve using all of the components--and are what they are. So, I guess it is always the context and it is always relative: point of view etc. There is no simple correct answer because the question is incorrectly formulated--without the necessary context. What is more important in the running of a car: the engine or the gas? So get both the Oxford and Penguin--they complement, and both are useful when viewed and understood in the right context: neither can replace the textbook; and no textbook replaces all the source materials--but you need to start somewhere. For a rich fantasy life read Ayul Zamir's Intern Beth. Now, whatever maintains that resting membrane potential! ... Read more

Product Description
This dictionary offers concise explanations of hundreds of key terms from biology and related subjects. Designed to meet the particular needs of school and university students, it should also be useful to non-scientists who are keen to gain a better understanding of the way the world works. From acetyle coenzyme A to the body, from cell to centipede, pollen to putrefaction and vision to zoology, the dictionary seeks to provide a greater understanding of the living world. It covers botany, the animal kingdom, human biology, organic chemistry and ecology, and is cross-referenced. ... Read more

Product Description
The third edition of the Collins Dictionary of Biology has been completely revised and updated to take in the latest developments on biology from the Human Genome Project to advancements in cloning.The bestselling dictionary of biology, designed for advanced school students, undergraduates, and all who have an interest in the life sciences. ... Read more

Product Description
Clear definitions, combined with carefully chosen illustrations and diagrams, simplify difficult scientific concepts. For ages 11 and over. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent for many topics
This book gives a simplified explanations for many topics in science.It covers biology, chemistry, and physics.It also includes detailed drawings for many topics.The explanations are simple enough that many 8th graders are able to understand them.As a science teacher I love this book.I makes rewording topics for students to understand a breeze.It was also a good refresher for any topics I hadn't studied in a while.

One of the best books I've ever owned
My parents bought me this book in hardcover about ten years ago, and it has been indispensible.It covers a broad enough base of information so well, and with enough depth, that it has been a constant and indispensible reference for me through GCSE science in the UK, high school chemistry in the US, and even sometimes during my undergrad chemistry and physics.The illustrations are wonderful, and the explainations lucid.I would definitely recommend this for anyone with a child in school, or anyone who wants to look at a bit of basic science.

Absolutely brilliant.
About 15 years ago, as a 9 year old, I read the three books that make up this Dictionary of Science (the Biology, Physics and Chemistry ones).I was completely captivated by them, and read them over and over again.The science is pitched at exactly the right level for children: the colourful illustrations and short sections retain a child's attention. I went on to take biology, physics and chemistry A-levels at age 17, and went on to study Medicine at Cambridge University in England.Obviously there was more to this achievement than the Usborne books I read as a child, but I honestly do attribute much of my initial interest to them.

This book is excellant, great illustrations!!!!
This book is a wonderful source of science information, the colurful illustrtaions help explain the theorys that are explained in the book. It is a book for all levels. It is not just a dictionary but a true sienceresource. ... Read more

Product Description
Help your students master the vocabulary of the life sciences with this handy, inexpensive resource guide. A Life Science Lexicon emphasizes word construction and usage stressing vocabulary development, not memorization. In it you'll find up-to-date examples and definitions appropriate for all major disciplines in the introductory level of life science. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Life Science Lexicon
I needed this book for school.It arrived in good condition and in good time.

Useful.
This is a good reference guide for all those, albeit scarce, linguists outthere. Naturally, not for leisure reading, however, a must for any seriousgraduate student. Definitely go with the paperback. ... Read more

Product Description
This pocket reference book contains all the terms and concepts needed by students of biology. It offers more advanced information than the titles in the "Basic Facts" series, but is less complex than those in the "Subject Dictionary" range. ... Read more

Product Description
Like most technical disciplines, environmental science and engineering is becoming increasingly specialized. As industry professionals focus on specific environmental subjects they become less familiar with environmental problems and solutions outside their area of expertise. This situation is compounded by the fact that many environmental science related terms are confusing. Prefixes such as bio-, enviro-, hydra-, and hydro- are used so frequently that it is often hard to tell the words apart. The Environmental Engineering Dictionary and Directory gives you a complete list of brand terms, brand names, and trademarks - right at your fingertips. ... Read more

Product Description
The exercises comprising this laboratory manual are intended to supplement the text Concepts in Biology, but they can be used with any introductory-level biology text. Laboratory exercises begin with a list of safety issues that students need to be aware of. These items identify caustic chemicals, equipment that needs special care or handling, and health or safety hazards a careless student may encounter.

We suggest that students use the laboratory manual as a workbook and record data and answers to questions in the spaces provided. The laboratory gives students the opportunity to "get involved in biology." They go beyond reading and studying and actually enter into the process of doing science. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great service and cost
Thanks for helping us get the needed book for classes at a low overall cost ... Read more

Product Description
The key words and concepts contained in the GCSE biology syllabuses are encapsulated in this reference book, compiled by a teacher experienced both in teaching GCSE biology, and in writing about it. ... Read more

Product Description
The National Curriculum report on Science sets out Attainment Targets which bring new topics such as earth sciences, materials science, genetics, environmental science and history of science into the secondary syllabus. This book contains new material written to meet these targets. Whilst retaining entries on traditional biological topics such as cytoplasm, metabolism and species, entries on agriculture, environmental issues, mutagenic agents, protein synthesis and selection and breeding provide information relevant to the new demands of the National Curriculum. Also included are nine appendices which include information on topics which range from the classification of plants and animals to the units of measurement and symbols, and the geological time scale. ... Read more