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EDITORIAL BOARD
Editor in Chief
Richard Robinson
rrobinson@nasw.org
Tucson, Arizona
Advisory Editors
Peter Bruns,
Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Rex Chisholm,
Northwestern University Medical School
Mark A. Davis,
Department of Biology, Macalester College
Thomas A. Frost,
Trout Lake Station, University of Wisconsin
Kenneth S. Saladin,
Department of Biology, Georgia College and State
University
Editorial Reviewer
Ricki Lewis,
State University of New York at Albany
Students from the following schools participated as consultants:
Pocatello High School, Pocatello, Idaho
Eric Rude,
Teacher
Swiftwater High School, Swiftwater, Pennsylvania
Howard Piltz,
Teacher
Douglas Middle School, Box Elder, South Dakota
Kelly Lane,
Teacher
Medford Area Middle School, Medford, Wisconsin
Jeanine Staab,
Teacher
EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION STAFF
Linda Hubbard,
Editorial Director
Diane Sawinski, Christine Slovey,
Senior Editors
Shawn Beall, Bernard Grunow, Michelle Harper, Kate Millson, Carol
Nagel,
Contributing Editors
Kristin May, Nicole Watkins,
Editorial Interns
Michelle DiMercurio,
Senior Art Director
Rhonda Williams,
Buyer
Robyn V. Young,
Senior Image Editor
Julie Juengling, Lori Hines,
Permissions Assistants
Deanna Raso,
Photo Researcher
Macmillan Reference USA
Elly Dickason,
Publisher
Hélène G. Potter,
Editor in Chief
Ray Abruzzi,
Editor
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V OLUME
A–D
Richard Robinson, Editor in Chief
Copyright © 2002 by Macmillan Reference USA
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-
copying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, with-
out permission in writing from the Publisher.
Macmillan Reference USA Gale Group
300 Park Avenue South 27500 Drake Rd.
New York, NY 10010
Printed in the United States of America
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Library of Congress Catalog-in-Publication Data
Biology / Richard Robinson, editor in chief.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-02-86551-6 (set: hardcover) — ISBN 0-02-86-5552-4 (vol. 1) — ISBN 0-02-865556-7
(vol. 2) — ISBN 0-02-865554-0 (vol. 3) — ISBN 0-02-865555-9 (vol. 4)
1. Biology. I. Robinson, Richard, 1956–
QH07.2.B556 2001
570-dc21
2001040211
Farmington Hills, 48331-3535
 Preface
The scope of biology is so vast it can be dizzying. Upwards of 50 mil-
lion species of living things exist on Earth. Within each species, the num-
ber of creatures can range from the alarming (only a handful of Yangtze
River dolphins exist), to the worrisome (our own species numbers six bil-
lion and counting), to the astonishing (five hundred quadrillion individual
wheat plants emerge and die every year). But numbers alone can’t tell the
tale, because life at every level is a process and a pattern, from the devel-
opment of a single creature to the evolution of a whole species, and from
the expression of a single gene to the nutrient cycling of an entire ecosys-
tem. The human body contains about fifty trillion cells, every one of which
draws on its store of thirty thousand genes to make the pattern of proteins
that control it and make it unique. Within the human brain, one hundred
billion neurons make one hundred trillion connections, which combine to
make the pattern of thoughts, memories, and feelings that make each of us
unique.
Central Ideas and Vital Details
How can a single book, or even a four-volume encyclopedia, encompass
so vast a subject? It can’t. And in producing
Biology,
we didn’t try to cover
every topic from Aardvark to Zyzzyva. Instead, in our 432 entries we pre-
sent as broad an introduction as possible to the many facets of biology, while
concentrating in depth on a smaller number of central ideas and phenom-
ena that are at the heart of all biological processes.
One of our major themes is molecular genetics, which in the last two
decades has taken center stage in biology, along with its offspring, biotech-
nology. In these volumes, students will find detailed and accessible descrip-
tions of the many aspects of these growing disciplines, from genes and
chromosomes to cloning and the Human Genome Project. Genes exert their
effects through proteins in cells, and we discuss both individual cell processes
and the rapidly growing understanding of control mechanisms. Through-
out, our emphasis is on clear explanation of the underlying principles, so
that students can prepare to understand phenomena that may yet remain
undiscovered.
Understanding of human physiology is central to medicine and health,
and in
Biology,
we discuss almost every aspect of the human system, includ-
ing bones, brains, and behavior. We devote special attention to several health
issues especially important to students, including smoking, alcohol, and sex-
ually transmitted diseases. Comparative animal physiology and plant phys-
iology are also featured.
✶
Explore further in DNA,
Nucleus, and Clone
Explore further in
Development, Immune
Response, and Smoking
and Health
v
✶
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