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Modern Biology
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Reviewer:
Mike Basham
El Dorado High School
Placerville, California
Textbook Name: Modern Biology
Author: Not listed (several contributing writers)
Susan Feldkamp, Executive Editor
Copyright: 2002
Cost: $59.50
Publisher:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston
10801 N. Mopac Expressway
Austin, TX 78759
800 225-5425
Publisher's Web Site:
 Holt, Rinehart and Winston
Review: This publication is the latest incarnation of the original Modern Biology, first published in 1921, by Truman J. Moon. Fortunately for our students, this edition bears no resemblance whatsoever to the original. This book is highly detailed and clearly written. With so much attention to detail, the writing style is at times "dry." The publisher compensates for this by generously embellishing the text with superb illustrations and diagrams. Since these are the first things seen by most students, they greatly help to maintain reader interest. The reading level of this book is entirely appropriate for sophomores in college prep classes or courses in the Pre-AP years. However, it may be too difficult for students with learning difficulties. Low-ability or low-interest students will find this book to be both challenging and frustrating. Higher-ability or high-interest students will appreciate this book and all that it has to offer.
Modern Biology has several strengths, which AP teachers and teachers of the Pre-AP years will appreciate. Its first strength is that this book is comprehensive. One look at the table of contents shows you that this book does an excellent job of introducing all areas of the AP Biology outline. From the standpoint of content, this book is an excellent choice for courses in the Pre-AP years. As stated previously, another major strength of this book is its illustrations and diagrams. These are well done and do much to assist with student comprehension of complex biological concepts. A good example appears in chapter 25, which covers viruses. Here the authors use an excellent mix of microscopic images, photographs, diagrams, and tables to engage and assist the student. Each chapter also lists one or more NSTA, SciLink Web sites where students may further explore topics of interest.
The fact that Modern Biology is so comprehensive in terms of content also becomes its major weakness. While the authors do an excellent job of addressing major biological concepts such as chemosmosis and protein synthesis, the significance of such processes is often lost in the details. An example of this occurs in Chapter 6, which covers photosynthesis. The authors adequately explain light and pigments. They then attempt to explain the light reactions by discussing, in great detail, electron transport and chemosmosis. They never bother to summarize the significance of these reactions. While the products of the light reactions are listed, the authors never really explain that they are ATP, NADPH, and O2 or explain their importance to the Calvin Cycle. Most students get very lost in the details presented and completely fail to understand why photosynthesis is important. Broad, overarching summary statements, which explain biological significance and are so important for students at this level are sadly lacking in this book.
This book also has an impressive array of ancillaries, which greatly assist the teacher. The book comes with the standard list of printed materials (lab manual, study guide, transparencies, etc.) These are also available on an Instructor's CD-ROM (both PDF and editable files), which allows teachers to customize these materials for their students. The computerized test bank that comes with the book is adequate but is not without its glitches (as is true with all other test banks). It supports both the Mac and PC platforms, and each test is supposed to be crossplatform compatible (which they are not). A set of CNN videos explore relevant scientific topics. There is also a set of CDs that do a good job of explaining several topics and an excellent set of CDs with lab simulations. Unfortunately, the cost of these electronic materials is prohibitive even for major adopters.
If your students are highly motivated and talented, this book would be an excellent choice for a course in the Pre-AP years. If you teach mainstream sophomores, then this book may prove frustrating for your students and yourself.
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