This best-selling text is designed to help students understand biology by engaging them in learning in every way possible. The book's extensive array of multimedia resources enriches the book's hallmark features: unique visuals on every page, applications in every chapter that show how biology is inextricably linked to everyday life, and activities and resources throughout the book that encourage critical thinking and spark curiosity in biological investigation. CD-ROM and segments on the FREE accompanying interactive CD-ROM, as well as CNN Today Videos, Web links, and reading from the InfoTrac College Edition library are all integrated with the text to support, illuminate, and reinforce the text. Cecie Starr's visuals work hand in hand with her clear writing. Each basic concept appears as a one- or two-page concept spread. This format helps student focus on information in manageable easy-to-understand segments. Main points are laid out clearly, summarized, and reinforced by visuals. The carefully written transitions between Concept Spreads help students grasp how each concept fits into the whole story. In the process, students develop an understanding of biology's amazing diversity and underlying unity.