Offers a detailed look at life at the cellular level, describing how the body's systems of organs and tissues work together to sustain life and what happens within them when something goes wrong and a person dies.
Archaeologists examine a humanlike skeleton excavated from a cave on Flores Island in Indonesia that turned out to be an adult woman of extremely small stature,and studies evidence to the discovery of a race of small humans 12,000 years ago.
Describes various infectious, bacterial, and viral diseases including West Nile, yellow fever, smallpox, SARS, and Ebola discussing their causes and symptoms, how they spread, and efforts to find cures.
Describes the field of epidemiology and its history, presenting historical and modern case studies and biological explanations of some diseases and a discussion of the microbes most likely to be used by bioterrorists.
Explains how the development and over-use of antibiotics has led to new superbugs that are resistant to common medical treatments and pose a greater threat to human health.
Traces the field of biotechnology from its origins in selective livestock breeding to its future possibilities such as growing human organs for transplants.
Describes the role that collisions with meteors, comets, and asteroids have played in the history of Earth and other planets in the solar system and examines what is being done to protect Earth from future collisions.
