General Biology

Biol. 1012
 Unit 1
1.1. The meaning and scope of biology
 Biological Science is the study of life & living organisms.
 It is also called as “Biology” (Greek word).
 ‘bio-’ means life & ‘-logos’ means study of.
 In the late 1700s P.A. de Monet & J.B. de Lamarck coined the
term biology.
 Therefore, Biology is the science of living things.
 That is why Biology is sometimes known as Life Science.

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 1.2. The origin and nature of life
 The mystery of life's origin is still a big debating issue in
science.
 The question “what is life?” is so hard to answer.
 There are a number of theories about the origin of life.
 Some of them include:
1. Theory of Special Creation:
• all d/t forms of life that occur today on planet earth have been
created by God, the almighty.

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2. Theory of Spontaneous Generation:
• living organisms could arise suddenly & spontaneously from
any kind of non-living matter.
• One of the firm believers in spontaneous generation was
Aristotle (384-322 BC).
 Criticized by: -Lazzaro Spallanzani, Francisco Redi &
Louis Pasteur
-They performed well designed scientific exp’ts

to disprove this theory

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3. Theory of Catastrophism:
• a modification of the theory of Special Creation.
• It states that there have been several creations of life by God,
each preceded by a catastrophe resulting from some kind of
geological disturbance.
• According to this theory, since each catastrophe completely
destroyed the existing life, each new creation consisted of life
form different from that of previous ones.
 Critism: -no scientific exp’t to support this hypothesis
-mostly based on imaginary concept.

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4. Theory of Cosmozoic:
 also known as “theory of panspermia or spore theory”
 states that life has reached this planet Earth from other
heavenly bodies such as meteorites, in the form of highly
resistance spores of some organisms.
 This idea was proposed by Richter in1865 & supported by
Arrhenius (1908) & other contemporary scientists.
 The theory did not gain any support.
 This theory lacks evidence, hence it was discarded.

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5. Theory of Eternity of Life:
 This theory assumes that life had no beginning or end.
 believes that life has ever been in existence & it will continue
to be so ever.
 believe that there is no question of origin of life as it has no
beginning or end.
 The theory is also known as steady state theory.
 Objection: it could not be able to explain; evidences support
that initially earth forms & then life appeared on it.
o Where life exist before the formation of earth?

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6. Theory of Chemical Evolution (modern theory):
 this theory is also known as Materialistic Theory or Physico-
chemical Theory.
 States, origin of life on earth is the result of a slow & gradual
process of chemical evolution that probably occurred about
3.8 billion years ago.
 This theory was proposed independently by two scientists -
A.I.Oparin in 1923 & J.B.S Haldane in 1928.

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 Nature and characteristics of life
 Life is defined as a "condition" that distinguishes animals &
plants from inorganic materials & dead organisms.
• Life is comprised of processes & is a maintained state.
• The most sophisticated form of life is man as a result of this
we focuses upon the nature of the life & death of man.

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 Man demonstrates three lives or aspects of life:
 Life of the body (physical): is basic existence
Life of the mind: mind contributes effectiveness & scope
 Life of the spirit: spiritual entity contributes maximum living.

 Physiology: the existence of life physically is demonstrated

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 Living tissues & organisms exhibit:
Irritability
Growth and reproduction
Adaptability
Metabolism
Excretion

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 1.3. Scientific methods
 Is a process of experimentation that is used to explore
observations & answer questions.
 It is an empirical method of acquiring knowledge.
 It is also the technique used in the construction & testing of a
scientific hypothesis.

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 The scientific method has five basic steps, plus one feedback
step:
Make an observation.
Ask a question.
Form a hypothesis, or testable explanation.
Make a prediction based on the hypothesis.
Test the prediction.
Iterate: use the results to make new hypotheses
or predictions.

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Observation- quantitative & qualitative measurements of the
world.
Inference- deriving new knowledge based upon old
knowledge.
Hypotheses- a suggested explanation.
Rejected Hypothesis- an explanation that has been ruled out
through experimentation.
Accepted Hypothesis- an explanation that has not been ruled
out through excessive experimentation & makes verifiable
predictions that are true.

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 Experiment - a test that is used to rule out a hypothesis or
validate something already known.
Scientific Method - the process of scientific investigation.
Theory - a widely accepted hypothesis that stands the test of
time. Often tested, & usually never rejected.

 Tomato seeds don’t germinate inside tomatoes. What’s

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• The scientific method is based primarily on the testing of
hypotheses by experimentation.
• This involves a control, or subject that does not undergo the
process in question.
• A scientist will also seek to limit variables to one or another
very small number, single or minimum number of variables.
• The procedure is to form a hypothesis or prediction about what
you believe or expect to see & then do everything you can to
violate that, or falsify the hypotheses.
• The process serves to establish more firmly what is & what is
not true.

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 Summary of the scientific method
Step 1: Observe behavior or other phenomena
Step 2: Form a tentative answer or explanation (a hypothesis)
Step 3: Use your hypothesis to generate a testable prediction
Step 4: Make systematic, planned observation (data collection)
Step 5: Results & Discussion Use the observations to evaluate
(support, refute, or refine) the original hypothesis
Step 6: Conclusion
Step 7: Recommendation

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