20 Biology books for beginners

A selection of interesting and entertaining works on the science of life.

The phenomenon of the emergence of life is something that we as human beings are interested in, either to understand what surrounds us or to know how our own body works.

In fact, if we think and act as we do, it is because our organism has emerged through a Biological process: evolution. Our psychological dimension can also be studied from the point of view of biology. This selection of biology books may be useful for those who are interested for those interested in delving deeper into the science that studies life.

Recommended biology books

Biology is a science as complex as life itself, so it branches out into a multitude of disciplines to get the most out of the subject. In fact, some of these branches have developed strong ties with other sciences that have ended up generating other independent disciplines, such as biochemistry or paleoanthropology.

One of the ways to increase our knowledge independently is by reading texts that broaden our knowledge of the diverse topics related to this wide-ranging science. Here I present a selection of manuals, books and popularization texts with which we can cover different topics of interest in modern biology without the need to have great previous knowledge. And all of them are biology books in Spanish..

1. Biology for Dummies (René Fester Kratz and Donna Rae Siegfried)

The book "Biology for Dummies" is ideal for an introduction to biology. is ideal for an introduction to biology in a general way.The text is clear, easy and well organized so that any reader can understand the basics of the science of life. Ideal if you are not looking for anything specific on the subject.

• In this link you will find it.

 

2. The Cell (Geoffrey M. Cooper and Robert E. Haussman)

This biology book is for many people the manual par excellence to get fully introduced in the knowledge about the unit of life, that is, the cell. It is characterized by the use of simple and clear language and is supported by a multitude of graphs and drawings that facilitate the understanding of the explanations. and drawings that facilitate the understanding of the explanations. With each edition it draws on new advances in the rapidly expanding field of cell and molecular biology.

• You can learn more about this book here.

 

Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters (Matt Ridley)

Matt Ridley's work is a good way to get into the basics of genetics. It is presented in an entertaining language and from the point of view of a journalist, who investigates and corroborates the information with real experiments to obtain conclusions to help understand terms that are difficult to understand on their own. The fact that it contains 23 chapters is no coincidence, since it represents the 23 chromosomes that human beings have in their genetic code.

• If you are interested in this work, you can read more about it by clicking here.

 

4. The Chosen Species: the long march of human evolution (Juan Luis Arsuaga and Ignacio Martínez)

Human evolution is a thorny, complicated and complex subject. But this book on evolutionary biology is written in such a way that it makes the subject seem as simple as possible. A well-known text that is already a few years old, although it is so well written that it has become a classic of popularization. The reading is pleasant and easy to understand without sacrificing all the rigor expected from two renowned researchers in the field, who have been working in Atapuerca for so many years.

• More information about the book is available at this link.

 

5. The Selfish Gene (Richard Dawkins)

What are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? More than once we have asked ourselves these questions, and zoologist Richard Dawkins gives us his answer with this book that presents evolution from a different point of view: focusing on behavior. With this work, Dawkins offers us the biological basis of animal and human behavior, and how evolution has been partly to blame for its development.

• In this page there is more information about the book.

 

6. Introduction to Botany (Murray W. Nabors)

Murray W. Nabors is an American botanist who also teaches biology and who is a professor of botany. sought a way to pass on his knowledge of the plant kingdom.. And so was born Introduction to Botany, a very didactic biology book about this branch of the science of life, mainly focused on higher plants, i.e. herbs, shrubs and trees.

• You can find it here.

 

7. Plant Physiology (Lincoln Taiz, Eduardo Zeiger)

If in the previous biology book we talked about botany at a taxonomic level, "Plant Physiology" focuses on how plants are structured. focuses on how the different tissues that make up plants are structured.. A didactic text, with a multitude of illustrations to not lose detail of the knowledge that wants to transmit its reading.

• If you are interested in this reading, here you can learn more about this book.

 

8. Comprehensive Principles of Zoology (Cleveland P. Hickman Jr., Larry S. Roberts, Allan Larson, Helen I'Anson y David J. Eisenhour)

This manual presents the basic knowledge of the discipline called zoology.. It discusses both invertebrate and vertebrate biology in general terms, with an understandable and didactic language for the understanding of the principles of the study of the animal kingdom.

• It is available at this link.

 

9. Principles of Animal Physiology (Christopher D. Moyes and Patricia M. Schulte)

Zoology does not explain everything about animals, as does botany, since it is accompanied by animal physiology.. This biology book by Moyes presents in a didactic way the basic principles to understand the study of the structure of the different animals and the vital processes that keep them alive and adapted to their environment.

• You can find more information about this book here.

 

10. Your Inner Fish: 3.5 Billion Years of Human Body History (Neil Shubin)

This book tries to explain in an easy way how our body has become what we know today through 3.5 billion years of evolution. through 3.5 billion years of evolution. To do this, the author makes an anatomical comparison with other species of living beings. This biology book was born from the discovery made by the author of the text with his team of the fossil Tiktaalik roseae, a fish with limbs, which was the finding of the form of life that helps to understand the passage from the sea to the land of our ancestors.

• You can get it here.

 

11. Microbiology (Lansing M. Prescott, John P. Harley, Donald A. Klein)

Microbiology is an excellent manual to introduce us to the world of microorganisms.. A work that is recommended for both biology and medicine, since it not only deals with the structure, function and classification of bacteria and others, but also deals with diseases caused by them when they act as parasites.

• In this link you have more information about it.

 

12. Viruses and pandemics (Ignacio López-Goñi)

Viruses have always been present in the history of mankind. The author of this book presents in an informative, simple and illustrative way what a virus is, its transmission mechanisms and its existence inside cells. In addition, it also addresses a topic related to viruses: pandemics.

• Here is more information about the book.

 

13. Ecology. Individuals, Populations and Communities (Michael Begon, John L. Harper, Colin R. Townsend)

The environment is a topic of great importance, especially in recent times.. Although ecology is a rather complicated science, Begon and company set themselves the goal of writing a biology book that would introduce the study of the environment to the curious and newcomers to the subject.

• You will find the book in Spanish here.

 

14. Lehninger. Principles of Biochemistry (David L. Nelson, Michael M. Cox)

Biochemist Albert L. Lehninger first wrote this work in 1970, creating an introductory manual to the discipline in which he was involved, biochemistry. Biochemistry is the science that studies the chemistry within living thingsHe was so well presented and had such a great deal of knowledge, for example in the analysis of proteins and how they work. It was so well presented and had such an understandable and didactic content that it is still updated today with the latest discoveries, even though its original author is no longer part of the new content.

• If you are interested in it, this link will help you learn more about the work.

 

15. How does the brain work? (Francisco Mora)

Francisco Mora, professor of human physiology at the Faculty of Medicine of the Complutense University of Madrid, presents the complicated world surrounding the study of the brain in an easy-to-read and readable language.. Although it is not strictly speaking a book on biology, it does deal with a closely related subject: neuroscience. The nervous system is a subject of interest for biologists, besides being a fundamental part of the life of the most complex organisms.

• You can find it here.

 

16. Evolution: The Greatest Show on Earth (Richard Dawkins)

In this book, the famous popularizer Richard Dawkins talks about the workings of biological evolution with a feeling of fascination that is contagious.

• To learn more about the book, click here.

17. Junk DNA (Nessa Carey)

A good book to understand the functioning of DNA, the "architectural blueprint" of living beings that is inside our cells, however different their functions may be.

• If you want to read more about this work, access this link.

18. The Ghosts of Evolution (Connie Barlow)

A very interesting book about oddities of nature that seem to have remained anchored in the past millions of years ago and still survive today. It is a journey through species that appeared a long time ago and that tell us about remote times.

• If you are interested, you will find more information about the book here.

19. Beyond biofatalism (Gilliam Barker)

This book proposes a cross between biology and philosophy on a fascinating topic: our genes predestine us to create societies that are not very inclusive and based on the satisfaction of our individual needs?

• You can learn more about it here.

20. Birds, a field guide (Àngels Julivert)

An excellent book to start learning about the fascinating world of birds, very useful to begin to recognize them in flight and distinguish the characteristic attributes of the most common and well-known species.

• To learn more about this book, click here.