BIOLOGY FOR BEGINNERS 



CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTION 



The student should make sure that he understands every term used in his 

 Biology lessons. This book will include vocabularies like the following, but 

 in addition, a good dictionary should be consulted frequently and derivations 

 studied. As is shown in the first paragraph on this page, a great deal can 

 be learned about the meanings of scientific terms by looking up their deri- 

 vations. 



Vocabulary 



Domestic, tamed, as applied to animals and plants used by man. 

 Biology, the science of living things. 

 Organic, pertaining to living things. 

 Inorganic, things which have never been alive. 



Biology is a study of living things. The dictionary tells us that 

 this term comes from two Greek words, " Bios " which means 

 " life," or " living things," and " ology," a word-ending meaning 

 " the science or study of." The two parts thus make a perfect 

 definition of biology, which is, truly, " The science of living things." 



Classes of Things. All things in the world can be divided into 

 two classes; those which are, or have been alive, and those which 

 have never lived. The former are called organic substances, and 

 the latter inorganic. 



Organic things include both plants and animals, together with 

 all substances derived from them. Inorganic things include the 

 members of the mineral kingdom such as stone, glass, or iron, as 

 well as water, carbon dioxide, oxygen and similar substances. 

 Biology is the science which deals with the study of organic things, 

 as its derivation shows. 



Words as Tools. Since three new words have been used already 

 biology, organic, and inorganic it may appear that the subject 



1 



