16 WHY AND HOW WE STUDY BIOLOGY 



Clear thinking should come from science study. Psychologists, 

 the people who study the science of the mind, tell us that those of 

 us who like and understand our work and make its ideals our own 

 ideals get much more general value from its study than those who 

 do not. If, for example, in science we consciously try to see why 

 each step of an experiment is performed and actually practice the 

 method of the experiment in other similar cases, we may carry over 

 this method of thought to other subjects and even apply it in our 

 daily life. The scientific method of thinking has resulted in new 

 inventions, in discoveries, and in straight thinking the world over. 

 Why not try consciously to apply our method of doing and think- 

 ing in science to other kinds of doing and thinking in daily life? 

 This would give us the greatest values from biology that we could 

 hope to get. 



Method of use of this book. In the pages that follow, a regular 

 procedure will be used which has been shown by actual experiment 

 in schools to be one of the best ways to study introductory science. 

 In the first place, our work is divided into units, each of which has 

 some practical or definite relation to our own lives. Nothing has 

 been included in the text that does not directly or indirectly in- 

 fluence the lives of each one of us. 



Each unit is introduced by a series of survey questions which are 

 intended to find out what you already know about the subject 

 matter of the unit. This is followed by a brief preview, or intro- 

 duction to the work of the unit, which will give you a bird's-eye 

 view of the subject matter of the unit. It might be said to be a 

 " selling " device by which each of you may become interested io 

 the work of the particular section or unit. The preview is followed 

 by a series of problems which explain the unit. Each problem 

 usually includes demonstration or laboratory work, and enough 

 text is given so that this laboratory work is explained. The 

 references given at the ends of the units should be used when 

 available. The problems will be largely your work, and your 

 understanding of biology will depend largely upon your thorough- 

 ness in the laboratory or field or library. At the end of each 

 problem and at the end of the unit are certain self-testing devices 

 which will help you to know whether you have mastered the 



