Biology: The Science of Life

By: Stephen Nowicki, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Stephen Nowicki

Length: 36 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the greatest scientific feats of our era is the astonishing progress made in understanding biology-the intricate machinery of life-a progress to which the period we are living in right now has contributed the most.

As you read these words, researchers are delving ever deeper into the workings of living systems, turning their discoveries into new medical treatments, improved methods of growing food, and innovative products that are already changing the world.

The 72 lectures in this comprehensive exploration of living systems at all levels-from biological molecules to global ecosystems-will give you all the information you need to grasp this fascinating field and its impact on both our own lives and our understanding of the life that surrounds us.

Professor Nowicki presents his subject in a conceptual format, emphasizing the importance of broad principles. Though facts and details are offered in abundance, it is always in the context of developing a context listeners can readily absorb.

Your newfound mastery of the fundamentals of biology will serve you in many ways-whether you want to read the headlines with greater insight, update a subject you studied long ago, view the natural world with new appreciation, become a better-informed voter and consumer, or gain the intellectual stimulation of understanding the basic principles that unite all living things.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2004 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2004 The Great Courses

Great content -- if only it had chapter titles

It's great content, detailed but accessible. Navigating to the relevant chapter of interest, however, gives me pause from bestowing on Nowicki's Biology the rating it richly deserves. Audible has been careless not to include chapter titles--with the result that to fully appreciation this content one must take the extra step to hunt down chapter titles on the Great Courses website. Please Audible add titles to this work of art.

Stunningly Well Structured/Educationally Spot On

Biology: The Science of Life, By Stephen Nowicki, The Great Courses. I cannot praise this course sufficiently using English, as adaptable as it is to communications. This course was spectacular. First, the last time I outright studied biology was high school. Now to be honest I am in the social sciences, and more particularly law. I do read often articles and books on the Cosmos, Quantum Mechanics, the Earth Sciences, Disease, and Genetics. I do that for enjoyment and to broaden my horizons. So, I generally knew of the progress of science since those American Pie days.

Dr. Nowicki is terribly good at talking and his excitement for his field of study is marvelous. His breadth of knowledge is stunning. He takes us from chemistry to the origins of life, its matriculation into living organisms and societal functioning. Some parts of the Course were excruciatingly difficult to follow; because of the sophisticated knowledge, one must traverse. No matter, it was a thrill to take in what Dr. Nowicki has to offer. If you want to understand the science of biology. This is your magnificent read.

Learn to Talk to your Son

Would you listen to Biology: The Science of Life again? Why?

I periodically return to lectures to see what I missed. The course is a tour-de-force. My son is taking AP Biology and plans to make a career in biology. I thought, as a lawyer and programmer who never took a college science course, that I should meet him half way. Perhaps, if I had taked a course with Prof. Nowicki, my career path would have changed.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Biology: The Science of Life?

I finally understood what the fuss was over "creation vs.evolution" and why the creationists are driving real scientists totally crazy. The classes on the origins of life, and on Darwin were fascinating and explained why treating the 2 schools of thought as "absolute truths" are completely incompatible. As an ethical guide and parable, maybe, ... but as absolute truth, modern man, committed to the scientific method finds that approach an anathema.

Which character – as performed by Professor Stephen Nowicki – was your favorite?

This was a science lecture. The discussion of the discovery of DNA was a great story.

A grand tour

Prof Nowicki conveys complex ideas very well using just words; I seldom felt the need to refer to the supporting pdf. At times the lectures were so interesting I stayed in my car after I had arrived at work!

It was all so fascinating that I kept having to tell my friends and family what I was learning.

very scientific

a wonderful overview of the wide field of biology. this thing covers a while lot of concepts over 30 hours. the only problem I had was with the parts that asked you to think up diagrams and equations, those would have done better with visuals.

Biology from a different view

it was very interesting to learn about the organization of life by studying the flow of information and energy in living systems. These lectures are technical but engaging.

Fascinating-Never stop Learning

Would you listen to Biology: The Science of Life again? Why?

Yes. Professor Nowicki clearly demonstrates enthusiasm for his subject and imparts that excitement during his lectures.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Biology: The Science of Life?

His descriptions of basic genetics and the history of the science.

Which scene was your favorite?

Historical information about scientific, but somewhat tragic, figures such as Rosalind Franklin and Hilde Mangold and descriptions of the experiments that markedly advanced the science of biology.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

At the age of 63, I enrolled in and made a "B" in an Introduction to Biology class at the local university.

Any additional comments?

I have continued to periodically listen and review Dr. Nowicki's extensive lectures. I have continued to take more advanced biology classes at the university.

awesome

I listen to it when I go to bed it makes me fall asleep fast

Great book

This is a pretty comprehensive overview that goes into enough details to help the human understand the biology of what is around it and in it.

Excellent for a refresher or overview of gen bio

So, with some of these Great Courses Plus lectures, the lecturers do not do a great job of conveying the info in a purely audio format. Specifically, I found the zoology lecture very hard to follow along with since the speaker did not seem prepared and kept alluding to images of things the audience would have no concept of (such as a dinosaur mounted above a door in the Smithsonian). This was not the case with this particular lecture, fortunately.

The lecturer is a very clear speaker and does an excellent job at conveying complex ideas in a way that I could easily visualize everything he talked about. I didn't need to look up any diagrams or images since his descriptions were so good, though that may be helpful in some circumstances for some people. He also did a great job at explaining the concepts thoroughly so that you don't need much of a background in biology to understand them (though, keep in mind I am a grad student in biology currently, so I'm probably biased in this regard, but I've used some of his explanations to teach my non-major undergrad bio students).

Overall, this is an excellent and thorough refresher course on biology that I see myself revisiting several times. If you want to learn more about biology in general or are an educator interested in exploring more ways to better teach and explain bio topics, I highly recommend checking this title out.