A panoramic view from a ridge located between Segla and Hesten mountain summits in the island ofSenja,Troms, Norway in 2014
Biology is thescientific study oflife and livingorganisms. It is a broadnatural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth,origin,evolution, and distribution of life. Central to biology are five fundamental themes: thecell as the basic unit of life,genes andheredity as the basis of inheritance, evolution as the driver ofbiological diversity,energy transformation for sustaining life processes, and the maintenance of internal stability (homeostasis).
Life onEarth is believed to have originated over 3.7 billion years ago. Today, it includes a vast diversity of organisms—from single-celledarchaea andbacteria to complex multicellularplants,fungi, andanimals.Biologists classify organisms based on shared characteristics and evolutionary relationships, usingtaxonomic andphylogenetic frameworks. These organisms interact with each other and with their environments in ecosystems, where they play roles inenergy flow andnutrient cycling. As a constantly evolving field, biology incorporates new discoveries and technologies that enhance the understanding of life and its processes, while contributing to solutions for challenges such asdisease,climate change, andbiodiversity loss. (Full article...)
Duria Antiquior – A more AncientDorset is a watercolor painted in 1830 by the geologistHenry De la Beche based on fossils found byMary Anning. The late 18th and early 19th century was a time of rapid and dramatic changes in ideas about the history of life on Earth.
Thehistory of paleontology traces the history of the effort to understand the history of life on Earth by studying thefossil record left behind by living organisms. Since it is concerned with understanding living organisms of the past,paleontology can be considered to be a field of biology, but its historical development has been closely tied to geology and the effort to understand thehistory of Earth itself.
In ancient times,Xenophanes (570–480 BC),Herodotus (484–425 BC),Eratosthenes (276–194 BC), andStrabo (64 BC–24 AD) wrote about fossils of marine organisms, indicating that land was once under water. The ancient Chinese considered them to bedragon bones and documented them as such. During theMiddle Ages, fossils were discussed by Persian naturalistIbn Sina (known asAvicenna in Europe) inThe Book of Healing (1027), which proposed a theory of petrifying fluids thatAlbert of Saxony would elaborate on in the 14th century. The Chinese naturalistShen Kuo (1031–1095) would propose a theory ofclimate change based on evidence from petrified bamboo. (Full article...)
Image 2Mendelian inheritance states characteristics are discrete and are inherited by the parents. This image depicts amonohybrid cross and shows 3 generations: P1 generation (1), F1 generation (2), and F2 generation (3). Each organism inherits two alleles, one from each parent, that make up the genotype. The observed characteristic, the phenotype, is determined by the dominant allele in the genotype. In this monohybrid cross the dominant allele encodes for the colour red and the recessive allele encodes for the colour white. (fromHistory of genetics)
Image 4Some biodiversity loss is more insidious than others due to systemic neglect. For example, sport killing and wanton waste of tons of native fishes from unregulated 21st centurybowfishing in the United States. New conservation movements are needed to deter irreparable biodiversity loss to fragile freshwater ecosystems. (fromConservation biology)
Image 5The "central dogma of molecular biology" (originally a "dogma" only in jest) was proposed by Francis Crick in 1958. This is Crick's reconstruction of how he conceived of the central dogma at the time. The solid lines represent (as it seemed in 1958) known modes of information transfer, and the dashed lines represent postulated ones. (fromHistory of biology)
Image 6Carefully engineeredstrains of the bacteriumEscherichia coli are crucial tools in biotechnology as well as many other biological fields. (fromHistory of biology)
Image 8August Weismann's germ plasm theory. The hereditary material, the germ plasm, is confined to thegonads. Somatic cells (of the body)develop afresh in each generation from the germ plasm. (fromHistory of genetics)
Image 9Cabinets of curiosities, such as that ofOle Worm, were centers of biological knowledge in the early modern period, bringing organisms from across the world together in one place. Before theAge of Exploration, naturalists had little idea of the sheer scale of biological diversity. (fromHistory of biology)
Image 17Diagram ofCharles Darwin's pangenesis theory. Every part of the body emits tiny particles,gemmules, which migrate to thegonads and contribute to the fertilised egg and so to the next generation. The theory implied that changes to the body during an organism's life would be inherited, as proposed inLamarckism. (fromHistory of genetics)
Image 18Clay models of animal livers dating between the nineteenth and eighteenth centuries BCE, found in the royal palace atMari (fromHistory of biology)
Image 202016 conservation indicator which includes the following indicators: marine protected areas, terrestrial biome protection (global and national), and species protection (global and national) (fromConservation biology)
Image 22A pie chart image showing the relative biomass representation in a rain forest through a summary of children's perceptions from drawings and artwork (left), through a scientific estimate of actual biomass (middle), and by a measure of biodiversity (right). The biomass of social insects (middle) far outweighs the number of species (right). (fromConservation biology)
Image 23In the course of his travels,Alexander von Humboldt mapped the distribution of plants across landscapes and recorded a variety of physical conditions such as pressure and temperature. (fromHistory of biology)
Image 24Charles Darwin's first sketch of an evolutionary tree from hisFirst Notebook on Transmutation of Species (1837) (fromHistory of biology)
Image 27Aristotle's model of transmission of movements from parents to child, and ofform from the father. The model is not fully symmetric. (fromHistory of genetics)
Image 28InMicrographia, Robert Hooke had applied the wordcell to biological structures such as this piece ofcork, but it was not until the 19th century that scientists considered cells the universal basis of life. (fromHistory of biology)
Image 32Efforts are made to preserve the natural characteristics ofHopetoun Falls, Australia, without affecting visitors' access. (fromConservation biology)
Image 33The frontispiece toErasmus Darwin'sevolution-themed poemThe Temple of Nature shows a goddess pulling back the veil from nature (in the person ofArtemis). Allegory and metaphor have often played an important role in the history of biology. (fromHistory of biology)
Image 34More conservation research is needed for understanding ecology and behaviour of thedhole in central China. (fromConservation biology)
Image 36An art scape image showing the relative importance of animals in a rain forest through a summary of (a) child's perception compared with (b) a scientific estimate of the importance. The size of the animal represents its importance. The child's mental image places importance on big cats, birds, butterflies, and then reptiles versus the actual dominance of social insects (such as ants). (fromConservation biology)
Image 38Statue ofRobert Koch in Berlin. Koch directly provided proof for thegerm theory of diseases, therefore creating the scientific basis ofpublic health, saving millions of lives. For his life's work Koch is seen as one of the founders of modern medicine. (fromHistory of biology)
A complete list of scientific WikiProjects can be foundhere. See alsoWikispecies, a Wikimedia project dedicated to classification of biological species.
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