Biology 2e is designed to cover the scope and sequence requirements of a typical two-semester biology course for science majors. The text provides comprehensive coverage of foundational research and core biology concepts through an evolutionary lens. Biology includes rich features that engage students in scientific inquiry, highlight careers in the biological sciences, and offer everyday applications. The book also includes various types of practice and homework questions that help students understand—and apply—key concepts. The 2nd edition has been revised to incorporate clearer, more current, and more dynamic explanations, while maintaining the same organization as the first edition. Art and illustrations have been substantially improved, and the textbook features additional assessments and related resources.

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Identify bacterial diseases that caused historically important plagues and epidemics
Describe the link between biofilms and foodborne diseases
Explain how overuse of antibiotics may be creating “super bugs”
Explain the importance of MRSA with respect to the problems of antibiotic resistance

This project originated in response to the Covid-19 pandemic sweeping the globe and its various knock-on effects. We created a small collection of openly available primary documents discussing epidemics from the past, such as the Black Death in Europe in the mid-fourteenth century and smallpox hitting northern Michigan in the nineteenth.

Our initial goal was to highlight similarities between past outbreaks and modern ones, including Covid-19. To that end, there are questions presented at the end of each source that inquire about parallels that can be drawn between then and now. There are also questions designed to explore similarities between the various sources themselves, to highlight patterns that can be seen across time. Our hope is that this collection will be useful not just for history classes, but also for political science, anthropology, psychology, and perhaps some of the hard sciences as well.

Table of Contents:
“Such was the history of the plague:” from History of the Peloponnesian War
“During these times there was a pestilence:” History of the Wars
“All human wisdom and foresight were vain:” Foreword to The Decameron
A Journal of the Plague Year: Bubonic Plague in London, 1665
“The disorder, I fear, increases:” Yellow Fever in Philadelphia, 1803
“We Have a Terrible Sickness Here at This Place:” Smallpox on the Ottawa Reservation in Peshawbestown, Michigan, 1881
“I have used my best effort in a kind way:” Smallpox among the Hopi, 1898
“We Sure Did Get Tired:” Letter from a Volunteer Nurse, October 17, 1918
“Volunteers Required:” Newspaper Articles on Spanish Flu from Wausau, Wisconsin