E-Book Overview
"Zoology" is organized into three parts. Part One covers the common life processes, including cell and tissue structure and function, the genetic basis of evolution, and the evolutionary and ecological principles that unify all life. Part Two is the survey of protists and animals, emphasizing evolutionary and ecological relationships, aspects of animal organization that unite major animal phyla, and animal adaptations. Part Three covers animal form and function using a comparative approach. This approach includes descriptions and full-color artwork that depict evolutionary changes in the structure and function of selected organ systems.
E-Book Content
Miller−Harley: Zoology, Fifth Edition Front Matter Preface © The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2001 P R E F A C E The planning for the first edition of Zoology began in the late 1980s at a time when instructors and their students had few options in the choice of a general zoology textbook. In the first four editions of Zoology, we have tried to present zoology as an exciting and dynamic scientific field. We have made very deliberate choices in content and style to enhance the readability of the textbook, realizing that authority and detail of content are of little consequence if students find the book difficult to use. Many of these choices have been challenging, and the labor involved has at times been exhausting. With each edition we have received student and instructor feedback that has confirmed our approach and rewarded our efforts. We believe that the decisions we, and our colleagues at McGraw-Hill, have made have largely been the right decisions. This is why we are privileged to have a fifth edition of Zoology in your hands, while other books have not survived the rigors of “textbook selection.” Our goals in preparing the fifth edition of Zoology were the same as in previous editions. We prepared an