Preface and Acknowledgments

Dedication

This book is dedicated to the students of Butte College and worldwide. The Biology Department faculty at Butte College have created this book as part of our effort to help make education more affordable. Our goal was to create a book that helps students understand how human systems function and how humans fit into the world around us.

In a few chapters, we have incorporated more inclusive gender-neutral pronouns, such as singular they/their/them. Around 1795, the language authorities Lindley Murray, Joseph Priestly, and Hugh Blair, amongst others, campaigned against pronoun irregularities in pronoun use, such as lack of agreement in gender and number. Without coining words, this can only be done in the third-person singular by use of compound terms like “his or her”. Grammarians in 1879, 1922, 1931, 1957, and the 1970s have accepted “they” as a singular term that could be used in place of “he” or “he or she,” though sometimes limiting it to informal constructions. Others in 1795, 1825, 1863, 1898, 1926, and 1982 argued against it for various reasons. And whatever the grammarians might argue, people have been using the singular “they” for about the last 600 years, though (as mentioned earlier) it can only be applied in certain cases. If new gender-neutral pronouns are not adopted, we are sure that singular “they” will still be a point of contention for centuries to come. For further information on the use of singular “they/them/their” throughout the centuries, see the large body of information that Henry Churchyard has compiled on this subject (LGBTQ+ Resource center; July 2020).

We wish the very best for all our students as they move forward in their goals!

Reference: Gender Pronouns; Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer Plus (LGBTQ+) Resource Center; University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; accessed on July 8, 2020, CC BY-NC

Vocabulary

Biology is a field that has many new vocabulary terms. These are bolded throughout the text. Students are encouraged to create flashcards or use other strategies to learn these terms. Knowing the vocabulary terms in a chapter will help make the content easier to understand.

Acknowledgments

CK-12 Foundation

Parts of this book are an adaptation from the CK-12 Flexbook. CK-12 Foundation is a non-profit organization with a mission to reduce the cost of textbook materials for the K-12 market both in the U.S. and worldwide. Using an open-source, collaborative, and web-based compilation model, CK-12 pioneers and promotes the creation and distribution of high-quality, adaptive online textbooks that can be mixed, modified and printed (i.e., the FlexBook® textbooks). Copyright © 2017 CK-12 Foundation, www.ck12.org

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Printed: January 5, 2017

AUTHOR: Jean Brainard, Ph.D.

EDITOR: Rachel Henderson, Ph.D.

CONTRIBUTOR: Rachel Henderson, Ph.D.