Reviewed by Noel Boaz, Professor of Anatomy, Emory and Henry College, School of Health Sciences on 3/10/19
Comprehensiveness
rating: 3 see less
This textbook is organized primarily by systems and it covers all 11 in 20 chapters (even though the Table of Contents only lists 19). Five chapters are predominantly discipline- or topic-focused: Chapter 1 on the Scientific Method, Chapter 2 on Chemistry and Life, Chapter 4 on DNA and Gene Expression, Chapter 6 on Energy Considerations, and Chapter 13 on Mitosis and Meiosis. Each chapter has a glossary but the book lacks an index.
Even though many topics generally considered to be encompassed in Human Biology are included here, the treatment of them is generally unintegrated into the larger contexts of evolutionary biology, ecology, human life cycle adaptation, and normal physiological adaptations. Areas that are left out of this text include:
Principles of Evolution chapter in which one would have desired to have a discussion of the important topic of individual variation in anatomy and physiology within populations, effects of natural selection, especially as related to health and disease, biogeography, and the origins of life and the human lineage;
Development and Aging is an area that is not treated in this book, including embryogenesis, placental structure and function, the human life cycle, life span, and congenital malformations;
Principles of Ecology are not touched upon here, including structure of human populations, effects of population growth, effects of air and water quality on human health, human land use and biology, and human effects of the loss of global biodiversity.
The topics that are covered can be uneven. For example, there are in-depth details given on the Scientific Method, on Myocardial Infarction, and in lengthy topic boxes on selected careers in health care, while many applications to contemporary research issues in Human Biology, normal heart innervation in physiological adaptation, and other career options that also draw upon Human Biology are not included.
Accuracy
rating: 4
The book is authoritative and strongest in biochemistry and cell biology. It is weaker on evolutionary theory. For example, in Chapter 2 the first Critical Thinking Question deals with "adaptation" (read "adaptability") in responding to olfactory cues in the context of smelling fire in a residence hall versus around a campfire, after an earlier definition of "adaptation" as a purely physical/biological evolved characteristic. Special Senses are not dealt with in the book until Chapter 18. A student would find this confusing.
Content is least accurate in the realm of Anatomy. There are a number of minor errors that are perhaps just more distracting than of major impact. However, these are most noticeable in:
Chapter 9 on the Heart where, for example, the legend to Figure 1 contradicts the figure by confusing the base of the heart with its apex; the three layers of the pericardium are misidentified; and the cardiac veins are misidentified as "coronary" veins (confusing them with coronary arteries).
Chapter 11 on the Respiratory System where, for example, the nasopharynx is incorrectly said to be flanked by the conchae (they flank the nasal cavity) and the laryngopharynx is said to conduct air (not unless one is swallowing air).
Chapter 15 on the Reproductive System notes that a lack of testosterone leads to scrotal tissue developing into "labia" when "labia majora" should have been specified to differentiate from labia-minora-homologous hypospadias.
Chapter 16 on the Skeletal System figures the "metaphysis" of long bones but leaves this important structure out of the text.
Relevance/Longevity
rating: 5
Most content covered is up-to-date. One exception was the use of the old term "solar plexus" in Chapter 18 in relation to the sympathetic nervous system, but the conceptual context is appropriate and the term can be readily corrected. The text does not deal as thoroughly with Genomics as one would like even though there are lengthy discussions of the traditional genetic topics of mitosis and meiosis and DNA replication. These sections could be revised to include more recent research findings, for example, on oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and homeobox genes.
Clarity
rating: 5
In general the writing is clear, concise, and accessible. There is good use of analogy to get concepts across. I thought using ATP "dollars" to pay the cell's "energy bill" was effective. Difficult concepts such as acid-base balance in Chapter 3 and glycolysis and the Krebs Cycle in Chapter 7 were well done.
Consistency
rating: 4
There is some confusion over the "levels of complexity" on which the text is based. Figure 1 in Chapter 1 shows 6 levels but in the text 10 levels are discussed. The reader is left to ponder whether subatomic particles or atoms are the starting point, where "organelles" fit in exactly, and is there a difference between the molecular level and macromolecular level. This problem could be addressed with a fuller discussion of how these levels historically evolved, as we now know more clearly from the molecular clock, astrobiology, and the genomic "Tree of Life" work.
There are minor technical issues with text consistency. The references to figures in the various chapters vary. Some chapters have only "figure" to designate call-outs while other chapters have numbered figures. In one case a chapter (Chapter 8) had "objectives. The other chapters did not. Some chapters had a summary of what a student would learn, roughly tantamount to objectives. Others did not. Questions at the end of chapters were usually "review" questions but some chapters had "critically thinking questions."
Modularity
rating: 5
This book is quite modular in that the chapters can stand by themselves. The sequence that systems are taught in a particular course could readily use most chapters in a different arrangement.
Organization/Structure/Flow
rating: 4
There is a logic to the organization of organic levels in the text, particularly the initial chapters on molecules and cells which are clearly the simplest levels. The rationale of why the digestive system is the first system to be discussed (Chapter 5) is less obvious but each system is largely treated by itself so the sequence of systems was probably considered not of great concern. I was surprised somewhat to come upon a chapter on Mitosis and Meiosis (Chapter 13), at the the cellular level, in between chapters on the Urinary and Reproductive organ systems, until I realized there was a reproductive connection.
Interface
rating: 4
The text states that one of its goals is accessibility by students. The art in this text is quite clear, interpretable, and well done. However, there were significant problems with the QR coded links generally termed "Concepts in Action." Not all chapters had these but I checked out each one in the text and found several that did not load. Several loaded but had no content. This can be distracting.
Grammatical Errors
rating: 5
I encountered no issues with grammar.
Although not technically "grammar," I noted a few typographical errors, the most obvious of which was "Antidiuretic Hormone" misspelled in section 13.3. It is also worth noting for correction in section 9.1 that "kardia" is Greek, not Latin.
Cultural Relevance
rating: 5
There is nothing that I would consider culturally insensitive in the text.
Comments
This book would be most suited to a Biology Department course geared to premedical students because it tracks the traditional topics covered in the medical school curriculum. Some students, depending on their backgrounds, may struggle with the chemical, genetic, anatomical, and/or physiological material. An instructor using this textbook for a Human Biology class but desiring a more expansive biological purview that would encompass ev-devo, ecological, and genomic perspectives would have to provide this content on their own.
Attribution