16/03/2022
Biology module for freshman
Chapter One
1. Introduction
Dear learner! Welcome to this module which deals about the course, General Biology (Biol.
1012). This module chapter is primarily intended for natural science students to familiarize with
basic concepts of biological science, the nature and origin of life, scientific methods and the
subject matter of biology. I hope you will find it interesting!
Learning Objectives: After completing this chapter you will be expected to:
define the term biology
explain scientific methods
know the origin and the nature of life
1.1. The meaning and scope of biology
Self test:-
1. Do you know the meaning and the scope of Biology? Discuss it
3. Explain the origin and the nature of life
4. What are the branches of biology ?
Biological Sciences is the study of life and living organisms. It is also called as “Biology”.
The Greek word „bio‟ means life and „logos‟ means study of. In the late 1700s Pierre-Antoine
de Monet and Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck coined the term biology. Earlier study of living
things was restricted to the pure Science like Botany and Zoology that together comprise the
Biology. But as the time passed new branches evolved. New technologies developed in pure
subjects as well as in applied fields, which gave rise to a very broad concept of science called
Biological Sciences. Biological Sciences is an extensive study covering the minute workings
of chemical substances inside living cells to the broad scale concepts of ecosystems and
global environmental changes.
It is also concerned with the physical characteristics and behaviors of organisms living today
and long ago. How they came into existence and what relation they possess with each other
and their environments? Intimate study of details of the human brain, the composition of our
genes, and even the functioning of our reproductive system are dealt in Biological sciences.
