2 stars (Book for high school, not worth the money) - This book goes into explaining Hardy-Weinberg principle and doesn't even have the equation for it! Nor does it mention two important words in the same chapter - dominant and recessive. If you want to look at pictures of animals and read over-simplified explanations then buy it. If your are looking for a scholarly book, then I would suggest to look elsewhere. 3 stars (Too much "fluff") - The major problem with this book is that there is so much unnecessary paragraphs which can just be said in a couple of sentences. This book is only good for those who have major trouble grasping the concepts and are in need of a mass amount of analogies and metaphors. If you are looking for a Biology book straight to the point, this is not for you; a better book is "Inquiry into Life" by Sylvia S. Mader. Once I read "Inquiry into Life," I found that "Biology: Life on Earth" was too drawn out. It is also not as detailed as I had expected it to be. 4 stars (An excellent introduction to biology!) - (Note: This review refers to the fifth edition of this book.) The authors of Biology: Life on Earth have written a beautiful, fairly comprehensive but not overwhelming introduction to the subject of biology. Although I have a bachelor's degree in biology and a master's in botany and found the book to be straightforward and clear, it is written so well and in such an engaging and conversational style that it should also be straightforward and clear to anyone who is new to biology. The colorful photographs and detailed diagrams add to the beauty of the book. I also like the feel of the pages. Many introductory biology books nowadays are quite heavy and bulky, and there is so much information in them that it is sometimes hard to get the "big picture." But this particular book is able to get the main aspects of biology conveyed in a more compact size. ( Some biology textbooks can be upwards of 1200 or more pages long, but this book gets... Prentice Hall :: Science & Biology :: Science&Mathematics :: Science :: Life Sciences - Biology - General :: Biology (General) :: Biology :: Bruce E Byers :: Teresa Audesirk :: Geral :: Biology - Life on Earth (7th Edition)