Biological Science, Global Edition, 8th edition

Published by Pearson (July 11, 2025) © 2025
  • Scott Freeman
  • Kim Quillin
  • Lizabeth Allison
  • Michael Black
  • Greg Podgorski
  • Emily Taylor
  • Jeff Carmichael

Title overview

For introductory biology courses for science majors.

Think like a biologist, develop skills and make connections

Known for its discovery-based, student-centered approach, Scott Freeman’s Biological Science emphasizes higher-order thinking, skill development and active learning. Strategies in the text go beyond memorization and guide students in making connections between core concepts and content.

In the 8th Edition, Global Edition, cutting-edge and core biology content is seamlessly intertwined with development of skills with an emphasis on metacognition, study strategies and quantitative reasoning. Features guide students to reflect on their thinking, construct their own knowledge and think like biologists.

New and updated features of this title

  • Human Angle feature is designed to help students feel a sense of belonging in the learning space, build a science identity, discover careers in biology and engage in the coursework.
  • Check Your Learning questions now include tagged Reflect questions to help students learn and apply the skills of metacognition and to prompt them to reflect on the results of their learning and modify their approach as needed.
  • BioSkills on Metacognition introduces students to metacognition with Reflecting on Thinking and Learning in the Check Your Learning boxes and provides support for the new Reflect questions.
  • UPDATED: Reflecting greater diversity, equity and inclusion, visuals, language and terminology have been meaningfully revised throughout.
  • NEW & UPDATED: Key New Content is updated based on currency, relevancy and feedback from reviewers. Throughout each chapter there is a focus on increasing inclusivity; highlighting careers in science; and applying concepts and skills to solving societal challenges. New case studies have been added that are updated for more recent developments, relevancy and alignment with chapter content.

Key features

Features of Pearson+ eTextbook for the 8th Edition, Global Edition

  • NEW: Biology in Numbers Activities include videos to support the development of quantitative reasoning in a biological context, addressing the scale of life and inciting a feeling of awe.
  • EXPANDED: Insider Tips are brief, student-designed videos featuring expert-student study strategies and feature a new video that guides students through the process of metacognition. Other tips include understanding terminology, retrieval practice, confronting misconceptions, drawing models, transferring knowledge, spacing study, cultivating a growth mindset and other expert-student skills.
  • EXPANDED: 30 Interactive Figure Walkthrough Videos guide students through challenging figures with brief videos that break down the art and provide explanatory narration to help students better understand key concepts and to develop critical thinking skills.
  • Put It All Together case study questions from the end of each chapter are assignable in Mastering Biology.
  • Blue Thread Questions provide over 500 questions based on the Blue Thread questions in the textbook and are interactive in the P+ eTextbook.

Table of contents

  1. Biology: The Study of Life

BIOSKILLS

UNIT 1 THE MOLECULAR ORIGIN AND EVOLUTION OF LIFE

  1. Water and Carbon: The Chemical Basis of Life
  2. Protein Structure and Function
  3. Nucleic Acids and an RNA World
  4. An Introduction to Carbohydrates
  5. Lipids, Membranes, and the First Cells

UNIT 2 CELL STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION

  1. Inside the Cell
  2. Energy and Enzymes: An Introduction to Metabolism
  3. 9 Cellular Respiration and Fermentation
  4. 10 Photosynthesis
  5. 11 Cell–Cell Interactions
  6. 12 The Cell Cycle

UNIT 3 GENE STRUCTURE AND EXPRESSION

  1. Meiosis
  2. Mendel and the Gene
  3. DNA and the Gene: Synthesis and Repair
  4. How Genes Work
  5. Transcription, RNA Processing, and Translation
  6. Control of Gene Expression in Bacteria
  7. Control of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes
  8. The Molecular Revolution: Biotechnology, Genomics, and New Frontiers
  9. Genes, Development, and Evolution

UNIT 4 EVOLUTIONARY PATTERNS AND PROCESSES

  1. Evolution by Natural Selection
  2. Evolutionary Processes
  3. Speciation
  4. Phylogenies and the History of Life

UNIT 5 THE DIVERSIFICATION OF LIFE

  1. Bacteria and Archaea
  2. Diversification of Eukaryotes
  3. Green Algae and Land Plants
  4. Fungi
  5. An Introduction to Animals
  6. Protostome Animals
  7. Deuterostome Animals
  8. Viruses

UNIT 6 HOW PLANTS WORK

  1. Plant Form and Function
  2. Water and Sugar Transport in Plants
  3. Plant Nutrition
  4. Plant Sensory Systems, Signals, and Responses
  5. Flowering Plant Reproduction and Development

UNIT 7 HOW ANIMALS WORK

  1. Animal Form and Function
  2. Water and Electrolyte Balance in Animals
  3. Animal Nutrition
  4. Gas Exchange and Circulation
  5. Animal Nervous Systems
  6. Animal Sensory Systems
  7. Animal Movement
  8. Chemical Signals in Animals
  9. Animal Reproduction and Development
  10. The Immune System in Animals

UNIT 8 ECOLOGY

  1. An Introduction to Ecology
  2. Behavioral Ecology
  3. Population Ecology
  4. Community Ecology
  5. Ecosystems and Global Ecology
  6. Biodiversity and Conservation Biology

APPENDICES

  • A. Answers
  • B. Periodic Table of Elements
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