Essentials of Genetics

Essentials of Geneticsis written for courses requiring a text that is shorter and more basic than its more comprehensive companion,Concepts of Genetics.While coverage is thorough, current, and of high quality, Essentials is written to be more accessible to biology majors early in their undergraduate careers, as well as to students majoring in agriculture, chemistry, engineering, forestry, psychology, or wildlife management. Because the text is shorter than many other books,Essentials of Geneticswill also be more manageable in one-quarter and one-semester courses. Goals AlthoughEssentials of Geneticsis almost 300 pages shorter than its companion volume, our goals during revision are the same for both books. Specifically, we seek to Emphasize concepts rather than excessive detail. Write clearly and directly to students in order to provide understandable explanations of complex analytical topics. Establish careful organization within and between chapters. Maintain constant emphasis on scientific analysis as the means to illustrate the nature of scientific discovery. Propagate the rich history of genetics that so beautifully illustrates how information is acquired and extended within the discipline as it develops and grows. Emphasize problem solving, thereby guiding students to think analytically and to apply and extend their knowledge of genetics. Provide the most modern and up-to-date coverage of this exciting field. Include whole chapters that provide comprehensive coverage of topics at the cutting edge of genetics. Create inviting, engaging, and pedagogically useful full-color figures enhanced by equally helpful photographs to support concept development. Provide outstanding On-line Media Tutorials where students are guided in their understanding of important concepts by working through the best animations, tutorial exercises, and self-assessment tools available. These goals serve as the cornerstones ofEssentials of Genetics.This pedagogic foundation allows the book to accommodate courses with many different approaches and lecture formats. Chapters are written to be as independent of one another as possible, allowing instructors to utilize them in various sequences. We believe that the varied approaches embodied in these goals work together to provide students with optimal support for their study of genetics. Features New to the Fifth Edition This edition has several new features that continue to makeEssentials of Geneticsthe most distinctive and pedagogically useful textbook available to students of genetics, including: How Do We Know What We Know?This is a new feature found at the end of the introduction in each chapter. Based on a modern approach to teaching biology referred to as "Science as a way of Knowing," this section asks the student to be aware of the most important issues that have framed our thinking and to constantly ask themselves how we discovered this information. We believe that this approach, which has always been pursued in the text of each chapter but is now formalized, will enhance students' understanding of the topics covered in each chapter. The ideas behind this approach are explained in Chapter 1, and the execution begins in Chapter 2. New Problems.Over 300 new problems, many based on research data derived from the literature of genetics, have been added to chapters throughout the text. Students will find in excess of 30 Problems and Discussion Questions at the end of almost all of the chapters. As in past editions, solutions appear in theStudent Handbook and Solutions Manual. Extranuclear Inheritance.Formal coverage, absent from recent editions, has been returned to this edition. This topic is covered in Chapter 4, "Modification of Mendelian Ratios", and Chapter 12, "Chromosome StruKlug, William S. is the author of 'Essentials of Genetics', published 2004 under ISBN 9780131435100 and ISBN 0131435108.