What Is Biology?
The science of biology is the study of life - the diversity of living organisms, their origin and evolution, their classification, their structure and function. From the tiniest cell to the humpback whale, the understanding of how living organisms interact with the environment comes from the work that biologists do. However, the study of biology is not exclusive to formal biologists. Whenever you ask a question about the plants or animals around you, or if you try to diagnose you symptoms when you feel ill, you are taking part in the study of biology.
Humans have studied biology since before there was written language, an interest that evolved mostly from the necessity of understanding the animals that early humans hunted. Necessity also led early humans to learn how to domesticate wild plants in order to grow food, as well as how to use the healing properties of some plants.
Aristotle, an Ancient Greek philosopher, was one of the first to formalize the study of science. View the video 350 B.C. Aristotle Founds Zoology from eMediaVA to learn how Aristotle examined and classified animals.
Although Aristotle’s classification system is no longer used, his work was a foundation for the science of Biology and its many branches. Biology is the study of life and all its facets, which means there are many different fields of study that range from the microscopic cells that compose all life to the behavior and interactions of wild animals. The following list explains some of the different fields and sub-disciplines that are related to the biological sciences.
| Field | Description |
| Biochemistry | The study of the chemical processes in, and related to, living organisms |
| Botany | The study of the diversity of plants, their classification, anatomy, distribution, and cultivation |
| Cellular Biology | The study of the structure and function of the cell, cellular metabolism and energetics, communication and protein control of gene expression |
| Ecology | The study of how living organisms interact with their environment |
| Evolutionary Biology | The study of evolution and the diversity of life |
| Genetics | The study of the role that genes play in the heredity of traits |
| Molecular Biology | The study of biology on the molecular level |
| Physiology | The study of the normal functions of organisms and their body parts |
| Zoology | The study of animals, including their structure, behavior, habitats, classification, and distribution |
What Is Life?
Regardless of the field in which a biologist is working, biology is the study of life. But what does that mean? Scientists have considered and debated this question, have made many observations, and over time have come to the following conclusion: living organisms all share seven characteristics that define them as living. In this interactivity, click on each tab to the left to learn about each of these characteristics. Click the player button to begin.
Download a printable version of the interactivity.