Jennifer Viegas

All around us, the natural world goes through cycles of growth and decay. Fungi, including molds, are crucial to these life cycles and can be both destructive and beneficial to humans. From the cultivation of mushrooms, through the molds employed to make cheeses and other food products, to water-damaged human environments where mold must be contained, this book explores these organisms that exist largely unseen all around us. This big-picture approach...

Discusses the latest scientific breakthroughs regarding embryonic stem cells and the growing of new human tissues, and how this can help doctors treat human illnesses.

A historical review of the writing of the Declaration of Independence, the events that led up to its creation, and the influence of its author, Thomas Jefferson, on the final document.

Readers learn that a living organism is a system, or structure, that reproduces, changes with its environment over a period of time, and maintains its individuality by continuous metabolism. To maintain life, an organism repairs or replaces (or both) its structures by a constant supply of the materials of which it is formed. It keeps its life processes in operation by a steady supply of energy. A major contributing part of an organism's survival is...