Biology

Biology is the scientific study of life.

It encompasses in it several fields, including medicine, botany, and zoology; in addition, such studies as ecology and biochemistry fall under the purview of biology.

Principles

The study of biology works from several basic foundations:

1. The cellular theory of life. All life is composed of at least once cell, which undergoes the classical processes of cellular life; the cell is the basic unit of all macrobiotic life. The chemical composition of all cells in nature is similar, and all existing cells have emerged from prior cells through the processes of cellular division and mitosis.

2. Genetic theory. All cells encode their genetic information in the form of DNA, the fundamental component of genes. These genes transfer the physical, and often psychological, traits of one generation of organism to the next.

3. Homeostasis. All living organisms will attempt to reach some form of dynamic equilibrium with their environment - both through the metabolism of individual creatures, and the population dynamics of whole populations.

History

More than ten thousand years ago, Mesopotamia showed evidence of the domestication of goats, sheep, and grains; while this was most likely unintentional, at least at first, it can be placed as the first point at which human study of the nature of life itself began. From these humble beginnings, all of modern biology eventually flourished.

Ethical implications

Philosophers of science generally extrapolate from the principle of homeostasis to the conclusion that adaptive evolution is contrary to the nature of life, since it relies on the repeated disruption of equilibrium. The principle of homeostasis also indicates that societal change tends to be self-perpetuating and ultimately self-destructive, since each change brings the societal system further from equilibrium, resulting in additional changes and ultimately collapse.