Essentials of the Living World

Essentials of The Living World is often considered a student favorite. George Johnson has written this non-majors textbook from the ground up to be an engaging and accessible learning tool with an emphasis on "how things work and why things happen the way they do". Essentials of The Living World focuses on concepts rather than terminology and technical information, and features a straightforward, clear writing style and a wide variety of media assets to enhance the content of the textbook.

Dr. George B. Johnson is a researcher, educator, and author. Born in 1942 in Virginia, he went to college in New Hampshire (Dartmouth), attended graduate school in California (Stanford), and is Professor Emeritus of Biology at Washington University in St. Louis, where he has taught freshman biology and genetics to undergraduates for over 35 years. Also Professor of Genetics at Washington University’s School of Medicine, Dr. Johnson is a student of population genetics and evolution, authoring more than 50 scientific journal publications. His laboratory work is renowned for pioneering the study of previously undisclosed genetic variability. His field research has centered on alpine butterflies and flowers, much of it carried out in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming. Other ecosystems he has explored in recent years include Brazilian and Costa Rican rain forests, the Florida Everglades, the seacoast of Maine, coral reefs off Belize, the ice fields and mountains of Patagonia, and, delightfully, vineyards in Tuscany.

A prolific writer and educator, Dr. Johnson is the author of seven nationally recognized college texts for McGraw-Hill, including the hugely successful majors texts Biology (with botanist Peter Raven) and three nonmajors’ texts: Understanding Biology, Essentials of The Living World, and  The Living World. He has also authored two widely used high school biology textbooks, Holt Biology and Biology: Visualizing Life. In the 30 years he has been authoring biology texts, over 3 million students have been taught from textbooks Dr. Johnson has written