Dr. Sylvia Mader’s text, Inquiry into Life, was originally developed to reach out to science-shy students. The text now represents one of the cornerstones of introductory biology education. Inquiry into Life was founded on the belief that teaching science from a human perspective, coupled with human applications, would make the material more relevant to the student.
This text, along with the Inquiry Into Life 15.1 edition, represent an ongoing project in the development of a continuously-updated textbook. As scientists and educators, the authors of this text are well aware that scientific discovery is a dynamic process. Fortunately, the advances in digital publishing are allowing authors to update content on an ongoing basis, which in turn is promoting the ability to update content on a regular basis. This text represents the prototype of those efforts
Michael Windelspecht has taught introductory biology, genetics, and human genetics in the online, traditional, and hybrid formats at community colleges, universities, and military institutions. Educated at Michigan State University and the University of South Florida, he is currently an adjunct professor of biology at Appalachian State University. He served for over a decade as the Introductory Biology Coordinator at Appalachian State University, a program that enrolled over 4,500 students annually. As an author and editor, Dr. Windelspecht has published over 20 reference textbooks and multiple print and online lab manuals and has founded several science communication companies, including Ricochet Creative Productions, which develops and assesses new technologies for the science classroom. Learn more about Dr. Windelspecht at www.michaelwindelspecht.com.
Sylvia S. Mader has authored several nationally recognized biology texts published by McGraw-Hill. Educated at Bryn Mawr College, Harvard University, Tufts University, and Nova Southeastern University, she holds degrees in both Biology and Education. Over the years she has taught at University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Massachusetts Bay Community College; Suffolk University; and Nathan Mayhew Seminars. Her ability to reach out to science-shy students led to the writing of her first text, Inquiry into Life, which is now in its fifteenth edition. Highly acclaimed for her crisp and entertaining writing style, her books have become models for others who write in the field of biology.
