Essential Biology is a brief non-majors biology textbook that brings the authors' extraordinary reputation for biological accuracy and teaching innovation to bear upon four core biological topics: cells, genetics, evolution, and ecology. The authors use evolution as the thematic thread to tie all twenty chapters into a cohesive exploration of life. In Essential Biology, the clarity of writing complements an exciting new art program. The art works hand-in-hand with text discussions to help students visualize difficult concepts. Essential Biology has the most comprehensive media package on the market. The media content, which is fully integrated with the book, directs students to 150 media activities, 400 chapter quiz questions, over a thousand practice test questions, and hundreds of web links on The Essential Biology Place web site.