Three Weeks for Dreamwidth: Biology
May. 10th, 2026 12:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis year during Three Weeks for Dreamwidth, I'm writing about reading as a way of becoming an expert in a given subject. Read Part 1: Introduction to Becoming an Expert, Part 2: Architecture, Part 3: Dance, Part 4: Music, Part 5: Painting, Part 6: Poetry, Part 7: Sculpture, Part 8: Conflict Resolution, Part 9: Cooking, Part 10: Coping Skills, Part 11: Gardening, Part 12: Relationship Skills, Part 13: Repairing, Part 14: Survival Skills, Part 15: Archaeology.
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 16: Biology
Biology is the science of studying life. Its two main subfields are botany (studying plants) and zoology (studying animals) but there are other branches such as evolutionary biology, genetics, mycology (studying fungi), paleozoology (studying extinct animals), and so forth. Aspects include history, famous people, and regions. Different cultures have very different approaches to biology too. Here on Dreamwidth, check out![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
birdfeeding, common_nature, environment, gardening, naturaldyes, petchat, science, and scienceworld.
Life goes back about 3.7 billion years. Humans have always studied the natural world for survival reasons, particularly plants and animals useful as food, medicine, or raw materials. Early science goes back at least as far as the bronze age, but likely much further. Modern science dates from the Scientific Revolution starting in the mid-1500s. New discoveries constantly change what is known about life, especially the revelation of new species whether historic or contemporary. Learning about plants, animals, and other forms of life has many useful applications and is lots of fun because nature is so weird.
Biology is one of the sciences that has a simple, accessible end and goes from there to as complex as you care to take it. Anyone can have a go at growing plants or small animals. If you're into evolution or genetics, you can try your hand at things like landraces and watch them adapt to your local conditions. There are even "citizen science" programs you can join. Biology is endlessly entertaining to study and will teach you useful things about the world around you. It's enlightening when you visit a zoo or arboretum. You can find books on biology and its subfields at any bookstore or library, but check zoo and museum gift shops for more interesting titles. Especially look up titles particular to your state or other region; check local universities for their professors' books. You can find classes at garden centers, arboretums, nature centers, zoos, community centers, libraries, and so on.
Choosing three books about biology gives you lots of options. Aside from overview and two details, consider three overviews of different branches such as botany, zoology, and evolutionary biology. Beginning-intermediate-advanced remains a good choice. If you're particularly interested in your part of the world, look for three books relating to your local biome such as trees, wildflowers, mammals, or general ecosystem. There are series like "Wildflowers of (location)" or "Desert (type of organism)" that may span dozens of books. I still have most of a shelf of Golden Guides and a majority of those are some branch of biology; you can't beat them for an introduction to a science. You could also look up famous biologists. Here are some possibilities...
General Biology
Biological Sciences: Books, eBooks, and Handbooks
https://researchguides.njit.edu/biology/books
Biology Books: Carleton Research Guides
https://gouldguides.carleton.edu/biology/books
Biology: Reference Books
https://guides.stlcc.edu/biology/ref
Biology Textbooks Books
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/biology-textbooks
Popular Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/biology
A Guide to Biology Research: Books & media
https://libguides.du.edu/biology/search-books
Top 10 Most Searched Biology Books in 2026
https://bookscouter.com/blog/top-10-most-searched-biology-books/
Botany
Botany and Horticulture Library
https://library.si.edu/libraries/botany/subjectguide
Botany & Plant Sciences: Reference Books
https://libguides.rutgers.edu/botany/Reference
Popular Botany Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/botany
Popular Tree Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/tree-biology
Evolutionary Biology
The Best Books on Evolution
https://fivebooks.com/best-books/evolution-jerry-coyne/
Evolutionary Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/evolutionary-biology
Popular Evolutionary Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/evolutionary-biology
Famous Biologists
The 9 Most Captivating Biographies of Biologists
https://bookraid.com/reader-blog/8120/the--most-captivating-biographies-of-biologists
Books About Carl Linnaeus at the National Agricultural Library, by Date
https://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/collectionsguide/linnaeus/LinnaeusDatePDF.pdf
Books about Charles Darwin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Books_about_Charles_Darwin
Books about Jane Goodall
https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/1034792487/1291578827
History
Popular History Of Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/history-of-biology
Studying the History of Pre-Modern Zoology with Linked Data and Vocabularies https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1364/paper1.pdf
Regions and Habitats
10 Books to Read Before Volunteering with Wildlife in South Africa
https://www.wildlifeact.com/blog/books-to-read-before-volunteering-with-wildlife-in-south-africa
Recommended Field Biology References for North Carolina
https://www.ncnhp.org/publications/recommended-field-biology-references-north-carolina
Suggested readings for the natural history of Pacific Northwest prairies
https://cascadiaprairieoak.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Suggested-readings-for-the-natural-history-of-PNW-prairies.pdf
Top 20 Marine Biology books you should read now
https://danielmmoore.com/2018/03/19/top-20-marine-biology-books-you-should-read-now/
US tundra biome publication list
https://erdc-library.erdc.dren.mil/server/api/core/bitstreams/81b728f8-9bab-4ef8-e053-411ac80adeb3/content
WFC 110: Biology & Conservation of Wild Mammals (includes regional lists)
https://guides.library.ucdavis.edu/WFC-110/books
Zoology
The 10 Best Zoology Textbooks
https://wiki.ezvid.com/best-zoology-textbooks
List of Books of Department of Zoology
https://mzu.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/zoology20books.pdf
LIST OF ZOOLOGY REFERENCE BOOKS INDEX BY AUTHORWISE
https://avinuty.ac.in/sites/avinuty.ac.in/files/2023-12/Zoology%20Reference%20Books.pdf
The Lives and Deaths of Polar Bears: 10 Books and Films
https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/88298373/1686641539
Popular Zoology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/zoology
Zoology Book Lists
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/zoology
Free Books
Biology Free Books at EBD
https://www.e-booksdirectory.com/listing.php?category=6
Biology Textbooks
https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/biology
Free E-Books in Botany, Digital Library of S.B.M.S.
https://sbmscollege.org/library/e-books-in-botany.htm
Free E-Books in Zoology, Digital Library of S.B.M.S.
https://sbmscollege.org/library/e-books-in-zoology.htm
ARCTIC MARINE BIOLOGY
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/30062/1/640-2012_Hempel_etal.pdf
Basic Botany
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/media/sfylifasufledu/wakulla/images/master-gardeners/Botany-101.pdf
The Biology of Deserts
http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32920/1/74.pdf
Botany Illustrated: Introduction to Plants Major Groups
https://mariomairal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Botany-Illustrated-Introduction-to-Plants-Major-Groups-Flowering-Plant-Families-by-Janice-Glimn-Lacy-Peter-B.-Kaufman-z-lib.org_.pdf
College Biology
https://textbookequity.org/Textbooks/collegebiologysummaryquestions.pdf
Concepts of Biology
https://d3bxy9euw4e147.cloudfront.net/oscms-qa/media/documents/ConceptsOfBiology-LR.pdf
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa
https://web.archive.org/web/20220120043054/https://books.openbookpublishers.com/10.11647/obp.0177.pdf
An Elementary Text-book of Botany
https://darwin-online.org.uk/converted/pdf/1880_Prantl_text-book_botany_A5569.pdf
Gray's Botanical text-book
https://darwin-online.org.uk/converted/pdf/1879_Gray_botanical_text-book1_A4371.pdf
Post-Graduate Degree Programme (CBCS) in ZOOLOGY: NON CHORDATE AND INSECT ORGANIZATION ZHT-101 SELF-LEARNING MATERIAL
https://dodl.klyuniv.ac.in/download/DODL%20M.A_M.Sc%20SLMs/DODL_M.A_M.Sc_SLMs_SEM-I/SLM_zoology_Sem-I.pdf
Practical Zoology Vertebrate
https://www.mlsu.ac.in/econtents/758_PRACTICAL%20ZOOLOGY%20%20VERTEBRATE%20(%20PDFDrive%20).pdf
Textbook for Intermediate Zoology
https://bieap.apcfss.in/Uploads/Materials/Zoology-I.pdf
A Textbook of Practical Botany 2
https://mlsu.ac.in/econtents/1129_Dr.%20Ashok%20Bendre%20&%20Dr.%20Ashok%20Kumar%20-%20A%20Text%20Book%20Of%20Practical%20Botany%202%20(1984,%20Rastogi%20Publications).pdf
Zoology: Understanding the Animal World
https://www.library.pima.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/03/Zoology-1266.pdf
Extras
Articles & Databases: Botany
https://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=283013&p=1885690
Biological Sciences: Reliable Websites
https://libraryguides.salisbury.edu/biology/websites
Biology Databases
https://research.library.gsu.edu/c.php?g=115280&p=753178
Biology: Zoology Databases & Other Resources
https://library.drake.edu/c.php?g=316961&p=2118960
Botany in Fiction (28 books)
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/78898.Botany_in_Fiction
Botany & Plant Sciences: Databases & Indexes
https://libguides.rutgers.edu/botany/IndexesDatabases
Databases and journals: Zoology and Animal Science
https://deakin.libguides.com/zoology-animal-science/databases-journals
Databases for Zoology
https://skills.it.ox.ac.uk/files/itlcttaskmpls-researchdatabasesforzoopdf
Free Databases (all subjects): Biology
https://csulb.libguides.com/c.php?g=39192&p=250836
Learn Biology Online: Biology Articles, Tutorials & Dictionary
https://www.biologyonline.com/
Learning Arctic Biology Resources
https://www.learningarcticbiology.info/learning-arctic-biology/resources/
Popular Speculative Zoology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/speculative-zoology
Suggested Botanical Web Sites
https://botany.org/home/resources/suggested-botanical-web-sites.html
Top 27 Biology-themed Movies
https://www.bioexplorer.net/biology-movies.html/
Vertebrate Zoology Research Guide
https://library.si.edu/research/vertebrate-zoology
Zoology: Websites
https://angelo.libguides.com/biology/zoology/websites
Three Weeks for Dreamwidth Part 16: Biology
Biology is the science of studying life. Its two main subfields are botany (studying plants) and zoology (studying animals) but there are other branches such as evolutionary biology, genetics, mycology (studying fungi), paleozoology (studying extinct animals), and so forth. Aspects include history, famous people, and regions. Different cultures have very different approaches to biology too. Here on Dreamwidth, check out
birdfeeding, common_nature, environment, gardening, naturaldyes, petchat, science, and scienceworld.Life goes back about 3.7 billion years. Humans have always studied the natural world for survival reasons, particularly plants and animals useful as food, medicine, or raw materials. Early science goes back at least as far as the bronze age, but likely much further. Modern science dates from the Scientific Revolution starting in the mid-1500s. New discoveries constantly change what is known about life, especially the revelation of new species whether historic or contemporary. Learning about plants, animals, and other forms of life has many useful applications and is lots of fun because nature is so weird.
Biology is one of the sciences that has a simple, accessible end and goes from there to as complex as you care to take it. Anyone can have a go at growing plants or small animals. If you're into evolution or genetics, you can try your hand at things like landraces and watch them adapt to your local conditions. There are even "citizen science" programs you can join. Biology is endlessly entertaining to study and will teach you useful things about the world around you. It's enlightening when you visit a zoo or arboretum. You can find books on biology and its subfields at any bookstore or library, but check zoo and museum gift shops for more interesting titles. Especially look up titles particular to your state or other region; check local universities for their professors' books. You can find classes at garden centers, arboretums, nature centers, zoos, community centers, libraries, and so on.
Choosing three books about biology gives you lots of options. Aside from overview and two details, consider three overviews of different branches such as botany, zoology, and evolutionary biology. Beginning-intermediate-advanced remains a good choice. If you're particularly interested in your part of the world, look for three books relating to your local biome such as trees, wildflowers, mammals, or general ecosystem. There are series like "Wildflowers of (location)" or "Desert (type of organism)" that may span dozens of books. I still have most of a shelf of Golden Guides and a majority of those are some branch of biology; you can't beat them for an introduction to a science. You could also look up famous biologists. Here are some possibilities...
General Biology
Biological Sciences: Books, eBooks, and Handbooks
https://researchguides.njit.edu/biology/books
Biology Books: Carleton Research Guides
https://gouldguides.carleton.edu/biology/books
Biology: Reference Books
https://guides.stlcc.edu/biology/ref
Biology Textbooks Books
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/biology-textbooks
Popular Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/biology
A Guide to Biology Research: Books & media
https://libguides.du.edu/biology/search-books
Top 10 Most Searched Biology Books in 2026
https://bookscouter.com/blog/top-10-most-searched-biology-books/
Botany
Botany and Horticulture Library
https://library.si.edu/libraries/botany/subjectguide
Botany & Plant Sciences: Reference Books
https://libguides.rutgers.edu/botany/Reference
Popular Botany Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/botany
Popular Tree Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/tree-biology
Evolutionary Biology
The Best Books on Evolution
https://fivebooks.com/best-books/evolution-jerry-coyne/
Evolutionary Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/genres/evolutionary-biology
Popular Evolutionary Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/evolutionary-biology
Famous Biologists
The 9 Most Captivating Biographies of Biologists
https://bookraid.com/reader-blog/8120/the--most-captivating-biographies-of-biologists
Books About Carl Linnaeus at the National Agricultural Library, by Date
https://www.nal.usda.gov/speccoll/collectionsguide/linnaeus/LinnaeusDatePDF.pdf
Books about Charles Darwin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Books_about_Charles_Darwin
Books about Jane Goodall
https://sfpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/1034792487/1291578827
History
Popular History Of Biology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/history-of-biology
Studying the History of Pre-Modern Zoology with Linked Data and Vocabularies https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-1364/paper1.pdf
Regions and Habitats
10 Books to Read Before Volunteering with Wildlife in South Africa
https://www.wildlifeact.com/blog/books-to-read-before-volunteering-with-wildlife-in-south-africa
Recommended Field Biology References for North Carolina
https://www.ncnhp.org/publications/recommended-field-biology-references-north-carolina
Suggested readings for the natural history of Pacific Northwest prairies
https://cascadiaprairieoak.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Suggested-readings-for-the-natural-history-of-PNW-prairies.pdf
Top 20 Marine Biology books you should read now
https://danielmmoore.com/2018/03/19/top-20-marine-biology-books-you-should-read-now/
US tundra biome publication list
https://erdc-library.erdc.dren.mil/server/api/core/bitstreams/81b728f8-9bab-4ef8-e053-411ac80adeb3/content
WFC 110: Biology & Conservation of Wild Mammals (includes regional lists)
https://guides.library.ucdavis.edu/WFC-110/books
Zoology
The 10 Best Zoology Textbooks
https://wiki.ezvid.com/best-zoology-textbooks
List of Books of Department of Zoology
https://mzu.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/zoology20books.pdf
LIST OF ZOOLOGY REFERENCE BOOKS INDEX BY AUTHORWISE
https://avinuty.ac.in/sites/avinuty.ac.in/files/2023-12/Zoology%20Reference%20Books.pdf
The Lives and Deaths of Polar Bears: 10 Books and Films
https://bpl.bibliocommons.com/v2/list/display/88298373/1686641539
Popular Zoology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/zoology
Zoology Book Lists
https://www.goodreads.com/list/tag/zoology
Free Books
Biology Free Books at EBD
https://www.e-booksdirectory.com/listing.php?category=6
Biology Textbooks
https://open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/biology
Free E-Books in Botany, Digital Library of S.B.M.S.
https://sbmscollege.org/library/e-books-in-botany.htm
Free E-Books in Zoology, Digital Library of S.B.M.S.
https://sbmscollege.org/library/e-books-in-zoology.htm
ARCTIC MARINE BIOLOGY
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/30062/1/640-2012_Hempel_etal.pdf
Basic Botany
https://sfyl.ifas.ufl.edu/media/sfylifasufledu/wakulla/images/master-gardeners/Botany-101.pdf
The Biology of Deserts
http://ndl.ethernet.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/32920/1/74.pdf
Botany Illustrated: Introduction to Plants Major Groups
https://mariomairal.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Botany-Illustrated-Introduction-to-Plants-Major-Groups-Flowering-Plant-Families-by-Janice-Glimn-Lacy-Peter-B.-Kaufman-z-lib.org_.pdf
College Biology
https://textbookequity.org/Textbooks/collegebiologysummaryquestions.pdf
Concepts of Biology
https://d3bxy9euw4e147.cloudfront.net/oscms-qa/media/documents/ConceptsOfBiology-LR.pdf
Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa
https://web.archive.org/web/20220120043054/https://books.openbookpublishers.com/10.11647/obp.0177.pdf
An Elementary Text-book of Botany
https://darwin-online.org.uk/converted/pdf/1880_Prantl_text-book_botany_A5569.pdf
Gray's Botanical text-book
https://darwin-online.org.uk/converted/pdf/1879_Gray_botanical_text-book1_A4371.pdf
Post-Graduate Degree Programme (CBCS) in ZOOLOGY: NON CHORDATE AND INSECT ORGANIZATION ZHT-101 SELF-LEARNING MATERIAL
https://dodl.klyuniv.ac.in/download/DODL%20M.A_M.Sc%20SLMs/DODL_M.A_M.Sc_SLMs_SEM-I/SLM_zoology_Sem-I.pdf
Practical Zoology Vertebrate
https://www.mlsu.ac.in/econtents/758_PRACTICAL%20ZOOLOGY%20%20VERTEBRATE%20(%20PDFDrive%20).pdf
Textbook for Intermediate Zoology
https://bieap.apcfss.in/Uploads/Materials/Zoology-I.pdf
A Textbook of Practical Botany 2
https://mlsu.ac.in/econtents/1129_Dr.%20Ashok%20Bendre%20&%20Dr.%20Ashok%20Kumar%20-%20A%20Text%20Book%20Of%20Practical%20Botany%202%20(1984,%20Rastogi%20Publications).pdf
Zoology: Understanding the Animal World
https://www.library.pima.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2021/03/Zoology-1266.pdf
Extras
Articles & Databases: Botany
https://guides.lib.umich.edu/c.php?g=283013&p=1885690
Biological Sciences: Reliable Websites
https://libraryguides.salisbury.edu/biology/websites
Biology Databases
https://research.library.gsu.edu/c.php?g=115280&p=753178
Biology: Zoology Databases & Other Resources
https://library.drake.edu/c.php?g=316961&p=2118960
Botany in Fiction (28 books)
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/78898.Botany_in_Fiction
Botany & Plant Sciences: Databases & Indexes
https://libguides.rutgers.edu/botany/IndexesDatabases
Databases and journals: Zoology and Animal Science
https://deakin.libguides.com/zoology-animal-science/databases-journals
Databases for Zoology
https://skills.it.ox.ac.uk/files/itlcttaskmpls-researchdatabasesforzoopdf
Free Databases (all subjects): Biology
https://csulb.libguides.com/c.php?g=39192&p=250836
Learn Biology Online: Biology Articles, Tutorials & Dictionary
https://www.biologyonline.com/
Learning Arctic Biology Resources
https://www.learningarcticbiology.info/learning-arctic-biology/resources/
Popular Speculative Zoology Books
https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/speculative-zoology
Suggested Botanical Web Sites
https://botany.org/home/resources/suggested-botanical-web-sites.html
Top 27 Biology-themed Movies
https://www.bioexplorer.net/biology-movies.html/
Vertebrate Zoology Research Guide
https://library.si.edu/research/vertebrate-zoology
Zoology: Websites
https://angelo.libguides.com/biology/zoology/websites
