From the front of the classroom to the top of the bestseller’s list, award-winning educator Jay Phelan knows how to tell the story of how scientists investigate the big questions about life. He is also a master at using biology as a springboard for developing the critical thinking skills and scientific literacy that are essential to students through college and throughout their lives.

Phelan’s dynamic approach to teaching biology is the driving force behind What Is Life?—the most successful new non-majors biology textbook of the millennium. The rigorously updated new edition brings forward the features that made the book a classroom favorite (chapters anchored to intriguing questions about life, spectacular original illustrations, innovative learning tools) with new features, enhanced art, and full integration with its own dedicated version of LaunchPad—W.H. Freeman’s breakthrough online course space, which fully integrates an interactive e-Book, all student media, a wide range of assessment and course management features, in a new interface in which power and simplicity go hand in hand.