Biology

Biology
Biology deals with the study of the many varieties of living organisms(clockwise from top-left) E. coli, tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle
Biology (from Greek βιολογία - βίος, bios, "life"; -λογία, -logia, study of) is the natural scienceconcerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy.[1] The term biology in its modern sense appears to have been introduced independently by Karl Friedrich Burdach (1800), Gottfried Reinhold Treviranus (Biologie oder Philosophie der lebenden Natur, 1802), and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (Hydrogéologie, 1802).[2][3]
Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and theories. Five unifying principles can be said to form the fundamental axioms of modern biology: cell theory, evolution, gene theory,energy, and homeostasis.[4]
These fields are further divided based on the scale at which organisms are studied and the methods used to study them: biochemistry examines the rudimentary chemistry of life; molecular biologystudies the complex interactions of systems of biological molecules; cellular biology examines the basic building block of all life, the cell; physiology examines the physical and chemical functions of the tissues, organs, and organ systems of an organism; and ecology examines how various organisms interrelate with their environment.[5]
The classification, taxonomy, and nomenclature of biological organisms is administered by theInternational Code of Zoological Nomenclature, International Code of Botanical Nomenclature, andInternational Code of Nomenclature of Bacteria for animals, plants, and bacteria, respectively. Viruses, viroids, prions, and all other sub-viral agents that demonstrate biological characteristics are controlled by the International Code of Virus classification and nomenclature.[6][7][8][9] However, several other viral classification systems do exist.