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Biology

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Animals: Hoverfly on a Compositae inflorescence
Plants: Wheat
Fungi: Morchella esculenta
Bacteria
Archaea: Haloarchaea
Virus: Gamma bacteriophage

Biology is the science that studies life, living things, and the evolution of life. Living things include animals, plants, fungi (such as mushrooms), and microorganisms such as bacteria and archaea.

The term 'biology' is relatively modern. It was introduced in 1799 by a physician, Thomas Beddoes.[1]

People who study biology are called biologists. Biology looks at how animals and other living things behave and work, and what they are like. Biology also studies how organisms react with each other and the environment. It has existed as a science for about 200 years, and before that it was called "natural history". Biology has many research fields and branches. Like all sciences, biology uses the scientific method. This means that biologists must be able to show evidence for their ideas and that other biologists must be able to test the ideas for themselves.

Biology attempts to answer questions such as:

Modern biology is influenced by evolution, which answers the question: "How has the living world come to be as it is?"

The word biology comes from the Greek word βίος (bios), "life", and the suffix -λογία (logia), "study of".[2][3]

Branches

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References

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  1. "biology, n.". OED Online. 2019. Oxford University Press. Physiology therefore—or more strictly biology—by which I mean the doctrine of the living system in all its states, appears to be the foundation of ethics and pneumatology.
  2. "Who coined the term biology?". Info.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-09.
  3. "biology | Origin and meaning of biology by Online Etymology Dictionary". www.etymonline.com. Retrieved 2019-05-29.