Subject Knowledge: Great books for biology teachers
- Christian Moore Anderson
- Jun 19, 2023
- 2 min read
Updated: Apr 5
Reading great books is the only one short cut to improving subject knowledge. Here, I compile a selection that have helped me develop as a teacher and are accessibly-written. It isn't a complete list of my favourites and I'm sure there are many great books I'm yet to read.
Great Books
Human ecophysiology & evolution
Evolution
Ecology
Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction
Spillover: the powerful, prescient book that predicted the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic
Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They Matter
Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures
The Story of N: A Social History of the Nitrogen Cycle and the Challenge of Sustainability
Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
Biochemistry / Molecular Biology
Botany
Genetics & Inheritance
Systems Thinking
Consciousness, cognition, intelligence
History of Biology
Marine biology & Fisheries
Teaching Biology
More-academically written texts
Systems theory and cybernetics
Runaway: Gregory Bateson, the Double Bind, and the Rise of Ecological Consciousness
Gaian Systems: Lynn Margulis, Neocybernetics, and the End of the Anthropocene
The Beginning of Heaven and Earth Has No Name: Seven Days with Second-Order Cybernetics
Understanding Systems: Conversations on Epistemology and Ethics
From Being to Doing: The Origins of the Biology of Cognition
My books: Difference Maker | Biology Made Real, or my other posts.
Download the first chapters of each book for free here.