We really mean the “No Lecture” part of the title. This book is not intended to teach you all you need to know about basic biology. It’s focused on providing an affordable, intense, reasonably comprehensive introductory biology lab experience. The background material we do provide is intended solely as a reminder of some important points that you’ve studied previously. For example, in one of the early lab sessions on biologically important molecules, we spend a couple pages covering carbohydrates and lipids and then jump into the actual lab work. If you start that lab work knowing only what we’ve told you about carbohydrates and lipids, you’ll learn less than you should from doing the labs.

To get the most benefit from this book, use it in conjunction with a standard biology text, such as CK-12 Biology (www.ck12.org/flexbook/book/2537), which is freely downloadable, or Miller & Levine Biology (www.millerandlevine.com), both of which we highly recommend. Otherwise, you’ll miss a lot of really important stuff. And you’ll never know what you missed.