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Science & Nature

Biology 101

A historical journey through biology's greatest discoveries, from early taxonomy and cell theory to Darwin's evolution and the molecular revolution of DNA.

32 min readReading time
12Sections

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Chapters

12 total
  1. 01Chapter One - What Is Life? (And Who Decides?)
  2. 02Chapter Two - The First Taxonomists
  3. 03Chapter Three - Let There Be Microscope
  4. 04Chapter Four - The Cell Theory Revolution
  5. 05Chapter Five - Darwin Drops the Bomb
  6. 06Chapter Six - Mendel’s Peas and Genetic Ghosting
  7. 07Chapter Seven - The War Over Evolution
  8. 08Chapter Eight - The Double Helix
  9. 09Chapter Nine - The Rise of Molecular Biology
  10. 10Chapter Ten - The Human Genome Project
  11. 11Chapter Eleven - CRISPR and the Code-Writers
  12. 12Chapter Twelve - The Future of Life
Edition notes and short pages
Dedications, notices, acknowledgments, author notes, and short passages from this book.

Biology 101

Biology 101
A History of Life

by James Johnson

Dedication

For the ones who asked why plants grow, why birds look different, why we die, and didn’t stop asking.

This book is for every question that built a microscope.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


TO THE THINKERS, the sketchers, the monks, and the rebels.
To the ones who stared down cells, fossils, and dogma, and dared to say this means something.

Thanks to the giants who never saw themselves as giants.

And thanks to everyone alive today, just trying to understand what that even means.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


JJ IS THE author of the 101 series, the exe series, and dozens of cultural deep-dives into science, philosophy, and power.

He writes Trojan Horse books. Smart, sharp, and unafraid to pull back the curtain on the stories we tell about reality.

Biology 101 is part of his ongoing effort to make knowledge unforgettable.

You can find all his books on Amazon.

COPYRIGHT


© 2025 JAMES JOHNSON. All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations used in reviews, educational materials, or critical articles.

This book is a work of nonfiction and historical analysis. Every effort has been made to ensure factual accuracy, but any errors are the author’s own. Where speculation or interpretation appears, it is clearly framed as such.

The author is not a biologist — just a guy who knows how to Google and doesn’t miss.