Life's Three Great Branches: Archaea, Bacteria, and Eucarya

Part one of a two-part video series entitled The Domains of Life, this evolutionary overview of the beginnings of life on earth combines animation and decent 3-D imaging to bring a microscopic world to life. Beginning with the "chemical soup" theory, the program charts the rise of proto-cells such as archaea and bacteria, explains the process of photosynthesis and the need for oxygen, and explores the more complex nucleated eucaryotic cells, concluding with a look at the evolution of mitochondria. Assuming a prior knowledge of the basic vocabulary of evolutionary biology, this program and its companion volume, The Eukaryotic Cell Evolves, would make a useful tool for more advanced high school biology as well as college courses, especially with the accompanying CD-ROM (included with series purchase), which contains quizzes, storyboards, and an interactive glossary. Recommended. Aud: H, C. (E. Gieschen)