Name: Biology Higher Level (Heinemann Baccalaureate)
Author: Alan Damon, William Ward, Patricia Tosto & Randy McGonegal
Publisher: Heinemann Baccalaureate (Pearson Baccalaureate)
Published: 2007
Pages: 702
ISBN: 0435994247

My Review

I got this book through the other day and have had a good look through it before posting this review. Wow. I never knew how thick it was! 700 pages, of course it’s going to be thick, but when I first saw it I was a little gobsmacked.

The first thing I noticed in the book was the wide range of colours and pictures, for some people these may not be worth much, but I know that I learn better with colours and variety, so this book is going to be more helpful than the Oxford Press book, but does it match the oxford book in terms of content? Pretty Much! The book contains all the information including the options (why it is so thick!) The diagrams are really clear and mostly well explained, sometimes the Clegg book describes a diagram in more detail which helps, but as always, it is better to have a variety of these books to take the best from each.

The book also includes nice little boxes, a different colour box for a different function. For example you have important words with their meaning in one colour box and in another colour box there are links to sites with more information to help with the study, they are called Heinemann Hotlinks, you just enter to code and presto! you get redirected to the useful page that Heinemann has checked is safe from viruses and of suitable content. What more could you want?

This book doesn’t come with a disc, which is a shame as I like to have a digital copy of my textbooks incase the original book is damaged or lost. But it is to be expected as a PDF file is very easily shared using the internet and the power of torrents.

In conclusion, this is a good book, the diagrams are clear and concise. The information is easy to understand, I found it easier to understand than that Oxford book which is very heavy reading sometimes.

This book is from the same people that published the History – Cold War book, which is part of the Heinemann Baccalaureate series and I assume know that this book will be is just as great! This book is for people that are studying IB Biology at Higher Level, if you are studying IB Biology at Standard Level you will be better with the Biology Standard Level (Heinemann Baccalaureate), Clegg and Oxford University Press books.

The book is usually around £29.50 or $71 or cheaper depending on how many are available when you buy.

You can download sample chapters from this book, provided by Heinemann.
Chapter One
Chapter Two

Contents of Book
Introduction
1. Statistical Analysis
2. Cells
3. The chemistry of life
4. Genetics 1
5. Ecology and evolution
6. Human health and physiology 1
7. Nucleic acids and proteins
8. Cell respiration and photosynthesis
9. Plant science
10. Genetics 2
11. Human health and physiology 2
12. (Option A) Human nutrition and health
13. (Option B) Physiology of exercise
14. (Option C) Cells and energy
15. (Option D) Evolution
16. (Option E) Neurobiology and behaviour
17. (Option F) Microbes and biotechnology
18. (Option G) Ecology and conservation
19. (Option H) Further human physiology
Theory of Knowledge
Advice on Internal Assessment
Advice on the Extended Essay
Answers
Index

If you own this book feel free to submit a review!

The series of ‘Heinemann Baccalaureate’ books has changed names to ‘Pearson Baccalaureate’. This post has been updated accordingly.

Name: Biology Standard Level (Heinemann Baccalaureate)
Author: Alan Damon, Randy McGonegal, Patricia Tosto & William Ward
Publisher: Heinemann Baccalaureate (Pearson Baccalaureate)
Published: 2007
Pages: 480
ISBN: 0435994271

My Review

I don’t own this book, and therefore am unable to review it fully, but from the sample chapters I believe that it is a really good book that displays information really clearly and easily to understand.

I was really impressed with the History – Cold War book in the Heinemann Baccalaureate series and I think this book will be good also. I am going to buy the Higher Level version of the book soon.

This book will be fine for people doing Standard Level IB Biology but you will be better with the Biology Higher Level (Heinemann Baccalaureate),  Clegg and Oxford University Press books if you are doing Higher!

The book is usually around £22 or $32.

You can download sample chapters from this book, provided by Heinemann.
Chaper One
Chapter Two

Contents of Book
1. Statistical analysis
2. Cells
3. The chemistry of life
4. Genetics 1
5. Ecology and evolution
6. Human health and physiology 1
7. (Option A) Human nutrition and health
8. (Option B) Physiology of exercise
9. (Option C) Cells and energy
10. (Option D) Evolution
11. (Option E) Neurobiology and behaviour
12. (Option F) Microbes and biotechnology
13. (Option G) Ecology and conservation
Theory of Knowledge
Advice on Internal Assessment
Advice on the Extended Essay
Answers
Index

If you own the book, please submit a review to help us determine which books are the best for our IB studies!

The series of ‘Heinemann Baccalaureate’ books has changed names to ‘Pearson Baccalaureate’. This post has been updated accordingly.

My Review

This is a lovely little book, simply because it does the laborious task of creating concise revision notes. Don’t get me wrong, creating your own revision notes may be helpful for you, but some people (like me) find that there is no advantage over making them and reading them, to just reading them!

Everything is summarised in a nice concise way, with some helpful diagrams which break things down even more. There is no colour, so those of you that like pretty colours might not like this book as much, but it will still be incredibly helpful for when you come to revise for your halfway mocks or the real things even! (Good Luck!)

All the content is neatly presented on a page in clear tables which is easy on the eye and will definitely help most people remember the key details to get that 7.

The book is available for around £17 or $38. This book will be vital for revision. Everything is laid out clearly and is very easy to read and revise from!

Pros
Clear and Concise
Nice diagrams and tables

Cons
Lack of colour variety

My Review

This Biology book has all the content you need for both Standard Level and Higher Level. It contains some really heavy reading that would require some teacher explanation for most learners. The book is set out into chapters and the HL content is presented in the same chapter as the SL content, but this is clearly noted with a ‘HL’ mark next to content Standard Level students need not worry about.

The fact the book has all the information you need to know from the syllabus makes it fantastic. However, the book is very mono in terms of colour. The pages are black and a faded orange which is really boring. The diagrams are good, but the lack of colour could make them difficult to understand for some people. Some of my friends dislike this book because they learn and remember best with colours, if this is you, get this book and also go for the C.J Clegg book as the diagrams are more colourful.

The book retails for on average £18 or $38, it is always in stock, unlike the C.J Clegg book.

If you can suffer the lack of colour then this book is perfect.  I would recommend this book alongside the C.J Clegg book.

Pros
Great content
Great price
Good availability
Good diagrams

Cons
Some content may be hard to understand
You will most likely get sick of the orange

My Review

This is the my favourite Biology book which I have come across so far. There is masses of information that is all very useful and easy enough to understand (Prior explanation is required for more advanced content). Diagrams in the book are also very helpful for helping to explain some trickier things like The Krebs Cycle. I would recommend this book to all Biology Students, both at Standard Level and Higher Level.

The book is usually around £25-£30 from Amazon in the UK and $60 from Amazon in the USA, deppending on whether you want it new or used. Although expensive, this is a good price considering the content you get. It doesn’t seem to be for sale in many places, and can only be bought second hand at a reasonable price. The one thing that lets the book down is the fact that the Options are on a CD! This means you will be doing alot of printing when you come round to it! (Unless you have a laptop to view them on in class)

Pros
Fantastic content
Good diagrams and colourful images
Easy to understand
Includes past IB exam questions

Cons
Additional ‘Options’ are only available as PDF on disc