Why Biology is the Best Science

Ision Yadav


Ms. Stanton, if you’re reading this, I am so, so sorry. 


Ever since it was a class in high school, students have been debating: which of the three sciences, chemistry, biology, or physics, is the best?


From what I’ve seen in my classes, people’s reasoning goes something like this: 


A: “Bio is the worst. Definitely. It’s all memorization and it's boring and we have to cut open frogs.”


B: “Well what’s the best then?”


A: “... Chemistry, I guess. It’s better than physics.” 


Note: I know not everyone thinks this but I have never seen someone who loves bio as much as I do.


Here is why biology is the best of the three sciences. Disclaimer: I am NOT hating on chemistry or physics, but I do think biology is the most interesting of the three. I have always and will always love all branches of science. 

Also, physics is definitely the worst of the three. But that’s for another time.



Part One

A common reason many people dislike biology is that it involves lots of memorization. I will admit that it does involve a lot of brainpower to remember all the similar sounding terms. 

Take this as an example - this is a cladogram of the relationship between tyrannosauroid dinosaurs:

Even ignoring most of those names, consider these three titles:


How on Earth am I supposed to differentiate between these three? I promise they all mean different things. And that’s not even considering the rest of the names on the diagram!


I will admit that even I don’t really know the difference between those three names (yet). But, it’s not that bad! All these different yet similar sounding terms help biologists specify exactly what they’re talking about. Every branch of science has rules like this in place that serve the purpose of telling other scientists exactly what’s going on. I promise, if these irritating names were removed, it would make the subject a lot harder to learn.



Biology definitely has lots of terms to memorize. But, by getting used to it and learning what these differing terms mean, you prepare yourself for the other sciences, which also require more than a bit of memorization. Also, you will better understand the material you are studying by knowing exactly what is being referred to. 

Part Two

I have never found biology boring. I know that sounds like an odd thing to say, but in my high school experience, I have found every single thing there is to learn about the life on our planet extremely interesting and fascinating. 



A frozen wood frog hibernating in the winter. Credit: National Geographic

Did you know that wood frogs can literally freeze themselves during the winter to hibernate? Or that sea stars eat by removing their stomachs from their bodies and partially digesting their prey from the outside of their bodies? Or that sea slugs can liquefy their bodies to escape predators? Or that reindeer eyes turn from brown to blue to see better in the dark winter?


This is just the tip of the iceberg. The  variety of life on our planet is so weird, so different from us, and in some ways so unbelievably alien that it’s impossible not to find something cool you’ve never heard of before. Biology studies all that life.


What I’ve just mentioned is just a snippet from the animal kingdom. I haven’t even touched on the amazing things plants and fungi can do. Did you know that you (and the rest of the animal kingdom) are more closely related to fungi than to plants?


I think biology is so interesting to me because I interact with it and observe it more than I do with chemistry or physics. Chemistry and physics are definitely very intriguing, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t think I wonder about them as much as I do biology.



In my day to day life, I don’t really wonder that much why certain substances take longer to boil than others, or why certain materials react with air in different ways. I don’t really wonder how planes are able to fly or why when someone drops something from far away the sound is a bit delayed. 


Obviously I did once wonder these things, but after having learned them, I know them, and that’s it. With biology, there’s always something new to learn. I can’t count the number of times I’ve stopped what I’m doing because I saw a cool bug with pretty colours, or a bird I’ve never seen singing a tune I’ve never heard. Biology surrounds  me everytime I go outside and I never get tired of seeing what more there is to learn about it. 



Part  Three

Biology is the study of life, and life can be pretty gross. I distinctly remember dissecting a frog in grade 10 science class and while it was definitely the highlight of my experience in that class, I will admit it was a bit gross. I remember poking the frog’s eye and getting frog juice splattered on me. A tiny bit even went in my mouth. 


But, nonetheless, I still found the experience very fun and insightful and interesting. The main reason is that frog anatomy is so different from ours that we’re so familiar with that it’s just so fascinating seeing what makes them tick on the inside. 


I suppose people will always find biology a little gross. But you will get used to it the more you do it. And what better way to learn about life than to cut it open and see what’s inside? I guarantee that even if you gag at the sight of frog guts, you will see something in there that you’ve never seen before and that will make it worth it. 



Part Four

I hope I’ve offered my perspective on why biology is better than chemistry and physics. I will always love science and all of its branches, but biology holds a special place in my heart for being the most interesting to me. I know this opinion is probably pretty unpopular but I hope at least a few people agree with me that biology is the best.

Sources

Nelson, Angela. "15 Animals With Amazing Abilities." Treehugger, Dotdash

     Meredith, 27 May 2021, www.treehugger.com/amazing-animal-abilities-4869192.

     Accessed 8 Nov. 2023.

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