The emphasis in this edition of the text is on "the big ideas" - helping students distinguish key concepts in detail. It includes evolution as a main theme of the book.

Neil A. Campbell has taught general biology for 30 years, and with Dr. Reece, has coauthored Biology, Sixth Edition, the most widely used text for biology majors. His enthusiasm for sharing the fun of science with students stems from his own undergraduate experience. He began at Long Beach State College as a history major, but switched to zoology after general education requirements "forced" him to take a science course. Following a B.S. from Long Beach, he earned an M.A. in Zoology from UCLA and a Ph.D. in Plant Biology from the University of California, Riverside.

He has published numerous articles on how certain desert plants thrive in salty soil and how sensitive plant (Mimosa) and other legumes move their leaves. His diverse teaching experiences include courses for non-biology majors at Cornell University, Pomona College, and San Bernardino Valley College, where he received the first Outstanding Professor Award in the Department of Botany and Plant Sciences at UC Riverside, which recognized him as the university's Distinguished Alumnus for 2001. In addition to Biology, Sixth Edition, he is coauthor of Essential Biology.

Jane B. Reece has worked in biology publishing since 1978, when she joined the editorial staff of Benjamin Cummings. Her education includes an A.B. in Biology from Harvard University, an M.S. in Microbiology from Rutgers University, and a Ph.D. in Bacteriology from the University of California, Berkeley. At UC Berkeley and later as a post-doctoral fellow in genetics at Stanford University, her research focused on genetic recombination in bacteria. Dr. Reece taught biology at Middlesex County College (New Jersey) and Queensborough Community College (New York). During her 12 years as an editor at Benjamin Cummings, she played major roles in a number of successful textbooks.