Why does my biology textbook sound like a fairytale?

It goes into great detail about everything that happens during cell division to the point where it becomes hard to believe. How do they know all of these things. When someone becomes a biology professor, are they given 'proof' or first hand experience of what is described in the text like a math professor would learn proofs? Or do they just memorize the text? BTW, I am not talking about looking through a compound microscope to identify spindles.



Basically, is the undergraduate biology textbook the highest source of explaining biology? Or is there greater detail than that, somewhere else.Why does my biology textbook sound like a fairytale?
An undergrad biology textbook is certainly not the highest level. There are many textbooks out there that go into much greater detail that are used at the upper-undergraduate and graduate levels. I've always seen "Molecular Biology of the Cell" as the gold standard. I agree that it all sounds kind of crazy when you're just memorizing the facts, too. A lot of upper-level courses go into the details of exactly how these discoveries were made, though it also depends on your professors (better professors will go into more detail and will encourage you to question things). You can also find lots of information in regular books.



So much of science is built up on previous work that it's impractical to go into every single previous discovery in detail, or to go back and verify everything firsthand. If an aspiring chemist had to go back and re-construct the periodic table from scratch, then rediscover the makeup of an atom, re-invent quantum theory, etc, he'd have to retire before he ever got to do any new research of his own. It's a fine line that professors have to walk, maximizing the amount of information that you learn, but also teaching you how that information was discovered in the first place. In the end, you have to place some trust in the scientific consensus, unless there's an actual reason to doubt a prior conclusion (which happens from time to time).Why does my biology textbook sound like a fairytale?
The biology textbook will not go into the methods used to discover these things. I'm pretty sure you can look up the methods used to discover things like cell division. They were mostly indirect observations and you will need to know much more about chemistry and physics to understand the relationship between the data and conclusions.



Also, many of what we know about biology are collections of observations over hundreds of years from many scientists.Why does my biology textbook sound like a fairytale?
This is such a great point! I feel the same way when I learn about Anatomy %26amp; Physiology. It's amazing how much we know, and how much we are just supposed to 'believe' as undergraduate students.

Most of the time when I ask about things like these my proffs say that there is a LOT more that goes into these processes and if I continue my education in that specific field I'll learn about it.

Crazy right? It's like why does someone need to know all this? (but it is fascinating I must say)

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