IntroductiontoPhysiologyIntroductionPhysiologyisthestudyofthefunctionsoflivingmatter
Itisconcernedwithhowanorganismperformsitsvariedactivities:howitfeeds,howitmoves,howitadaptstochangingcircumstances,howitspawnsnewgenerations
Thesubjectisvastandembracesthewholeoflife
Thesuccessofphysiologyinexplaininghoworganismsperformtheirdailytasksisbasedonthenotionthattheyareintricateandexquisitemachineswhoseoperationisgovernedbythelawsofphysicsandchemistry
Althoughsomeprocessesaresimilaracrossthewholespectrumofbiology—thereplicationofthegeneticcodefororexample—manyarespecifictoparticulargroupsoforganisms
Forthisreasonitisnecessarytodividethesubjectintovariouspartssuchasbacterialphysiology,plantphysiology,andanimalphysiology
Tostudyhowananimalworksitisfirstnecessarytoknowhowitisbuilt
Afullappreciationo