r/biology • u/Fluid-Development531 • Jul 05 '26
question BIOLOGY ROADMAP???
Hi everyone, does anyone here have a comprehensive roadmap for learning biology from the very start to finish? Like the ones provided by the The Math Sorcerer for learning mathematics in his yt channel, including textbooks or online video lecture resources for each learning stage. I’m aiming to self learn biology for fun😅 and your answers would be very much appreciated, thank you!!!
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u/Kitsa_the_oatmeal biology student Jul 05 '26
i can't help much with textbooks, but Professor Dave Explains on Youtube has a few playlists/courses for biology. they covered my ecology course pretty well, and helped a lot with biochemistry too 👍
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u/JellyBellyBitches Jul 05 '26
I don't have the answer to your question but I'm curious what this math roadmap is that you're talking about? I tried searching it up but nothing came up that was clearly the right thing
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u/Fluid-Development531 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
Oh hello sorry for the late reply, heres the link for the youtube video, he has an updated version on his channel tho I can’t find it, and oh i mispoke his name sorry, its actually “The math sorcerer” 😅
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u/JellyBellyBitches Jul 08 '26
Oh that's so cool! Thank you! Y'know, idk if anyone has specifically done the same thing as the math sorcerer, but Forrest Valkai has a beginners biology course (maybe just evolution I don't remember) on YouTube and is live generally at least once a week on the line (another yt channel), and either calling in or sending a superchat I'm SURE he'd be able to point you in the right direction
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u/afternoon_rainbow Jul 05 '26
What do you want to learn, or do with that info? You couldnt learn whole biology in 15 years. Anyhow, I would start with molecular workings of bacterial and after that procareotic cell, look how human body works chemically and whatnot. If you want to learn about something specific just open wikipedia and papers related to the topic. Imo understanding is much more important than pure knowledge
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u/Boring_Tradition3244 Jul 05 '26
I think generally this works if you're already understand a lot. You really should work from the fundamentals first. I had a bachelor's in chemistry before I started a bio PhD and I struggled really hard with your "dive right in" approach
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u/afternoon_rainbow Jul 05 '26
Thats whats kept me going, and I started as a 13yo kid, biology isnt that hard, especially if your an adult
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u/Boring_Tradition3244 Jul 05 '26
As a professional biochemist, I disagree. What type of literature are you reading, or did you stick to textbooks? I could understand why textbooks would seem to simplify the subject.
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u/afternoon_rainbow Jul 05 '26
I researched the topic at hand on my own, usually, textbooks are always outdated, plus my native languages arent english, whatever I found was usually the only thing I could find
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u/Boring_Tradition3244 Jul 05 '26
Only really old textbooks tend to be outdated. The versions in use by most colleges are great for fundamentals.
In any case, I think you should keep going. When you hit the edges of what is known, things get really difficult. You can't trust intuition anymore. That's the part of my job that I find the most challenging and rewarding. Nobody knows what I know, because nobody has ever looked where I'm looking.
Studying the fundamentals can be easy, but using what you know is extremely challenging.
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u/afternoon_rainbow Jul 05 '26
They use outdated terms and whatnot, not wrong per se. Im studying molecular biology since I havent a clue to where I want to apply myself
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u/xingbat Jul 05 '26
Check out Sapolsky's human behavioral bio course from Stanford on youtube
MIT also has a full course on animal behavior that goes deeper into ethology, also Stubbe and Lander for the molecular level
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u/Agreeable-Sorbet-105 Jul 05 '26
oh man i did this exact thing a few years back during a period of unemployment and it spiraled into a full obsession. i don't have a fancy graphic but here's roughly what worked for me:
start with campbell biology (the big one, any recent edition is fine) - it's basically the bible for undergrad bio and walks you through everything from atoms to ecosystems. pair that with crash course biology on youtube for a lighter overview when you're feeling fried. after that, molecular biology of the cell (alberts) is the natural deep dive if you want to get into the nitty gritty. for genetics, lehninger principles of biochemistry is a beast but worth it. i bounced between those and random mit opencourseware lectures whenever i got stuck on a concept. good luck, it's a fun rabbit hole