The Larmor Society

IA Physiology of Organisms

Physiology of organisms is affectionately known as PoO to all those who take it. Don't worry though, that's not a topic you'll study! Physiology of Organisms is the ideal course for those of you who enjoyed human biology topics from GCSE and A-level such as the circulatory system and those who enjoy the more medicine inspired aspects of biology.

Over the year you'll study animal physiology, including nervous and cardiovascular physiology, and plant physiology. I promise that the plant physiology you'll study at Cambridge is much more interesting than anything you've looked at before.

In Michaelmas term you'll only have practicals alternate weeks, although there is one every week in Lent term. The practicals are interesting, although several involve experimentation on fellow students! You write up the results in a handbook, which is handed in for assessment - it's honestly not that scary, most answers are given in class discussion and if all the spaces are filled you automatically get 5% of your total marks!

Physiology doesn't immediately sound like something you've studied before, which is why it's often overlooked in favour of Biology of Cells and Chemistry, but it is a really interesting course and acts as a precursor to a lot of 1B biology subjects.

Subjects that go with Physiology:

Physiology works well with any of the other biology subjects and will probably be most relevant to biologists. That said, if you're a chemist or physicist and don't fancy Biology of Cells, it would be an interesting third subject.

Which textbooks?

Definitely buy a copy of Eckert's 'Animal Physiology' - it'll see you through more than half of 1A Physiology and is also useful for some 1B subjects! If you want a Plant Physiology textbook, 'Plant Physiology' by Taiz and Zeiger is good. There are generally several copies of Eckert's book available at the second-hand booksale.