Book excerpt: Principles of Neurobiology, Second Edition presents the major concepts of neuroscience with an emphasis on how we know what we know. The text is organized around a series of key experiments to illustrate how scientific progress is made and helps upper-level undergraduate and graduate students discover the relevant primary literature. Written by a single author in a clear and consistent writing style, each topic builds in complexity from electrophysiology to molecular genetics to systems level in a highly integrative approach. Students can fully engage with the content via thematically linked chapters and will be able to read the book in its entirety in a semester-long course. Principles of Neurobiology is accompanied by a rich package of online student and instructor resources including animations, figures in PowerPoint, and a Question Bank for adopting instructors.