OpenStax · 2018
Biology 2e is 1,500 pages.
Ask it, do not scan it.
Biology is mostly definitions, processes and the figures that hold them together, spread across more pages than anyone reads linearly. Ask what a process does or what a diagram shows, and the answer arrives with the passage it came from attached.
When the book does not answer your question, it tells you so instead of inventing an answer.
No account, no card. Studying Cells, open in the browser.
Processes explained from the section that defines them
A question about cell structure is answered from the chapter on cells, with the paragraph quoted rather than paraphrased from memory.
Diagrams found and described
Figures are indexed, so you can ask about one without knowing its number. It describes what the diagram depicts; it will not read values off it.
Terms that stick
Look up a term and it enters a vocabulary builder with SM-2 spaced-repetition review, which is most of what a first biology course actually asks of you.
Things worth asking this book
Each answer quotes the passage it came from and links to where it sits in the text.
- “Why do electron microscopes need dead samples?”
- “What does cell theory actually claim, and what did it replace?”
- “Which structures in this chapter are only in eukaryotes?”
- “What is the difference between resolution and magnification?”
Questions people actually ask
- Can I try it without signing up?
- Yes — section 4.1, Studying Cells, is open at /demo with no account. Ask it something and follow a citation into the text.
- Does it do flashcards?
- It generates quizzes and flashcards from the section you are reading. Those track your attempts; only the vocabulary builder schedules reviews with SM-2.
- What if the chapter does not answer my question?
- It tells you so rather than inventing an answer — which matters more in a subject where a confident wrong mechanism is hard to spot.
It works the same on a novel
Citations, honest refusals and the vocabulary builder are not a science feature. They do as much for a Victorian novel as for a problem set.
- Pride and Prejudice — Jane Austen
- Frankenstein — Mary Shelley
- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland — Lewis Carroll
What it does not do yet
You have been sold AI reading tools before. Here is where this one is weak, so you can decide before you spend an evening on it.
- It describes what a figure shows, but it will not report a number that only exists as pixels in a diagram.
- It answers from this book. It is not a second opinion on what your course expects.
- It runs in a browser, on a phone or a laptop. There is no native app yet.
- Highlights and notes export to Notion, Obsidian, Markdown or JSON. Generated study material does not export yet.
- It is a private beta. Things break, and the deal is that you tell me when they do.
Free Pro through the end of the year
The first 50 invitations include free Pro through the end of the year. Invitations go out in small batches so I can actually talk to everyone. Tell me what you are trying to read and I will send one — all I ask is that you tell me what breaks.
Request Early AccessAlready have an invite? Sign in.