Best of
Biology

1998

The Life of Birds


David Attenborough - 1998
    Earthbound, we can only look and listen, enjoying their lightness, freedom and richness of plumage and song.David Attenborough has been watching and learning all his life. His new book, with its accompanying series of films for BBC TV, is a brilliant introduction to bird behaviours around the world: what they do and why they do it. He looks at each step in birds' lives and the problems they have to solve: learning to fly; finding food; communicating; mating and caring for nests, eggs and young; migrating; facing dangers and surviving harsh conditions.Sir David has no equal in helping others to learn and making it exciting. His curiosity and enjoyment are infectious. He shows the lifelong pleasure that birds around us offer, and how much we miss if unaware of them.

The Savage Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants


Peter D'Amato - 1998
    Just about everyone's familiar with the Venus flytrap...but did you know that there are pitcher plants that can-and do!-digest an entire rat? Or that there are several hundred species of carnivorous plants on our planet? Full-color photographs of the plants at work and play, plus everything you need to know to successfully grow your own Little Shop of Horrors.Awards1999 American Horticultural Society Book Award Winner ReviewsHow to get kids interested in gardening? The San Francisco Chronicle recommends The Savage Garden, "because there's nothing children like better than catching insects and feeding them to their houseplants."

Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind


David M. Buss - 1998
    Since the publication of the award-winning first edition of Evolutionary Psychology, there has been an explosion of research within the field. In this book, David M. Buss examines human behavior from an evolutionary perspective, providing students with the conceptual tools needed to study evolutionary psychology and apply them to empirical research on the human mind. This edition contains expanded coverage of cultural evolution, with a new section on culture–gene co-evolution, additional studies discussing interbreeding between modern humans and Neanderthals, expanded discussions of evolutionary hypotheses that have been empirically disconfirmed, and much more!

The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants: Ethnopharmacology and Its Applications


Christian Rätsch - 1998
    The most powerful plants--those known to transport the human mind into other dimensions of consciousness--have traditionally been regarded as sacred. In The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants Christian Rätsch details the botany, history, distribution, cultivation, and preparation and dosage of more than 400 psychoactive plants. He discusses their ritual and medicinal usage, cultural artifacts made from these plants, and works of art that either represent or have been inspired by them. The author begins with 168 of the most well-known psychoactives--such as cannabis, datura, and papaver--then presents 133 lesser known substances as well as additional plants known as “legal highs,” plants known only from mythological contexts and literature, and plant products that include substances such as ayahuasca, incense, and soma. The text is lavishly illustrated with 797 color photographs--many of which are from the author’s extensive fieldwork around the world--showing the people, ceremonies, and art related to the ritual use of the world’s sacred psychoactives.

Song for the Blue Ocean: Encounters Along the World's Coasts and Beneath the Seas


Carl Safina - 1998
    Scientist and fisherman Carl Safina takes readers on a global journey of discovery, probing for truth about the world's changing seas, deftly weaving adventure, science, and political analysis.

The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge


Jeremy Narby - 1998
    This adventure in science and imagination, which the Medical Tribune said might herald "a Copernican revolution for the life sciences," leads the reader through unexplored jungles and uncharted aspects of mind to the heart of knowledge.In a first-person narrative of scientific discovery that opens new perspectives on biology, anthropology, and the limits of rationalism, The Cosmic Serpent reveals how startlingly different the world around us appears when we open our minds to it.

The Symbolic Species: The Co-evolution of Language and the Brain


Terrence W. Deacon - 1998
    Drawing on his breakthrough research in comparative neuroscience, Terrence Deacon offers a wealth of insights into the significance of symbolic thinking: from the co-evolutionary exchange between language and brains over two million years of hominid evolution to the ethical repercussions that followed man's newfound access to other people's thoughts and emotions.Informing these insights is a new understanding of how Darwinian processes underlie the brain's development and function as well as its evolution. In contrast to much contemporary neuroscience that treats the brain as no more or less than a computer, Deacon provides a new clarity of vision into the mechanism of mind. It injects a renewed sense of adventure into the experience of being human.

The G Factor: The Science of Mental Ability


Arthur R. Jensen - 1998
    The g factor is about individual differences in mental abilities. In factor analyses of any and every large and diverse collection of measures of mental abilities, however varied the content of knowledge and skills they call upon, g emerges as the largest, most general source of differences between individuals and between certain subpopulations.Jensen fully and clearly explains the psychometric, statistical, genetic, and physiological basis of g, as well as the major theoretical challenges to the concept. For decades a key construct in differential psychology, the g factor's significance for scholars and researchers in the brain sciences as well as education, sociology, anthropology, evolutionary psychology, economics, and public policy is clearly evident in this, the most comprehensive treatment of g ever published.

At the Water's Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea


Carl Zimmer - 1998
    The awesome journey of life's transformation from the first microbes 4 billion years ago to Homo sapiens today is an epic that we are only now beginning to grasp. Magnificent and bizarre, it is the story of how we got here, what we left behind, and what we brought with us. We all know about evolution, but it still seems absurd that our ancestors were fish. Darwin's idea of natural selection was the key to solving generation-to-generation evolution -- microevolution -- but it could only point us toward a complete explanation, still to come, of the engines of macroevolution, the transformation of body shapes across millions of years. Now, drawing on the latest fossil discoveries and breakthrough scientific analysis, Carl Zimmer reveals how macroevolution works. Escorting us along the trail of discovery up to the current dramatic research in paleontology, ecology, genetics, and embryology, Zimmer shows how scientists today are unveiling the secrets of life that biologists struggled with two centuries ago. In this book, you will find a dazzling, brash literary talent and a rigorous scientific sensibility gracefully brought together. Carl Zimmer provides a comprehensive, lucid, and authoritative answer to the mystery of how nature actually made itself.

The Rainbow And The Worm: The Physics Of Organisms


Mae-Wan Ho - 1998
    It takes the reader on a voyage of discovery through many areas of contemporary physics, from non-equilibrium thermodynamics and quantum optics to liquid crystals and fractals, all necessary for illuminating the problem of life. In the process, the reader is treated to a rare and exquisite view of the organism, gaining novel insights, not only into the physics but also into "the poetry and meaning of being alive". This book is intended for all who love the subject.

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Human Paleopathology


Arthur C. Aufderheide - 1998
    Many diseases leave characteristic lesions and deformities on human bones, teeth and soft tissues that can be identified many years after death. This comprehensive volume includes all conditions producing effects recognizable with the unaided eye. Detailed lesion descriptions and over 300 photographs and diagrams facilitate disease recognition and each condition is placed in context with discussion of its history, antiquity, etiology, epidemiology, geography, and natural history. Uniquely, diseases affecting the soft tissues are also included as these are commonly present in mummified remains.

Survival Strategies: Cooperation and Conflict in Animal Societies


Raghavendra Gadagkar - 1998
    This book presents the choicest of these findings, with a remarkable wealth of insights into the myriad strategies that animals have developed to perpetuate their kind. In an irresistible style, Raghavendra Gadagkar explores the strategies of cooperation and conflict adopted by animals--from the lordly lion to the primitive wasp worker--as they choose mates, raise their young, communicate with others, and establish the division of labor necessary to feed and protect the group and safeguard their territory.Whether focusing on the birds or the bees, this book offers both superb descriptions and lucid explanations of many different behaviors encountered in the animal world: why a ground squirrel will sound an alarm--even risk its own safety--to warn fellow squirrels of impending danger; why weaver ant larvae donate silk for nest building; why house mice raise their offspring in a communal nursery; and how animals can recognize the relatives they want to favor--or avoid.Illustrated with both photographs and explanatory diagrams, this expert and inviting tour of the social world of animals will inform and charm anyone curious about the motivations behind the amazing range of activity in the animal kingdom.

Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms: Essays on Natural History


Stephen Jay Gould - 1998
    It is also the first of the final three such collections, since Dr. Gould has announced that the series will end with the turn of the millennium. In this collection, Gould consciously and unconventionally formulates a humanistic natural history, a consideration of how humans have learned to study and understand nature, rather than a history of nature itself. With his customary brilliance, Gould examines the puzzles and paradoxes great and small that build nature's and humanity's diversity and order. In affecting short biographies, he depicts how scholars grapple with problems of science and philosophy as he illuminates the interaction of the outer world with the unique human ability to struggle to understand the whys and wherefores of existence. "From the Hardcover edition."

Sport Fish of Florida


Vic Dunaway - 1998
    In this book you'll find the scoop on every hook-and-line species from the mightiest Marlin to the lowliest Lizardfish, along with advice on how to catch each one and how good it is to eat. Because it's designed as a practical guide for fishermen, every effort has been made to keep biological jargon at bay. However, there is one nod to the world of science that is unavoidable--the inclusion of scientific names so that each of the species can be definitely pinpointed. Without scientific names, confusion would reign, because most species are known by more than one common name and, in many cases, two or more different species share the same common name.

I Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier: Essays on Science, Scientists, and Humanity: Essays on Science, Scientists, and Humanity


Max F. Perutz - 1998
    Imagination, creativity, ambition, and conflict are as vital and abundant in science as in artistic endeavors. In this collection of essays, the Nobel Prize-winning protein chemist Max Perutz writes about the pursuit of scientific knowledge, which he sees as an enterprise providing not just new facts but cause for reflection and revelation, as in a poem or painting. Max Perutz's essays explore a remarkable range of scientific topics with the lucidity and precision Perutz brought to his own pioneering work in protein crystallography. He has been hailed as an author who "makes difficult subjects intelligible and writes with the warmth, humanity, and broad culture which has always characterized the great men of science." Of his previous collection of essays, a reviewer said "They turn the world of science and medicine into a marvelous land of adventure which I was thrilled to explore in the company of this wise and human [writer]." Readers of this volume can journey to the same land, with the same delight. Max Perutz (1914-2002) was a brilliant scientist, a visionary of molecular biology, and a writer of elegant essays infused with humanity and wisdom. This expanded paperback edition of his very successful book I Wish I'd Made You Angry Earlier contains nine additional essays, and a warmly evocative portrait of Max by his friend and professional colleague Sir John Meurig Thomas. The original hardcover edition of this book was co-published with Oxford University Press. A paperback edition is also available from Oxford University Press. The expanded paperback edition is only available from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

One Renegade Cell: The Quest For The Origin Of Cancer


Robert A. Weinberg - 1998
    In One Renegade Cell, Weinberg presents a state-of-the-art account of how cancer begins and how, one day, it will be cured.

What Is Sex?


Lynn Margulis - 1998
    Explores the thermodynamic background of sex, the evolution of sexual reproduction, the quest for mates, and sex-suppressed societies in plants, animals, and humans.

At the Bench: A Laboratory Navigator, Updated Edition: A Laboratory Navigator


Kathy Barker - 1998
    In this newly revised edition, chapters have been rewritten to accommodate the impact of computer technology and the Internet, not only on the acquisition and analysis of data, but also on its organization and presentation. Alternatives to the use of radiation have been expanded, and figures and illustrations have been redrawn to reflect changes in laboratory equipment and procedures.

The Red Hourglass: Lives of the Predators


Gordon Grice - 1998
    A building cleared of every living thing by a band of tiny spiders. An infant insect eating its living prey from within, saving the vital organs for last. These are among the deadly feats of natural engineering you'll witness in The Red Hourglass, prize-winning author Gordon Grice's masterful, poetic, often dryly funny exploration of predators he has encountered around his rural Oklahoma home. Grice is a witty and intrepid guide through a world where mating ends in cannibalism, where killers possess toxins so lethal as to defy our ideas of a benevolent God, where spider remains, scattered like "the cast-off coats of untidy children," tell a quiet story of violent self-extermination. It's a world you'll recognize despite its exotic strangeness--the world in which we live. Unabashedly stepping into the mix, Grice abandons his role as objective observer with beguiling dark humor--collecting spiders and other vermin, decorating a tarantula's terrarium with dollhouse furniture, or forcing a battle between captive insects because he deems one "too stupid to live."Kill. Eat. Mate. Die. Charting the simple brutality of the lives of these predators, Grice's starkly graceful essays guide us toward startling truths about our own predatory nature. The Red Hourglass brings us face to fanged face with the inadequacy of our distinctions between normal and abnormal, dead and alive, innocent and evil.From the Hardcover edition.

Biological Sequence Analysis: Probabilistic Models of Proteins and Nucleic Acids


Richard Durbin - 1998
    For example, hidden Markov models are used for analyzing biological sequences, linguistic-grammar-based probabilistic models for identifying RNA secondary structure, and probabilistic evolutionary models for inferring phylogenies of sequences from different organisms. This book gives a unified, up-to-date and self-contained account, with a Bayesian slant, of such methods, and more generally to probabilistic methods of sequence analysis. Written by an interdisciplinary team of authors, it is accessible to molecular biologists, computer scientists, and mathematicians with no formal knowledge of the other fields, and at the same time presents the state of the art in this new and important field.

Biology Coloring Workbook


I. Edward Alcamo - 1998
    For a biology student attempting to memorize the stages of cell division or understand basic genetics, straight memorization from textbooks or lecture notes can be a frustrating and laborious exercise.Biology Coloring Workbook is a breakthrough approach to studying the science of life.  Learning interactively through coloring fixes biological concepts in the mind and promotes quick recall on exams.  Rather than learning cell structure by forcing yourself to memorize the name and function of each organelle, you can benefit from reviewing your own colorful portrait of the cell.Inside are nearly 150 plates of clear and precise computer-generated artwork that are accompanied by a thorough explanation of each topic.  Complex biology subjects are explained through clear and simple drawings.  Coloring suggestions are providede to help you complete each lesson, and each plate is labeled for easy identification and reference.  Biology Coloring Workbook follows the standard organization of introductory textbooks, making it the ideal study companion.The plates are organized into the following sections:Introduction to BiologyBiology of the CellPrinciples of GeneticsDNA and Gene ExpressionPrinciples of EvolutionThe Origin of Life and Simple Life FormsBiology of PlantsBiology of AnimalsHuman BiologyReproduction and Development in HumansPrinciples of Ecology

The Guide to Colorado Birds


Mary Taylor Gray - 1998
    Colorful close-up photographs by Herb Clarke, alongside Gray's at-a-glance identification tips and intriguing facts on behavior and life history in her Field Notes section, make The Guide to Colorado Birds both easy to use in the field, and fun to browse at home. Gray's latest is a must for birders and hikers alike.

Reef Fishes: A Guide to Their Identification, Behavior, and Captive Care


Scott W. Michael - 1998
    This first volume of a long-anticipated three-volume set covers reef environments, fish behaviors, anatomy, taxonomy, and evolution, with hundreds of species accounts and world-class photographs. A much-needed reference for aquarists, as well as for divers and coral reef naturalists, this authoritative account includes more than 800 species photographs.Scott W. Michael is an underwater photographer widely regarded as one of the world s foremost authorities on the behavior and husbandry of reef fishes in aquarium systems. He is a regular contributor to Aquarium Fish Magazine and has served as a scientific consultant to National Geographic Explorer and the Discovery Channel.

Rainforest: Ancient Realm of the Pacific Northwest


Graham Osborne - 1998
    Exquisite, large format photography by internationally known nature photographer, Graham Osborn with text by Wade Davis

Digging Up the Bones: Biochemistry


Nikos M. Linardakis - 1998
    The books are designed to complement the McGraw-Hill PreTest series. This text covers biochemistry.

Kinship with Animals


Kate Solisti-Mattelon - 1998
    Our understanding of animals has increased greatly in just the last few years. This updated edition of Kinship with Animals contains new research findings and new contributors.

Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons


Christof Koch - 1998
     Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons challenges this notion, using richly detailed experimental and theoretical findings from cellular biophysics to explain the repertoire of computational functions available to single neurons. The author shows how individual nerve cells can multiply, integrate, or delay synaptic inputs and how information can be encoded in the voltage across the membrane, in the intracellular calcium concentration, or in the timing of individual spikes.Key topics covered include the linear cable equation; cable theory as applied to passive dendritic trees and dendritic spines; chemical and electrical synapses and how to treat them from a computational point of view; nonlinear interactions of synaptic input in passive and active dendritic trees; the Hodgkin-Huxley model of action potential generation and propagation; phase space analysis; linking stochastic ionic channels to membrane-dependent currents; calcium and potassium currents and their role in information processing; the role of diffusion, buffering and binding of calcium, and other messenger systems in information processing and storage; short- and long-term models of synaptic plasticity; simplified models of single cells; stochastic aspects of neuronal firing; the nature of the neuronal code; and unconventional models of sub-cellular computation.Biophysics of Computation: Information Processing in Single Neurons serves as an ideal text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in cellular biophysics, computational neuroscience, and neural networks, and will appeal to students and professionals in neuroscience, electrical and computer engineering, and physics.

Peterson First Guide to Insects of North America


Christopher Leahy - 1998
    Condensed versions of the famous Peterson Field Guides, the First Guides focus on the animals, plants, and other natural things you are most likely to see. They make it fun to get into the field and easy to progress to the full-fledged Peterson Guides.

Fabre's Book of Insects


Jean-Henri Fabre - 1998
    Working in Provence, in barren, sun-scorched fields inhabited by countless wasps and bees, he observed their intricate and fascinating world, recounting their activities in simple, beautifully written essays.This volume, based on translations of Fabre's Souvenirs Entomologiques, blends folklore and mythology with factual explanation. Fabre's absorbing account of the scarab beetle's existence, for example, begins with the ancient Egyptians' symbolic view of this busy creature, eventually leading to a careful discussion of its characteristic method of rolling a carefully sculpted ball of food to its den. Elsewhere, he discusses with infectious enthusiasm the physiologic secrets behind the luminosity of fireflies, the musical talents of the locust, the comfortable home of the field cricket, and the cannibalism of the pious-looking praying mantis, among other topics.These charmingly related stories of insect life are a rare combination of scientific study and literary classic that will delight entomologists, naturalists, and nature lovers alike.

The Ecology Of Atlantic Shorelines


Mark D. Bertness - 1998
    Written as a field guide to the physical and biological processes that generate patterns on Western Atlantic shorelines, it is intended for a wide audience ranging from undergraduate students and amateur naturalists to professionals in other disciplines.

Lsd 25 & Tryptamine Syntheses Overview & Reference Guide For


Otto Snow - 1998
    Reactions are described including a review of the Task Force Report: Narcotics and Drug Abuse, Annotations and Consultants' Papers. Many of the reactions include: Synthesis of N,N-dialkyl substututed lysergamides. The Curtis Reaction. Preparation of d-iso-lysergic acid hydrazide; d-iso-lysergic acid azide; d-iso-LSD.The Garbrecht Synthesis. Epimerization of d-iso-LSD into d-LSD. Fractional crystallization of LSD-25. Separation of d-lysergamides from d-iso-lysergamides. Alternative syntheses of lysergamides. Ergoline alkaloids from Rivea Corymbosa; morning glories; Argyreia nervosa. Life history and poisonus properties of Claviceps paspali. Host plants to Claviceps paspali. Host plants resistant to artificial inoculation of Claviceps paspali. Developing Claviceps purpurea. Claviceps purpurea cultivation and strain selection. Preparation of media. Inoculation of cultures. Alkaloid production by Claviceps cultures. More fermentations. Alkaloid extraction from cultures. Recrystallization of lysergic acid. Lysergic acid from Claviceps culture. Field inoculation of rye with Claviceps purpurea. Preparation of ethylamine and diethylamine. Preparation of ethyl bromide. Preparation of hydrazine sulfate and anhydrous hydrazine. Tablet manufacture. Molded tablets. Tablet machine. Compressed tablets. Preparation of "Clearlight" Carrier: "sheeting". Blotter carrier. N,N-Dialkyltryptamines and substituted alpha-alkyl and N,N-dialkyltryptamines. Psilocin from psilocybin containing mushrooms. Increasing psilocybin & psilocin content of cultivated mushrooms using tryptamine. Preparation of N,N-dialkyltryptamines. Preparation of tryptamine from tryptophan. Preparation of alpha, alpha-dialkyltryptamines. Electrolytic reduction of 3-(2-nitro-vinyl)indole to prepare tryptamine. Syntheses of gramine and analogs. Alternative syntheses of tryptamines. Preparation of substituted indoles. Melatonin. Adrenoglomerulotropin. Harman; harmaline; harmalol; harmine; harmol. Neurotoxic tryptamines. Future research. Over 225 references to scientific and medical journal articles. Indexed.

Male, Female: The Evolution of Human Sex Differences


David C. Geary - 1998
    The differences in behaviour between men and women are constantly remarked upon, yet poorly understood. In this persuasive volume, David Geary argues that the differences between the sexes are best illuminated by Darwin's theory of evolutionary selection. Male, Female shows how one of our most fundamental goals in life - survival through reproduction - is key to understanding such differences as preferred attributes in mates; level of investment in parenting; boys' and girls' play patterns and social interactions; the evolution and development of the mind; and even in rates of violence, mental disorders, academic abilities and occupational interests and achievement.

The DK Science Encyclopedia


Nigel Henbest - 1998
    A milestone in scientific learning, the acclaimed "DK Science Encyclopedia" has been rigorously updated to include new scientific advances, from the internet and CD-ROMs to fresh discoveries in space- Arranged thematically, 2,200 science topics are explained in a lively and exciting way by a brilliant team of award-winning authors- Makes science accessible to children, the book's immense scope demonstrating how science and technology affect our daily lives.

Baby Wolf


Mary Batten - 1998
    And with this Level 2 kids can learn all about a baby wolf!

Current Diagnosis and Treatment in Pediatrics


William W. Hay Jr. - 1998
    This new edition contains new chapters on information technology in pediatric practice and dealing with the effects of bioterrorist incidents.

Chance and Change: Ecology for Conservationists


William Holland Drury - 1998
    Charging that most of the environmental movement has ignored or rejected the changes in thinking that have infiltrated ecological theory since the mid 70s, William Drury presents a convincing case that disorder is what makes the natural world work, and that clinging to romantic notions of nature's grand design only saps the strength of the conservation movement. Drury's training in botany, geology, and zoology as well as his life-long devotion to work in the field gave him a depth and range of knowledge that few ecologists possess. This book opens our eyes to a new way of looking at the environment and forces us to think more deeply about nature and our role in it.Chance and Change is intended for the serious amateur naturalist or professional conservationist. Drury argues that chance and change are the rule, that the future is as unpredictable to other organisms as it is to us, and that natural disturbance is too frequent for equilibrium models to be useful. He stresses the centrality of natural selection in explaining the meaning of biology and insists the book and the laboratory must be checked at all times against the real world. Written in an easy, personal style, Drury's narrative comes alive with the landscape—the salt marshes, dunes, seashores, and forests—that he believed served as the best classroom. His novel approach of correlating landscape evolution with ecological principles offers a welcome corrective to discordance between what we observe in nature and what theory tells us we should see.

Genetics and Analysis of Quantitative Traits


Michael Lynch - 1998
    What wasoriginally envisioned as a single text has now become two, with the focus of this first book being on the basic biology and methods of analysis of quantitative characters.Three major features of Genetics and Analysis of Quantitative Traits distinguish it from earlier work. First, it reflects the explosive influx over the past few years of quantitative-genetic thinking into evolutionary biology. Second, in animal breeding, enormous strides have been made in thedevelopment of new techniques for estimating breeding values (for the purposes of identifying elite individuals in selection programs) and for estimating variance components from samples of complex pedigrees. In this text's last two chapters, the authors outline the basic principles of complexpedigree analysis, without getting bogged down in technical details. Third, Genetics and Analysis of Quantitative Traits provides a broad overview of the newly emerging array of techniques for quantitative-trait loci (QTL) analysis, currently one of the most active fields of quantitative-geneticresearch.Genetics and Analysis of Quantitative Traits contains numerous fully-worked examples and illustrations of theoretical concepts, as well as over 2,000 references with indices by subject, author, and organism. In addition, the authors maintain a World Wide Web site featuring up-to-date lists ofcomputer programs and on-line resources, and added information on various topics presented in the text.

From Earth to Herbalist: An Earth-Conscious Guide to Medicinal Plants


Gregory L. Tilford - 1998
    From Earth to Herbalist is a must for anyone interested in making and using their own plant medicines.

Discovering Fossils: How to Find and Identify Remains of the Prehistoric Past


Donald Miller - 1998
    Complete beginner's guide, with vertebrate and invertebrate fossil descriptions.

Her-2: The Making of Herceptin, a Revolutionary Treatment for Breast Cancer


Robert Bazell - 1998
    The outlook was grim. Then she took part in Genentech's clinical trials for a new drug. Five years later she remains cancer-free.Her-2 is the biography of Herceptin, the drug that provoked dramatic responses in Barbara Bradfield and other women in the trials and that offers promise for hundreds of thousands of breast cancer patients. Unlike chemotherapy or radiation, Herceptin has no disabling side effects. It works by inactivating Her-2/neu--a protein that makes cancer cells grow especially quickly-- produced by a gene found in 25 to 30 percent of all breast tumors. Herceptin caused some patients' cancers to disappear completely; in others, it slowed the progression of the disease and gave the women months or years they wouldn't otherwise have had. Herceptin is the first treatment targeted at a gene defect that gives rise to cancer. It marks the beginning of a new era of treatment for all kinds of cancers.Robert Bazell presents a riveting account of how Herceptin was born. Her-2 is a story of dramatic discoveries and strong personalities, showing the combination of scientific investigation, money, politics, ego, corporate decisions, patient activism, and luck involved in moving this groundbreaking drug from the lab to a patient's bedside. Bazell's deft portraits introduce us to the remarkable people instrumental in Herceptin's history, including Dr. Dennis Slamon, the driven UCLA oncologist who played the primary role in developing the treatment; Lily Tartikoff, wife of television executive Brandon Tartikoff, who tapped into Hollywood money and glamour to help fund Slamon's research; and Marti Nelson, who inspired the activists who lobbied for a "compassionate use" program that would allow women outside the clinical trials to have access to the limited supplies of Herceptin prior to FDA approval of the drug. And throughout there are the stories of the heroic women with advanced breast cancer who volunteered for the trials, risking what time they had left on an unproven treatment. Meticulously researched, written with clarity and compassion, Her-2 is masterly reporting on cutting-edge science.

Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds


George W. Hudler - 1998
    Fuzzy brown molds mischievously turn forgotten peaches to slime in the kitchen fruit bowl. And in thousands of other ways, members of the kingdom Fungi do their part to make life on Earth the miracle that it is. In this lively book, George Hudler leads us on a tour of an often-overlooked group of organisms, which differ radically from both animals and plants. Along the way the author stops to ponder the marvels of nature and the impact of mere microbes on the evolution of civilization. Nature's ultimate recyclers not only save us from drowning in a sea of organic waste, but also provide us with food, drink, and a wide array of valuable medicines and industrial chemicals.Some fungi make deadly poisons and psychedelic drugs that have interesting histories in and of themselves, and Hudler weaves tales of those into his scientific account of the nature of the fungi. The role of fungi in the Irish potato famine, in the Salem Witch Trials, in the philosophical writings of Greek scholars, and in the creation of ginger snaps are just a few of the many great moments in history to grace these pages.Hudler moves so easily from discussing human history to exploring scientific knowledge, all with a sense of humor and enthusiasm, that one can well understand why he is an award-winning teacher both at Cornell University as well as nationally. Few, for instance, who read his invitation to get out of your chair and take a short walk will ever again look without curiosity and admiration at the rotten part of the world around them. Magical Mushrooms, Mischievous Molds is full of information that will satisfy history buffs, science enthusiasts, and anyone interested in nature's miracles. Everyone in Hudler's audience will develop a new appreciation of the debt they owe to the molds for such common products as penicillin, wine, and bread.

Night Comes to the Cretaceous: Dinosaur Extinction and the Transformation of Modern Geology


James Lawrence Powell - 1998
    Then in 1980, a radical theory was proposed: 65 million years ago, an asteroid or comet as big as Mt. Everest, traveling at 100,000 miles per hour, struck the earth, throwing up a dust cloud that darkened the sky, caused the temperature to plummet, and killed the dinosaurs and 70 percent of all other species. Night Comes to the Cretaceous is the first comprehensive and objective account of how this fantastic theory changed the course of science. The author, Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History tells the dramatic story of how Nobel Prize-winning physicist Luis Alvarez and his son Walter stumbled onto evidence suggesting that a single random event caused the extinction of the dinosaurs - a claim many scientists found unbelievable. After years of bitter debate and intense research, an astonishing discovery was made - an immense impact crater buried deep in the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico that was identified as Ground Zero. The unbelievable appeared to be true.

The Human, the Orchid and the Octopus: Exploring and Conserving Our Natural World


Jacques-Yves Cousteau - 1998
     Explorer, diving pioneer, filmmaker, inventor, and activist, Jacques Cousteau was blessed from his childhood with boundless curiosity about the natural world. As the leader of fascinating, often dangerous expeditions all over the planet, he discovered firsthand the complexity and beauty of life on earth and undersea--and watched the toll taken by human activity in the twentieth century. In this magnificent last book, finally available for the first time in the United States, Cousteau describes his deeply informed philosophy about protecting our world for future generations. Weaving gripping stories of his adventures throughout, he and coauthor Susan Schiefelbein address the risks we take with human health, the overfishing and sacking of the world's oceans, the hazards of nuclear proliferation, and the environmental responsibility of scientists, politicians, and people of faith. Cousteau's lyrical, passionate call for action to protect our earth and seas and their myriad life forms is even more relevant today than when this book was completed in 1996. Written over the last ten years of his life with frequent collaborator Schiefelbein, who also introduces the text and provides an update on environmental developments in the decade since Cousteau's death, this prescient, clear-sighted book is a remarkable testament to the life and work of one of our greatest modern adventurers.

Plant Life in the World's Mediterranean Climates: California, Chile, South Africa, Australia, and the Mediterranean Basin


Peter R. Dallman - 1998
    This climate of mild, rainy winters and dry, warm summers is found in California, Central Chile, the Cape Region of South Africa, the southwestern part of Australia and the Mediterranean Basin. The regions are widely separated and the flora of each is distinctive, having for the most part developed independently. Nevertheless, the plants share remarkably similar characteristics which allow them to thrive in these unusual conditions.Peter Dallman's non-technical prose is complemented by numerous maps, tables, and figures, and the book is richly illustrated with photographs of landscapes, plants, and flowers. With its detailed information on some of the world's most resilient plant life, this book will serve as an excellent reference for everyone interested in growing drought-resistant plants and as a naturalist's guide to these beautiful and unusual bioregions.For the growing number of travelers whose vacations focus on learning about and appreciating natural history, Dallman also includes a chapter on planning trips to the five Mediterranean regions.

Birds of the World (DK Nature Guide)


D.K. Publishing - 1998
    Expertly written and including examples from across the globe, these guides will give you knowledge of the natural world at your fingertips.With a detailed introduction all about bird classification, anatomy, migration, habitats and flight, Nature Guide Birds of the World is the ideal bird identification guide.

Birds of the Indian Ocean Islands : Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion, Rodrigues, Seychelles and the Comoros (Chamberlain)


Ian Sinclair - 1998
    Differences between sexes and plumages are discussed as well as the status of the bird, its habitat and call.Distribution maps accompany each entry. The birds are illustrated in full color and where necessary are depicted in all plumages relevant to identification (male, female and immature). In-flight illustrations present the bird from above and below, providing comprehensive coverage of the birds in the field.

Invertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution


Euan N. K. Clarkson - 1998
    This fully revised fourth edition includes a complete update of the sections on evolution and the fossil record, and the evolution of the early metazoans. New work on the classification of the major phyla (in particular brachiopods and molluscs) has been incorporated. The section on trace fossils is extensively rewritten. The author has taken care to involve specialists in the major groups, to ensure the taxonomy is as up-to-date and accurate as possible.

Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology


George A. Feldhamer - 1998
    The more than 5,400 species occupy many habitats, with mammals present on all the continents. They are rare only on Antarctica and a few isolated islands.Mammals present a complex set of conservation and management issues. Some species have become more numerous with the rise of human populations, while others have been extirpated or nearly so—such as the Caribbean monk seal, the thylacine, the Chinese river dolphin, and the Pyrenean ibex.In this new edition of their classic textbook, George A. Feldhamer and his colleagues cover the many aspects of mammalogy. Thoroughly revised and updated, this edition includes treatments of the most recent significant findings in ordinal-level mammalian phylogeny and taxonomy; special topics such as parasites and diseases, conservation, and domesticated mammals; interrelationships between mammalian structure and function; and the latest molecular techniques used to study mammals.Instructors: email mammalogy@press.jhu.edu for a free instructor resource disc containing all 510 illustrations printed in Mammalogy: Adaptation, Diversity, Ecology, third edition.

Forest Ecology


Burton V. Barnes - 1998
    This revised edition emphasizes an earth science perspective as well as that of forest biology.

Fundamental Neuroscience


Larry R. Squire - 1998
    Addressing instructor and student feedback on the previous edition, all of the chapters are rewritten to make this book more concise and student-friendly than ever before. Each chapter is once again heavily illustrated and provides clinical boxes describing experiments, disorders, and methodological approaches and concepts.Capturing the promise and excitement of this fast-moving field, Fundamental Neuroscience, 3rd Edition is the text that students will be able to reference throughout their neuroscience careers!

Greening of Gondwana: The 400 Million Year Story of Australia's Plants


Mary White - 1998
    

Encyclopedia Of Psychoactive Substances


Richard Rudgley - 1998
    Its coverage extends from the use of intoxicating plants by Neanderthal man to the role of hallucinogens and narcotics in contemporary youth culture. Basic data is provided on the botany and chemistry of intoxicants, and the author examines their influence at all levels of our culture and society. He also tackles controversial issues such as legalization, and details the legal classification of illicit substances alongside additional relevant information on detection, prevention, punishment, and other criminological subjects.

Contagion and Confinement: Controlling Tuberculosis Along the Skid Road


Barron H. Lerner - 1998
    Lerner offers the first in-depth look at the history of tuberculosis control in the antibiotic era, providing a vital account of this neglected chapter in the history of the disease. He argues that the new antibiotic drugs, rather than being a simple panacea, actually highlighted the complex social problems that continued to predispose people to tuberculosis and interfere with its treatment. The most controversial strategy used by American health officers to control tuberculosis was forcible detention. Since 1903, Lerner notes, health departments have locked up tuberculosis patients whose behavior presented a public health threat. Using Seattle's Firland Sanatorium as a case study, he focuses on the surprisingly recent use of detention, between 1950 and 1970. Although Firland planned to use confinement only as a last resort, Lerner explains, the facility detained nearly 2,000 patients, most of them alcoholics from Seattle's famous "Skid Road." In retrospect, it is clear that Firland staff members overused detention. But Lerner also finds that they worked hard to improve the lives of the alcoholic patients society had forgotten.

Primates Face to Face: The Conservation Implications of Human-Nonhuman Primate Interconnections


Agustín Fuentes - 1998
    By examining the diverse and fascinating range of relationships between humans and other primates and observing how this plays a critical role in conservation practice and programs, Primates Face to Face disseminates the information gained from the anthropological study of nonhuman primates to the wider academic and non-academic world.

The Malthus Factor: Poverty, Politics and Population in Capitalist Development


Eric B. Ross - 1998
    It highlights the strategic role of Malthusian ideas in the defence of capitalist political economy when confronted by struggles for equality and human progress. The leading historical example the author takes offers a major reassessment of the origins of the Irish Famine. His contemporary case study focuses on the Green Revolution, which the author analyzes in terms of a broad Western strategy of capitalist agricultural development in the face of peasant insurgency. Finally, the book examines how the political economy of underdevelopment is currently being obscured by alarm over the environmental impact of over-population, and how such Malthusian concerns represent the poor, not as victims of capitalist development, but as perpetrators of environmental destruction.

Seasons in the Desert


Susan J. Tweit - 1998
    IP.

Forbidden Archeology's Impact: How a Controversial New Book Shocked the Scientific Community and Became an Underground Classic


Michael A. Cremo - 1998
    Forbidden Archeology's Impact offers readers an inside look at how mainstream science reacts with ridicule, threats and intimidation to any challenge to its deeply held beliefs.

Wolf Country: Eleven Years Tracking the Algonquin Wolves


John Theberge - 1998
    Some are fascinated by them; others simply hate them. Time and time again, John Theberge has been confronted by angry farmers who repeat the same refrain: "What good is a wolf, anyway?"Theberge, together with his wife, colleagues and students, has been studying the wolves of Algonquin Park in central Ontario for more than a decade. He is motivated not so much by affection for wolves, although he has come to know them as well as any individual alive, but by respect for the intricate relationships that sustain them. For him, the study of wolves has led to investigations into myriad elements that shape wolf habitat, from the prevalence of certain tree species, to the effect of parasites on white-tailed deer.In Wolf Country, Theberge describes the lives of the wolves he came to know. In telling their stories, he also tells something about the questions he set out to answer: whether wolf packs aggressively defend their territories; whether wolves kill more of their prey than the prey population can sustain; and whether pack behavior supports the idea of the survival of the best-fit group.What he found is unfailingly intriguing. In some respects, it is also disheartening. Too often, the pursuit of a radio-collared wolf led him to a trapper's snare. In some years, as many as 50 percent of the park's wolves were killed by humans. Among Theberge's conclusions: the supposedly protected park wolves are a population under siege: fractured, scattered, barely able to survive.Theberge took his conclusions to the ministry responsible for the park. He fought for a ban on wolf killing along the park's boundaries. He won a partial ban, but not before he hadseen the head of one of his wolves nailed to a pole in a town outside the park. This is a fascinating and inspiring story told by a man for whom the appreciation of science and life are inseparable.