The roots of our family tree reach back millions of years to the beginning of life on earth. Open this family album and embark on an amazing journey. You'll meet some of our oldest relatives--from both the land and the sea--and discover what we inherited from each of them along the many steps of our wondrous past. Complete with an illustrated timeline and glossary, here is the story of human evolution as it's never been told before.

    Far less well-known is a much greater catastrophe that took place at the end of the Permian period 251 million years ago: 90 percent of life was destroyed, including saber-toothed reptiles and their rhinoceros-sized prey on land, as well as vast numbers of fish and other species in the sea.This book documents not only what happened during this gigantic mass extinction but also the recent rekindling of the idea of catastrophism. Was the end-Permian event caused by the impact of a huge meteorite or comet, or by prolonged volcanic eruption in Siberia? The evidence has been accumulating through the 1990s and into the new millennium, and Michael Benton gives his verdict at the very end. From field camps in Greenland and Russia to the laboratory bench, When Life Nearly Died involves geologists, paleontologists, environmental modelers, geochemists, astronomers, and experts on biodiversity and conservation. Their working methods are vividly described and explained, and the current disputes are revealed. The implications of our understanding of crises in the past for the current biodiversity crisis are also presented in detail. 46 b/w illustrations.

    On its appearance in 1859 it was immediately recognized by enthusiasts and detractors alike as a work of the greatest importance: its revolutionary theory of evolution by means of natural selection provoked a furious reaction that continues to this day.The Origin of Species is here published together with Darwin’s earlier Voyage of the ‘Beagle.’ This 1839 account of the journeys to South America and the Pacific islands that first put Darwin on the track of his remarkable theories derives an added charm from his vivid description of his travels in exotic places and his eye for the piquant detail.(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

    Armed with the extraordinary new discoveries about our genes, Ridley turns his attention to the nature versus nurture debate to bring the first popular account of the roots of human behaviour. What makes us who we are?In February 2001 it was announced that the genome contains not 100,000 genes as originally expected but only 30,000. This startling revision led some scientists to conclude that there are simply not enough human genes to account for all the different ways people behave: we must be made by nurture, not nature.Matt Ridley argues that the emerging truth is far more interesting than this myth. Nurture depends on genes, too, and genes need nurture. Genes not only predetermine the broad structure of the brain; they also absorb formative experiences, react to social cues and even run memory. They are consequences as well as causes of the will.Published fifty years after the discovery of the double helix of DNA, Nature via Nurture chronicles a new revolution in our understanding of genes. Ridley recounts the hundred years' war between the partisans of nature and nurture to explain how this paradoxical creature, the human being, can be simultaneously free-willed and motivated by instinct and culture. Nature via Nurture is an enthralling, up-to-the-minute account of how genes build brains to absorb experience.

    Gorgeous and ethereal illustrations and a story that brings children into a state of connectedness with the universe makes this an amazing book for parents and teachers who want to instill in kids a deep appreciation for themselves, their community, and the need to protect this planet that we all reside.When we take the time to learn about the beginnings of the universe, the miraculous conditions that make our existence possible, and how we are physically part of everything around us, a sense of connection forms and hopefully results in a desire to do good for the world around us and everyone in it."Once upon a time" meets science in a children's picture book that tells the thrilling story of how life began on Earth. This book, the second in Universe trilogy, picks up the story where Born With A Bang: The Universe Tells Our Cosmic Story left off, with the first appearance of life on Earth. It's a thrilling story about how Earth triumphs over crisis to become bacteria, jellyfish, flowers . . . even dinosaurs!A perfect series of kids books for:teachers and librarians looking for a series of books that explains the story of our universe.parents and teachers following Montessori's cosmic curriculum.long time fans of Dawn Publications starting with the classic Sharing Nature With Children.

    Drawing on an awesome breadth of research, he shows how, long ago, the narrowness of the newly bipedal human female's pelvis and the increasing size of infants' heads precipitated a crisis for the species. Natural selection allowed for the adaptation of the human female to this environmental stress by reconfiguring her hormonal cycles, entraining them with the periodicity of the moon. The results, however, did much more than ensure our existence; they imbued women with the concept of time, and gave them control over sex--a power that males sought to reclaim. And the possibility of achieving immortality through heirs drove men to construct patriarchal cultures that went on to dominate so much of human history.From the nature of courtship to the evolution of language, Shlain's brilliant and wide-ranging exploration stimulates new ways of thinking about very old matters."A masterpiece of ideas and a unique contribution to our understanding of gender and history, sexuality and evolution." -- Jean Houston[Note: includes Reader's Guide]

    This book also includes the Reiki I, II , III, & Master Symbols, including new Tibetan symbols that facilitate the attunement and remove spiritual blocks. The Master Manual also includes Aura Clearing, Reiki Moving Meditation, Teaching instructions, and Class Outlines.

    Such anomalous evidence, contradicting Darwinian evolution, catalyzed a global inquiry: “If we did not evolve from apes then where did we come from?”Human Devolution is Michael A. Cremo’s definitive answer to that question: “We did not evolve up from matter; instead we devolved, or came down, from the realm of pure consciousness, spirit.” Basing his response on modern science and the world’s great wisdom traditions, including the Vedic philosophy of ancient India, Cremo proposes that before we ask the question, “Where did human beings come from?” we should first contemplate, “What is a human being?” For much of the twentieth century, most scientists assumed that a human being is simply a combination of ordinary physical elements. In Human Devolution, Cremo says it is more reasonable to assume that a human being is a combination of three distinct substances: matter, mind, and consciousness (or spirit). He shows how solid scientific evidence for a subtle mind element and a conscious self that can exist apart from the body has been systematically eliminated from mainstream science by a process of “knowledge filtration.”

    He explains the biological reason for the human condition, thus ending the need for the denial & maturing humanity to psychological freedom.A Species in Denial received many editorial reviews, reproduced below: ‘A Species In Denial is a superb book…[that] brings out the truth of a new and wider frontier for humankind, a forward view of a world of humans no longer in naked competition amongst ourselves and with all others.’The late Professor John Morton, Emeritus Professor of Zoology & Lay Canon Emeritus of Holy Trinity Cathedral________________________________________‘This book is a fascinating stimulus to further work and, above all, spur toward better things. There are not many books offering as much, and few indeed which single out the often neglected prophets of our recent past. It offers so many insights into our divided selves.’Ronald Conway, OAM, Australian Quarterly Journal of Contemporary Analysis________________________________________‘A book that confronts the way we think about life...People like [Griffith] used to be drummed out of town by the vicar...Griffith gives the serious reader plenty to ponder...There is never any doubt of the courage of [Griffith’s] stance in writing this book because of his commitment to his fellow man and the future of the planet.’Pat White, Wairarapa News, New Zealand________________________________________‘This well reviewed book will challenge its readers. John Morton speaks of the truth it offers as people move forward into a deeper spirituality. Those who like philosophy will love reading this.’ Council for Christian Nurture & Ciocesan Resource Library________________________________________‘10/10. Prepare to be confronted...Prepare to be enlightened.'Wendy O’Hanlon, Noosa Times________________________________________‘Jeremy Griffith is an Australian biologist but his range of interests and his store of knowledge seem almost infinite… The chapter called Resignation is brilliant in its insight into human nature and what we call the idealism of the young… It’s worth reading the book for this essay alone but, of course, there’s so much more. Those who need brain food will find it here. It can’t be said of many books that the world looks different after you’ve read them. It can be said of this book.’Antonia Hilderbrand, Toowoomba Chronicle______________________________________‘There is no doubt that Jeremy is talking about the big stuff.’ Katie Wilkie, The Land's 'Friday Magazine'________________________________________‘ANY book claiming to shed light on that all-confronting yet persistently evasive subject, the human condition, is usually worth a look. Jeremy Griffith’s A Species In Denial is no exception. In fact, it is a must-read for anyone vaguely interested in the subject of who we are and what we are doing on this earth…a heroic work.’David Steel, Townsville Bulletin________________________________________‘There is no doubt that this book is an important one and breathtaking in its breadth…the psychological and biological stages of life are examined with great insight…For thinking adolescents and beyond.’John Cohen, Reading Time________________________________________‘Like to improve your understanding of the human condition? Ever wondered about our contradictory capacity for good and evil? Jeremy Griffith, an Australian biologist, believes he has the answer to the riddle of humanity. To why humanity’s progress is stalled in a state of unknowing. To how human intellect and instinct produce psychological conflict. 
A Species In Denial, with a foreword by Charles Birch, traverses wide ground indeed. From deciphering Plato’s cave allegory, to human denial, to bringing peace to the war between the sexes, to the denial-free history of the human race and the demystification of religion.’John McConnell, The Sydney Institute Quarterly________________________________________‘A SPECIES in Denial is a continuation of Jeremy Griffith’s previous’ Beyond the Human Condition which I reviewed when first published, as making a landmark in the understanding of the present crises in human relationships both at the personal level and in crosscultural affairs. Now Jeremy makes significant advances through the work of the FHA - the Foundation for Humanities Adulthood. His references are wide ranging from the teachings of early philosophers to modern day scientists.’Dr Champness, The Geelong Advertisern________________________________________'Why did the strong always crush the weak? Why did we hate and kill and torture?…this book will provide [you with] some answers.’John C. F. Burnside, Taupo Weekender________________________________________‘Griffith believes that conflict between our genetic, instinctive, selves and our conscious, intellectual, selves causes us to suffer from a guilt which manifests itself as selfishness and aggression, or what he calls “divisive behaviour’.Richard Edmondson, Northern News________________________________________‘A seminal book about how humans have coped with the psychological burden of their contradictory mindset…a must read for all…most rewarding.’Helen Bissland, Southland Times________________________________________‘This is a big book with plenty of material to startle, stimulate, possibly explain or even demystify the ethereal concept the author calls the “human condition”. It’s well worth the read.’Joe Herman, The Northern Advocate________________________________________‘AUSTRALIAN biologist Jeremy Griffith asks a deceptively simple question: Why are we what we are? But it is the complexity of the answer that makes for such compelling reading in Griffith’s book A Species in Denial. A Species in Denial is a challenging work, one that has already been highly-acclaimed.’Michael Jacobson, The Gold Coast Bulletin________________________________________‘There is a lot to think about in this book [requiring] a second or even third reading.’Stephen Mitchell, The Timaru Herald

    Dinosaurus is organized into the major dinosaur families and identifies 500 species -- creature by creature, from the voracious flesh-eaters to the egg-stealers to the vegetarians. What they looked like. What they ate. How they fought, lived, and died. A dramatic full-color illustration of each dinosaur is accompanied by a concise explanation of their traits and habits.At-a-glance Fact Files describe:Latin name, translation, and pronunciation Adult length, weight and height Diet and habitat Global distribution Dinosaurus challenges and discredits popular myths and long-standing legends. For example: the dinosaur known as Brontosaurus never even existed in the first place. Was Tyrannosaurus really the biggest meat-eater of all time? Were flying dinosaurs simply feeble gliders? Could sea dinosaurs out-swim today's fastest fish?Brimming with the latest research, from contemporary digs in North America, Mongolia, Europe and China, Dinosaurus is comprehensive, innovative, and as compelling and exciting as the dinosaurs themselves.

    If animals could talk, we would ask them to recall their own ancestries, in particular the secrets as to how they avoided almost inevitable annihilation in the face of daily assaults by predators, climactic cataclysms, deadly infections and innate diseases.In Tears of the Cheetah, medical geneticist and conservationist Stephen J. O'Brien narrates fast-moving science adventure stories that explore the mysteries of survival among the earth's most endangered and beloved wildlife. Here we uncover the secret histories of exotic species such as Indonesian orangutans, humpback whales, and the imperiled cheetah-the world's fastest animal which nonetheless cannot escape its own genetic weaknesses.Among these genetic detective stories we also discover how the Serengeti lions have lived with FIV (the feline version of HIV), where giant pandas really come from, how bold genetic action pulled the Florida panther from the edge of extinction, how the survivors of the medieval Black Death passed on a genetic gift to their descendents, and how mapping the genome of the domestic cat solved a murder case in Canada.With each riveting account of animal resilience and adaptation, a remarkable parallel in human medicine is drawn, adding yet another rationale for species conservation-mining their genomes for cures to our own fatal diseases. Tears of the Cheetah offers a fascinating glimpse of the insight gained when geneticists venutre into the wild.

    This book solves key problems that have impeded a definitive synthesis in the past. It uses new concepts and specific examples to show how to relate environmentally sensitive development to the genetic theory of adaptive evolution and to explain major patterns of change. In this book development includes not only embryology and the ontogeny of morphology, sometimes portrayed inadequately as governed by regulatory genes, but also behavioral development and physiological adaptation, where plasticity is mediated by genetically complex mechanisms like hormones and learning. The book shows how the universal qualities of phenotypes--modular organization and plasticity--facilitate both integration and change. Here you will learn why it is wrong to describe organisms as genetically programmed; why environmental induction is likely to be more important in evolution than random mutation; and why it is crucial to consider both selection and developmental mechanism in explanations of adaptive evolution. This book satisfies the need for a truly general book on development, plasticity and evolution that applies to living organisms in all of their life stages and environments. Using an immense compendium of examples on many kinds of organisms, from viruses and bacteria to higher plants and animals, it shows how the phenotype is reorganized during evolution to produce novelties, and how alternative phenotypes occupy a pivotal role as a phase of evolution that fosters diversification and speeds change. The arguments of this book call for a new view of the major themes of evolutionary biology, as shown in chapters on gradualism, homology, environmental induction, speciation, radiation, macroevolution, punctuation, and the maintenance of sex. No other treatment of development and evolution since Darwin's offers such a comprehensive and critical discussion of the relevant issues. Developmental Plasticity and Evolution is designed for biologists interested in the development and evolution of behavior, life-history patterns, ecology, physiology, morphology and speciation. It will also appeal to evolutionary paleontologists, anthropologists, psychologists, and teachers of general biology.

    This joyous celebration of the origins of life is told through captivating poetry and luminous artwork.A gentle look at the Big Bang for young children.Incredible batik artwork."A captivating, refreshing, and life-affirming treasure to read over and again."-Earthlight Magazine

    Step-by-step illustrations and captions explore ancient villages and the work of the scientists who find and catalog their discoveries.

    Through 21 hands-on activities, young scientists learn about Darwin’s life and work and assess current evidence of evolution. Activities include going on a botanical treasure hunt, keeping field notes as a backyard naturalist, and tying knots for ship sails like those on the HMS Beagle. Children also learn how fossils are created, trace genetic traits through their family trees, and discover if acquired traits are passed along to future generations. By encouraging children, parents, and teachers to define the differences between theories and beliefs, facts and opinions, Darwin and Evolution for Kids does not shy away from a theory that continues to spark heated public debate more than a century after it was first proposed.

    But in the full history of life, ancient animals, even the trilobites, form only the half-billion-year tip of a nearly four-billion-year iceberg. Andrew Knoll explores the deep history of life from its origins on a young planet to the incredible Cambrian explosion, presenting a compelling new explanation for the emergence of biological novelty. The very latest discoveries in paleontology--many of them made by the author and his students--are integrated with emerging insights from molecular biology and earth system science to forge a broad understanding of how the biological diversity that surrounds us came to be. Moving from Siberia to Namibia to the Bahamas, Knoll shows how life and environment have evolved together through Earth's history. Innovations in biology have helped shape our air and oceans, and, just as surely, environmental change has influenced the course of evolution, repeatedly closing off opportunities for some species while opening avenues for others. Readers go into the field to confront fossils, enter the lab to discern the inner workings of cells, and alight on Mars to ask how our terrestrial experience can guide exploration for life beyond our planet. Along the way, Knoll brings us up-to-date on some of science's hottest questions, from the oldest fossils and claims of life beyond the Earth to the hypothesis of global glaciation and Knoll's own unifying concept of ''permissive ecology.'' In laying bare Earth's deepest biological roots, Life on a Young Planet helps us understand our own place in the universe--and our responsibility as stewards of a world four billion years in the making.In a new preface, Knoll describes how the field has broadened and deepened in the decade since the book's original publication.

    The case rests on a remarkable compilation of examples of convergent evolution, in which two or more lineages have independently evolved similar structures and functions. The examples range from the aerodynamics of hovering moths and hummingbirds to the use of silk by spiders and some insects to capture prey. Going against the grain of Darwinian orthodoxy, this book is a must read for anyone grappling with the meaning of evolution and our place in the Universe. Simon Conway Morris is the Ad Hominen Professor in the Earth Science Department at the University of Cambridge and a Fellow of St. John's College and the Royal Society. His research focuses on the study of constraints on evolution, and the historical processes that lead to the emergence of complexity, especially with respect to the construction of the major animal body parts in the Cambrian explosion. Previous books include The Crucible of Creation (Getty Center for Education in the Arts, 1999) and co-author of Solnhofen (Cambridge, 1990). Hb ISBN (2003) 0-521-82704-3

    Yet this interest is overlooked by social and political theory at a time when we need to steer an adaptive course through the unnatural modern world of uneven population growth and decline, global mobility, and loss of family and communal ties. In modern Darwinian theory, bearing children is only one way to reproduce. Since we share genes with our families, ethnic groups, and the species as a whole, ethnocentrism and humanism can be adaptive. They can also be hazardous when taken to extremes. On Genetic Interests canvasses strategies and ethics for conserving our genetic interests in an environmentally sustainable manner sensitive to the interests of others.

    

    Taken in exotic locales including French Guyana, the Peruvian Amazon, Malaysia, Kenya, Morocco, and Venezuela, his dazzling photographs are accompanied by thoughtful text as he traces the insects' efforts to hide from or scare off their predators.In this charming and informative book: Explore the dangerous and little-known world of insects Experience exotic tropic tours Discover animal behavior in lively and understandable language Find out how a good disguise or a good impersonation can make the difference between life and death in the animal worldStunning color photographs reveal insect secrets that we would never get a chance to observe ourselves: such as a harmless moth that looks exactly like a stinging wasp or an inoffensive butterfly that's protected from predators because its coloring is almost identical to that of a highly poisonous variety.

    Once our ancestors could walk on two legs, they began to do many of the things that apes cannot do: cross wide open spaces, manipulate complex tools, communicate with new signal systems, and light fires. Titled after the last two words of Darwin's Descent of Man and written by a leading scholar of human evolution, Lowly Origin is the first book to explain the sources and consequences of bipedalism to a broad audience. Along the way, it accounts for recent fossil discoveries that show us a still incomplete but much bushier family tree than most of us learned about in school.Jonathan Kingdon uses the very latest findings from ecology, biogeography, and paleontology to build a new and up-to-date account of how four-legged apes became two-legged hominins. He describes what it took to get up onto two legs as well as the protracted consequences of that step--some of which led straight to modern humans and others to very different bipeds. This allows him to make sense of recently unearthed evidence suggesting that no fewer than twenty species of humans and hominins have lived and become extinct. Following the evolution of two-legged creatures from our earliest lowly forebears to the present, Kingdon concludes with future options for the last surviving biped.A major new narrative of human evolution, Lowly Origin is the best available account of what it meant--and what it means--to walk on two feet.

     The primary purpose of this book is to help people understand what makes Christianity so trustworthy. Many books are available on the scientific evidence for creation, but most are difficult to share due to the technical nature of the subject matter. This book is written to be enjoyed as a daily devotional, but can also serve as an easy-to-read resource on the physical evidence that our Creator exists. God’s desire is that the knowledge of what He has done through both the cross and creation is for everyone. We must not keep this knowledge to ourselves. The evidence that He is our Creator is so overwhelming and encouraging that it desperately needs to be shared in the world today. A Closer Look at the Evidence is designed to be an affordable resource to both reinforce our individual faith and facilitate sharing the reasons for this faith. Each page summarizes interesting facts about God and/or creation.  The reader is encouraged to find more extensive and detailed information through the sources listed at the bottom of each page.  Occasionally the source is quoted directly, but more often the material is summarized.  The book is a great resource for both individuals and classrooms, suitable for elementary through adult.

    It was thought that humans populated the world through a series of migratory waves from their African homeland. This book reveals the revolutionary theory about our origins.

    Based on his premise that humans are not in fact mature primates, but rather overgrown baby apes, Clive Bromhall proceeds to unlock many of the mysteries of human behaviour and to reassess our thinking on human nature, and the power of the child within.

    Now, in Deeper Than Darwin, he advances his argument further by saying that religious belief is even more revealing about life than Darwinism. Haught looks hard at the question of how, after Darwin, religions may plausibly claim to be bearers of truth and not just of meaning and adaptive consolation. While he assumes the fundamental correctness of evolutionary biology, he firmly rejects the non-scientific belief that evolutionary biology amounts to an adequate explanation of living phenomena. Even though Darwinism is illuminating, Haught argues, it by no means tells us everything we need to know about life, even in principle. To find the deepest, though certainly not the clearest, understandings of life and the universe, we may still profitably consult the religions of the world. Deeper Than Darwin takes up where God After Darwin left off, arguing that Darwin's vision is important and essentially correct but that we can still dig deeper in our understanding of what is going on in the life-story.

    In the nineteenth century his ideas about the history and diversity of life - including the evolutionary origin of humankind - contributed to major changes in the sciences, philosophy, social thought and religious belief. The Cambridge Companion to Darwin has established itself as an indispensable resource for anyone teaching or researching Darwin's theories and their historical and philosophical interpretations. Its distinguished team of contributors examines Darwin's main scientific ideas and their development; Darwin's science in the context of its times; the influence of Darwinian thought in recent philosophical, social and religious debate; and the importance of Darwinian thought for the future of naturalist philosophy. For this second edition, coverage has been expanded to include two new chapters: on Darwin, Hume and human nature, and on Darwin's theories in the intellectual long run, from the pre-Socratics to the present.

    As well as providing a guide to their own published research in this area they highlight what they see as the most relevant research of others. The authors come from a wide range of disciplines involved in language evolution including linguistics, cognitive science, computational science, primatology, and archaeology.

    

    Wells is also remembered as a leading political commentator of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This volume presents the worldview of Wells as developed between his student days at the Normal School of Science (1884-1887) and his death in 1946. During this time, Wells developed a unique political philosophy, grounded on the one hand in the theory of Ethical Evolution as propounded by his professor, T.H. Huxley, and on the other in late Victorian socialism. From this basis Wells developed a worldview which rejected class struggle and nationalism and embraced global co-operation for the maintenance of peace and the advancement of the human species in a world society. antagonistic to the nation state as a political unit during the carnage of World War I. He began moving away from the position of an internationalist to one of a cosmopolitan in 1916, and throughout the inter-war period he advanced the notion of regional and, ultimately, functional world government to a greater and greater extent. Wells first demonstrated a functionalist society in Men Like Gods (1923) and further elaborated this system of government in most of his works, both fictional and non-fictional, throughout the rest of his life. inception to fruition, this study argues that Wells's political thoughts rank him alongside David Mitrany as one of the two founders of the functionalist school of international relations, an acknowledgement hitherto denied to Wells by scholars of world-government theory.