Book picks similar to
Living wonders: mysteries and curiosities of the animal world by John Michell
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wanted-audio
cryptozoology
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Newton's Gift: How Sir Isaac Newton Unlocked the System of the World
David Berlinski - 2000
Despite this, he has remained inaccessible to most modern readers, indisputably great but undeniably remote. In this witty, engaging, and often moving examination of Newton's life, David Berlinski recovers the man behind the mathematical breakthroughs. The story carries the reader from Newton's unremarkable childhood to his awkward undergraduate days at Cambridge through the astonishing year in which, working alone, he laid the foundation for his system of the world, his Principia Mathematica, and to the subsequent monumental feuds that poisoned his soul and wearied his supporters. An edifying appreciation of Newton's greatest accomplishment, Newton's Gift is also a touching celebration of a transcendent man.
The Lost Whale: The True Story of an Orca Named Luna
Michael Parfit - 2013
Like humans, orcas are highly social and depend on their families, but Luna found himself desperately alone. So he tried to make contact with people. He begged for attention at boats and docks. He looked soulfully into people's eyes. He wanted to have his tongue rubbed. When someone whistled at him, he squeaked and whistled back. People fell in love with him, but the government decided that being friendly with Luna was bad for him, and tried to keep him away from humans. Policemen arrested people for rubbing Luna's nose. Fines were levied. Undaunted, Luna refused to give up his search for connection and people went out to meet him, like smugglers carrying friendship through the dark. But does friendship work between species? People who loved Luna couldn't agree on how to help him. Conflict came to Nootka Sound. The government built a huge net. The First Nations' members brought out their canoes. Nothing went as planned, and the ensuing events caught everyone by surprise and challenged the very nature of that special and mysterious bond we humans call friendship. The Lost Whale celebrates the life of a smart, friendly, determined, transcendent being from the sea who appeared among us like a promise out of the blue: that the greatest secrets in life are still to be discovered.
The New Noah
Gerald Durrell - 1955
Each animal in his menagerie exhibits such curious habits and eccentricities. There was Cholmondely the chimpanzee, for example, who was 'king' of the collection, liked a good cigarette and his tea not too hot, but had a horror of snakes! Cuthbert the curassow loved to collapse across people's feet when they weren't looking.Gerald Durrell describes not only the capture of these rare and exotic animals in Africa and South America, but also the problems of caging and feeding them. Footle, the moustached monkey, insisted on nose-diving into his milk, while the Kusimanses - nicknamed the Bandits - found Durrell's toes the most delectable thing in camp!
Thylacine: The Tragic Tale of the Tasmanian Tiger
David Owen - 2003
But was it a savage sheep killer or a shy, fussy, nocturnal feeder? And did it really drink its victims' blood? Once reviled, feared and slaughtered by government decree, the myth of the Tasmanian Tiger continues to grow. So treasured is it now, the Tasmanian Tiger has become the official logo of the island that wiped it out and a symbol of the conservation movement world-wide.A number of Australian species have miraculously reappeared after being labelled as extinct. Perhaps the Tiger is still with us. And if it's not, can it be brought back by cloning?
Textbook of Biochemistry with Clinical Correlations
Thomas M. Devlin - 1982
Devlin's Textbook of Biochemistry with Clinical Correlations presents the biochemistry of mammalian cells, relates events at a cellular level to the subsequent physiological processes in the whole animal, and cites examples of human diseases derived from aberrant biochemical processes. The organization and content are tied together to provide students with the complete picture of biochemistry and how it relates to humans. Loaded with new material and chapters and brimming with detailed, full-color illustrations that clearly explain associated concepts, this sixth edition is an indispensable tool for students and professionals in the medical or health sciences. Key Features of the Sixth Edition Over 250 Clinical Correlations highlighting the significance of the biochemistry to clinical conditions and diseases MCAT-Style Questions with annontated answers in every chapter - in a format similar to that used by the National Board of Medical Examiners More than 1,200 high-quality, full-color illustrations A concise appendix reviewing important Organic Chemistry Concepts New to the Sixth Edition: Fully Updated with a significant revision of all chapters and major topics Two new chapters: Fundamentals of Signal Transduction and Cell Cycle, Programmed Cell Death, and Cancer A Glossary that explains important biochemical terms New sections on the Basal Lamina Protein Complex and Molecular Motors
The Divine Life of Animals: One Man's Quest to Discover Whether the Souls of Animals Live On
Ptolemy Tompkins - 2010
Do animals survive the death of the body, or are they doomed to disappear completely when they leave this world behind? Both scientists and religious authorities have long scoffed at the idea of animals in heaven. Yet the question endures. In this wise, immensely readable book, Ptolemy Tompkins embarks on a quest for the answer—taking us on a top-speed tour of the history of the animal soul. Equally at home with mainstream and alternative spiritual philosophies, Tompkins takes us from the savannas of Africa to the earth’s first cities to the early days of the great faith traditions of both East and West. Along the way, he shows that, despite what many of us have been taught, the world’s various spiritual traditions all have profoundly meaningful things to say about the animal soul, if we simply know where to look. Rescuing these ancient insights and blending them with vivid stories about animals today—from a dwarf rabbit named Angus to a manatee named Moose to a black bear named Little Bit—The Divine Life of Animals paints a gloriously inclusive picture of the cosmos as a place made up of both matter and spirit, in which animals are every bit as important, spiritually speaking, as the humans with whom they share the world. Though it is startlingly original, The Divine Life of Animals also feels strangely and instantly familiar, for it reveals truths that many of us have held in our hearts already, waiting only for someone to give fresh voice to one of the oldest and most trustworthy intuitions we possess. The Divine Life of Animals offers a compelling and timeless vision of the relationship between humans and animals that will have you looking at the animals in your life with new eyes.From the Hardcover edition.
Dog Language
Roger Abrantes - 1997
Ethologist Roger Abrantes has built his career on helping professionals and lay persons understand dogs.
Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose: Natural History in Early America
Lee Alan Dugatkin - 2009
Chief among these naysayers was the French Count and world-renowned naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon, who wrote that the flora and fauna of America (humans included) were inferior to European specimens.
Thomas Jefferson—author of the Declaration of Independence, U.S. president, and ardent naturalist—spent years countering the French conception of American degeneracy. His Notes on Virginia systematically and scientifically dismantled Buffon’s case through a series of tables and equally compelling writing on the nature of his home state. But the book did little to counter the arrogance of the French and hardly satisfied Jefferson’s quest to demonstrate that his young nation was every bit the equal of a well-established Europe. Enter the giant moose.
The American moose, which Jefferson claimed was so enormous a European reindeer could walk under it, became the cornerstone of his defense. Convinced that the sight of such a magnificent beast would cause Buffon to revise his claims, Jefferson had the remains of a seven-foot ungulate shipped first class from New Hampshire to Paris. Unfortunately, Buffon died before he could make any revisions to his Histoire Naturelle, but the legend of the moose makes for a fascinating tale about Jefferson’s passion to prove that American nature deserved prestige.
In Mr. Jefferson and the Giant Moose, Lee Alan Dugatkin vividly recreates the origin and evolution of the debates about natural history in America and, in so doing, returns the prize moose to its rightful place in American history.
Sex on Six Legs: Lessons on Life, Love, and Language from the Insect World
Marlene Zuk - 2011
They are capable of incredibly complex behavior, even with brains often the size of a poppy seed. How do they accomplish feats that look like human activity— personality, language, childcare—with completely different pathways from our own? What is going on inside the mind of those ants that march like boot-camp graduates across your kitchen floor? How does the lead ant know exactly where to take her colony, to that one bread crumb that your nightly sweep missed? Can insects be taught new skills as easily as your new puppy? Sex on Six Legs is a startling and exciting book that provides answers to these questions and many more. With the humor of Olivia Judson’s Dr. Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation, Zuk not only examines the bedroom lives of creepy crawlies but also calls into question some of our own longheld assumptions about learning, the nature of personality, and what our own large brains might be for.
Stepping Stones: A Journey Through The Ice Age Caves Of The Dordogne
Christine Desdemaines-Hugon - 2010
A rapturous guide through five major Ice Age sites” (Archaeology). The cave art of France’s Dordogne region is world-famous for the mythology and beauty of its remarkable drawings and paintings. These ancient images of lively bison, horses, and mammoths, as well as symbols of all kinds, are fascinating touchstones in the development of human culture, demonstrating how far humankind has come and reminding us of the ties that bind us across the ages. Over more than twenty-five years of teaching and research, Christine Desdemaines-Hugon has become an unrivaled expert in the cave art and artists of the Dordogne region. In Stepping-Stones she combines her expertise in both art and archaeology to convey an intimate understanding of the “cave experience.” Her keen insights communicate not only the incomparable artistic value of these works but also the near-spiritual impact of viewing them for oneself. Focusing on five fascinating sites, including the famed Font de Gaume and others that still remain open to the public, this book reveals striking similarities between art forms of the Paleolithic and works of modern artists and gives us a unique pathway toward understanding the culture of the Dordogne Paleolithic peoples and how it still touches our lives today. “Her vivid descriptions help readers visualize the Cro-Magnon man or woman painting the beautiful bison, horses, mammoths, and other symbols. [A] fine reading experience.” —Library Journal
Sight Unseen: Science, UFO Invisibility & Transgenic Beings
Budd Hopkins - 2003
In Sight Unseen, Budd Hopkins and coauthor Carol Rainey show how fascinating discoveries in modern science support the plausibility of the UFO phenomenon. Featuring sixteen never-before-published cases, Sight Unseen probes two newly uncovered patterns in alien abduction: cases of UFO "invisibility" and reports of genetically altered alien beings who interact with humans during their routine lives. The "invisibility" accounts detailed by Hopkins include numerous daylight abductions in densely populated urban areas -- all apparently unseen and accomplished through a technology of invisibility.
Two air force non-coms are snatched from the tarmac of a busy military airfield.
An Australian family is levitated up into a hovering craft while the father remains paralyzed on the ground with a camera to his eye. The resulting evidence on film is discussed in terms of our own scientific advances. In the second series of cases, abductees report encounters with beings who appear human but apparently possess paranormal powers and stunted emotional ranges.
Three young women, unknown to each other, are mysteriously summoned to "job interviews." In ordinary office settings, they encounter human-looking beings who lead them into baffling UFO abduction experiences.
A Wisconsin farmer meets "Damoe," a man with odd behavior who closely resembles his son. Damoe eventually reveals himself as an accomplice of UFO occupants in a startling abduction of the farmer and his wife. Five-year-old Jen is abducted at night to a nearby playground. There she must teach the techniques and skills of "play" to twelve seemingly identical, quasi-human children. Along with these bizarre, first-person stories told by credible people, Hopkins and Rainey explore cutting-edge advances in our own technologies and scientific theories that show how these new UFO patterns could have a concrete basis in contemporary science. Included are an examination of cloaking devices for aircraft, mind-control technologies, and teleportation achieved in the lab. Perhaps the most compelling argument to support these cases lies in the startling and controversial new science of transgenics that actually allows for the creation of alien/human beings.
Breakfast is a Dangerous Meal: Why You Should Ditch Your Morning Meal For Health and Wellbeing
Terence Kealey - 2016
We have long been told to breakfast like kings and dine like paupers. In the wake of his own type 2 diabetes diagnosis, Professor Terence Kealey was given the same advice. He soon noticed that his glucose levels were unusually high after eating in the morning, but if he fasted until lunchtime they fell. Professor Kealey began to question how much evidence there was to support the advice he’d been given, and whether there might be an advantage to not eating breakfast after all.Breakfast is a Dangerous Meal asks:What is the reliable scientific and medical evidence for eating breakfast?Who should consider intermittent fasting by removing breakfast from their daily routine?From weight loss to reduced blood pressure, what are the potential benefits of missing breakfast?
The Life of the Spider
Jean-Henri Fabre - 2008
Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.
Quantum Physics for Beginners: From Wave Theory to Quantum Computing. Understanding How Everything Works by a Simplified Explanation of Quantum Physics and Mechanics Principles
Carl J. Pratt - 2021