The author of The Lives of a Cell and The Medusa and the Snail now raises challenging questions about some of the major issues of our time—AIDS, drug abuse, and aging.With extraordinary perception, author Lewis Thomas discusses topics such as evolutionary biology, the development of language, the therapeutic aspects of medicine, and his love for his profession.

    

    He spent two years gathering information that demonstrates this and along the way interviewed more than a hundred experts in a number of different fields. Among them were parapsychologists, medical doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists, quantum physicists, and researchers into the true nature of reality. Specific examples are presented that indicate what happens when we die, for example that memories can be formed and retained despite a subject’s brain having been shutdown and the blood drained from it. Questions such as whether or not you will be able to communicate with living loved ones after death are addressed, if it is possible to be reborn, and what might be missing from reproductive theory to explain the various phenomena indicated in the many case histories and scientific investigations presented. All of us will someday cross the border to what Shakespeare called "The undiscovered country." As long as we must make that trip, wouldn’t it be smart to find out where we are going and what to expect when we get there?

    In Feral Cities, Tristan Donovan digs below the urban gloss to uncover the wild creatures that we share our streets and homes with, and profiles the brave and fascinating people who try to manage them. Along the way readers will meet the wall-eating snails that are invading Miami, the boars that roam Berlin, and the monkey gangs of Cape Town. From feral chickens and carpet-roaming bugs to coyotes hanging out in sandwich shops and birds crashing into skyscrapers, Feral Cities takes readers on a journey through streets and neighborhoods that are far more alive than we often realize, shows how animals are adjusting to urban living, and asks what messages the wildlife in our metropolises have for us.

    Pulitzer Prize–winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee, a leading cancer physician and researcher, selects the year’s top science and nature writing from journalists who dive into their fields with curiosity and passion, delivering must-read articles from a wide array of fields.

    Notable is the inclusion, for the first time, of four-colour photographs and illustrations throughout. Like previous editions, the book shows how evolutionary biologists analyze all aspects of behaviour.

    This distinctive text was developed to stand apart from all other A&P texts with unparalleled art, a writing style that has been acclaimed by both users and reviewers and clinical coverage that offers the perfect balance without being too much. Saladin's well-accepted organization of topics is based upon the most logical physiological ties between body systems. This text requires no prior knowledge of college chemistry or cell biology, and is designed for a two-semester A&P college course.

    

    This book provides the first complete identification guides to the birds of this teeming tropical paradise. It gives descriptions of 820 regional species, illustrated in 88 specially commissioned color plates accompanied by notes detailing distinctive features and habitats. Entries cover nomenclature, plumage, markings, voice, global range, distribution and regional status, habits, and diet. The main text gives practical information on where to find many exotic species, citing major birdwatching locations. Introductory chapters discuss habitats, climate, land-use, and conservation concerns. Professional ornithologists and amateur bird watchers alike will find this the indispensable bird guide for eastern Malaysia and western Indonesia for many years to come. It is also an unrivalled source of information for casual travellers and ecotourists.

    In recent years, opponents of "Darwin’s dangerous idea" have mounted history’s most sophisticated and generously funded attack, claiming that evolution is "a theory in crisis." Ironically, these claims are being made at a time when the explosion of information from genome projects has revealed the most compelling and overwhelming evidence of evolution ever discovered. Much of the latest evidence of human evolution comes not from our genes, but from so-called "junk DNA," leftover relics of our evolutionary history that make up the vast majority of our DNA. Relics of Eden explores this powerful DNA-based evidence of human evolution. The "relics" are the millions of functionally useless but scientifically informative remnants of our evolutionary ancestry trapped in the DNA of every person on the planet. For example, the analysis of the chimpanzee and Rhesus monkey genomes shows indisputable evidence of the human evolutionary relationship with other primates. Over 95 percent of our genome is identical with that of chimpanzees and we also have a good deal in common with other animal species. Author Daniel J. Fairbanks also discusses what DNA analysis reveals about where humans originated. The diversity of DNA sequences repeatedly confirms the archeological evidence that humans originated in sub-Saharan Africa (the "Eden" of the title) and from there migrated through the Middle East and Asia to Europe, Australia, and the Americas. In conclusion, Fairbanks confronts the supposed dichotomy between evolution and religion, arguing that both science and religion are complementary ways to seek truth. He appeals to the vast majority of Americans who hold religious convictions not to be fooled by the pseudoscience of Creationists and Intelligent Design advocates and to abandon the false dichotomy between religion and real science. This concise, very readable presentation of recent genetic research is completely accessible to the nonspecialist and makes for enlightening and fascinating reading.

    Fascinating... may presage a paradigm shift in medicine." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Teeming with information and big ideas... Outstanding."--Booklist (starred review) The origin of asthma, autism, Alzheimer's, allergies, cancer, heart disease, obesity, and even some kinds of depression is now clear. Award-winning researcher on the microbiome, professor Rodney Dietert presents a new paradigm in human biology that has emerged in the midst of the ongoing global epidemic of noncommunicable diseases.The Human Superorganism makes a sweeping, paradigm-shifting argument. It demolishes two fundamental beliefs that have blinkered all medical thinking until very recently: 1) Humans are better off as pure organisms free of foreign microbes; and 2) the human genome is the key to future medical advances. The microorganisms that we have sought to eliminate have been there for centuries supporting our ancestors. They comprise as much as 90 percent of the cells in and on our bodies--a staggering percentage! More than a thousand species of them live inside us, on our skin, and on our very eyelashes. Yet we have now significantly reduced their power and in doing so have sparked an epidemic of noncommunicable diseases--which now account for 63 percent of all human deaths.Ultimately, this book is not just about microbes; it is about a different way to view humans. The story that Dietert tells of where the new biology comes from, how it works, and the ways in which it affects your life is fascinating, authoritative, and revolutionary. Dietert identifies foods that best serve you, the superorganism; not new fad foods but ancient foods that have made sense for millennia. He explains protective measures against unsafe chemicals and drugs. He offers an empowering self-care guide and the blueprint for a revolution in public health. We are not what we have been taught. Each of us is a superorganism. The best path to a healthy life is through recognizing that profound truth.

    Fascinating facts abound: the Druids believed that only the wood of the yew tree was fit to make wands; a Ukrainian tonic of birch leaves contains the same healing properties as aspirin. A visually stunning and engaging guide, The Meaning of Trees is a fitting tribute to this most majestic of natural wonders. 8.60 inches tall x 0.80 inches long x 8.60 inches wide

    . . are you ready for Disinformation's look at the world of sex?Master anthologizer Russ Kick has immersed himself in the many and varied worlds of sex writing, producing a definitive collection exposing reality that's way, way stranger than XXX fiction. Profiled in The New York Times as an "information archaeologist," Russ digs where others would not think to look for delicious details on the present, past, and future of sex, including:The firstever look at the FBI's porn collection (the Obscene Reference File), complete with reproduced documentsFAA reports about people having sex on commercial flights--the socalled "milehigh club"A look at brilliant, kinky, and scarce sexzines, such as Frighten the Horses, Taste of Latex, Future Sex, and Pucker Up, as well as Sexology, published by Hugo Gernsback, the father of science fictionThe forgotten sex books of Charles Atlas ("Hey, quit kicking sand in our faces, you bully!")This massive, oversized anthology features a panoply of sexperts, everyone from prostitutes to professors, legends to newcomers, sexual revolutionaries to sexologists and beyond, providing a varied and unexpected look at sex, challenging our notions of what is possible and in turn exciting, enervating, frightening, and freaking us out.

    Although molecular topics are presented first, instructors can assign the chapters in any sequence. Pedagogical features such as chapter-opening “Key Questions” and strategically placed “Keynotes” help readers to efficiently master genetic concepts. The Genetics Place Companion Website contains interactive iActivities and narrated animations that help readers visualize and understand processes and concepts that are illustrated in the book. Genetics: An Introduction, DNA: The Genetic Material, DNA Replication, Gene Control of Proteins, Gene Expression: Transcription,Gene Expression: Translation, DNA Mutation, DNA Repair, and Transposable Elements, Structural Genomics, Functional and Comparative Genomics, Recombinant DNA Technology, Mendelian Genetics, Chromosomal Basis of Inheritance, Extensions of and Deviations from Mendelian Genetic Principles, Genetic Mapping in Eukaryotes, Genetics of Bacteria and Bacteriophages, Variations in Chromosome Structure and Number, Regulation of Gene Expression in Bacteria and Bacteriophages, Regulation of Gene Expression in Eukaryotes, Genetic Analysis of Development, Genetics of Cancer, Quantitative Genetics, Population Genetics, Molecular Evolution Intended for those interested in learning the basics of genetics

    Children are interested in things like where do certain animal come from and where does the rain come from. Children are also interested in the sky and how far away it is from the ground. Nature will also teach children how animals and insects get their food. This will force children to paint a picture of this in their mind. This picture will become real to children of all ages.