Book picks similar to
Intervention Theory by Lloyd Pye
luettu
biology
non-fiction
anthropology
How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog): Visionary Scientists and a Siberian Tale of Jump-Started Evolution
Lee Alan Dugatkin - 2016
But, despite appearances, these are not dogs—they are foxes. They are the result of the most astonishing experiment in breeding ever undertaken—imagine speeding up thousands of years of evolution into a few decades. In 1959, biologists Dmitri Belyaev and Lyudmila Trut set out to do just that, by starting with a few dozen silver foxes from fox farms in the USSR and attempting to recreate the evolution of wolves into dogs in real time in order to witness the process of domestication. This is the extraordinary, untold story of this remarkable undertaking. Most accounts of the natural evolution of wolves place it over a span of about 15,000 years, but within a decade, Belyaev and Trut’s fox breeding experiments had resulted in puppy-like foxes with floppy ears, piebald spots, and curly tails. Along with these physical changes came genetic and behavioral changes, as well. The foxes were bred using selection criteria for tameness, and with each generation, they became increasingly interested in human companionship. Trut has been there the whole time, and has been the lead scientist on this work since Belyaev’s death in 1985, and with Lee Dugatkin, biologist and science writer, she tells the story of the adventure, science, politics, and love behind it all. In How to Tame a Fox, Dugatkin and Trut take us inside this path-breaking experiment in the midst of the brutal winters of Siberia to reveal how scientific history is made and continues to be made today. To date, fifty-six generations of foxes have been domesticated, and we continue to learn significant lessons from them about the genetic and behavioral evolution of domesticated animals. How to Tame a Fox offers an incredible tale of scientists at work, while also celebrating the deep attachments that have brought humans and animals together throughout time.
Mutants: On Genetic Variety and the Human Body
Armand Marie Leroi - 2003
This elegant, humane, and engaging book "captures what we know of the development of what makes us human" (Nature).Visit Armand Marie Leroi on the web: http: //armandleroi.com/index.htmlStepping effortlessly from myth to cutting-edge science,
The Lobster Gangs of Maine
James M. Acheson - 1988
In reality, he writes, “the lobster fisherman is caught up in a thick and complex web of social relationships. Survival in the industry depends as much on the ability to manipulate social relationships as on technical skills.” Acheson replaces our romantic image of the lobsterman with descriptions of the highly territorial and hierarchical “harbor gangs,” daily and annual cycles of lobstering, intricacies of marketing the catch, and the challenge of managing a communal resource.
The Strange Case of the Rickety Cossack: and Other Cautionary Tales from Human Evolution
Ian Tattersall - 2015
Drawing partly on his own career—from young scientist in awe of his elders to crotchety elder statesman—Tattersall offers an idiosyncratic look at the competitive world of paleoanthropology, beginning with Charles Darwin 150 years ago, and continuing through the Leakey dynasty in Africa, and concluding with the latest astonishing findings in the Caucasus.The book's title refers to the 1856 discovery of a clearly very old skull cap in Germany's Neander Valley. The possessor had a brain as large as a modern human, but a heavy low braincase with a prominent brow ridge. Scientists tried hard to explain away the inconvenient possibility that this was not actually our direct relative. One extreme interpretation suggested that the preserved leg bones were curved by both rickets, and by a life on horseback. The pain of the unfortunate individual's affliction had caused him to chronically furrow his brow in agony, leading to the excessive development of bone above the eye sockets.The subsequent history of human evolutionary studies is full of similarly fanciful interpretations. With tact and humor, Tattersall concludes that we are not the perfected products of natural processes, but instead the result of substantial doses of random happenstance.
The Phoenix Lights
Lynne D. Kitei - 2004
Amber orbs in formation. It was a massive triangular array of lights moving silently but in unison as though they were connected. Many people throughout Phoenix and across the state of Arizona saw them.Optical illusion? Unlikely. Military aircraft? That's what the U.S. government wanted her to think. UFOs? That's what her evidence and subsequent years of careful research, interviews, and documentation, including photographic proof, strongly suggest. The result is The Phoenix Lights, a sober, well-researched account, both personal and scientific, of the story behind the lights, of the theories and cover-ups, the facts and denials that surrounded this event.Kitei, a well-respected Phoenix physician, had always thought of herself as grounded and practical, not one to be taken up with new age interests. But her firsthand experience and the undeniable reality of the photographs she took changed all that. She found herself a key insider in a complex mystery that has baffled humanity for centuries. What are UFOs? Who are the beings presumed to fly them? What do they want? How does it change your life to see one?The answers to these questions and more are found in The Phoenix Lights. Over the years since the sightings, she's become an ardent, tireless researcher into the truth of the Phoenix Lights and an advocate for public disclosure by the government about the subject of unexplained phenomena.
Why Evolution Is True
Jerry A. Coyne - 2008
In all the current highly publicized debates about creationism and its descendant "intelligent design," there is an element of the controversy that is rarely mentioned—the "evidence," the empirical truth of evolution by natural selection. Even Richard Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould, while extolling the beauty of evolution and examining case studies, have not focused on the evidence itself. Yet the proof is vast, varied, and magnificent, drawn from many different fields of science. Scientists are observing species splitting into two and are finding more and more fossils capturing change in the past—dinosaurs that have sprouted feathers, fish that have grown limbs. Why Evolution Is True weaves together the many threads of modern work in genetics, paleontology, geology, molecular biology, and anatomy that demonstrate the "indelible stamp" of the processes first proposed by Darwin. In crisp, lucid prose accessible to a wide audience, Why Evolution Is True dispels common misunderstandings and fears about evolution and clearly confirms that this amazing process of change has been firmly established as a scientific truth.
Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the Human Past
David Reich - 2018
Now, in The New Science of the Human Past, Reich describes just how the human genome provides not only all the information that a fertilized human egg needs to develop but also contains within it the history of our species. He delineates how the Genomic Revolution and ancient DNA are transforming our understanding of our own lineage as modern humans; how genomics deconstructs the idea that there are no biologically meaningful differences among human populations (though without adherence to pernicious racist hierarchies); and how DNA studies reveal the deep history of human inequality--among different populations, between the sexes, and among individuals within a population.
The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal
Jared Diamond - 1991
Now, faced with the threat of nuclear weapons and the effects of climate change, it seems our innate tendencies for violence and invention have led us to a crucial fork in our road. Where did these traits come from? Are they part of our species immutable destiny? Or is there hope for our species’ future if we change? With fascinating facts and his unparalleled readability, Diamond intended his book to improve the world that today’s young people will inherit. Triangle Square’s The Third Chimpanzee for Young People is a book for future generation and the future they’ll help build.
Min europeiska familj: De senaste 54 000 åren
Karin Bojs - 2015
As part of the healing process, she decided to use DNA research to learn more about herself, her family, and the interconnectedness of society. She went deep in search of her genealogy, having her DNA sequenced and tested, and effectively becoming an experimental subject. Remarkably, she was able to trace the path of her ancestors through recorded history and into prehistory. Through the course of her research, she met dozens of scientists working in genetic research. The narrative travels the length and breadth of Europe, from the Neanderthals of central Germany to the Cro-Magnon in France. Bojs visited the ancient caves, realizing that her direct ancestors must have been living in the area when the cave art was painted. A second DNA analysis later revealed she has Sami (i.e. Lapp) genetic material in her genome, and there were further revelations about her hunter-gatherer, Bronze-Age, and Iron-Age relatives, including the Vikings. This fresh, first-person exploration of genes and genetics goes well beyond personal genealogy and reveals much about the shared history of European peoples.
Beyond The Fray: Paramalgamation
Shannon LeGro - 2020
Michael Hopf; comes a collection of unexplained, nearly impossible to classify encounters with the strange, terrifying, and life-changing. Run-ins with goblins, creatures, and human-looking copies that don’t fit into a neat little box like Bigfoot or ghosts. This is a collection of some of the strangest and scariest stories ever told by the people who experienced them. Sit back, relax and we suggest you keep a light on.
Rusty Wilson's Montana Bigfoot Campfire Stories
Rusty Wilson - 2020
These all new stories are sure to make you want to hide deep in your sleeping bag if you’re brave enough to read them at night by headlamp while camped in one of the state’s beautiful campgrounds. And what just brushed against your tent? A wolf? Grizzly bear? Or was it something even bigger and more terrifying? Fly-fishing guide Rusty Wilson, known as the World's Greatest Bigfoot Storyteller, has spent years collecting these tales from his clients around the campfire, stories guaranteed to make sure you won‘t want to go out after dark. Come join a botanist in Glacier National Park who discovers a most unusual use for a mudpack, then watch a strange sight in the Sweet Grass Hills of northern Montana. Come along as a tow-truck driver tries to figure out why a tourist won’t abandon his car in the winter cold, then join a campground host as he faces his deepest fears. And if you survive all that, come along on an experiment in terror in a resort in the wilds. Next, join in the discovery of a very unusual find on a dinosaur dig in Montana’s badlands, then learn why it’s not a good idea to feed the wildlife, nor to harass them. Climb a tall peak with a filmmaker to discover a terrifying and dangerous sight that almost costs him his life, and finally, visit with a musician as he discovers the real meaning of an appreciative audience. You’ll want to be sure you’re not alone in the woods while reading these stories, or maybe even alone inside your house! Another great book from Rusty Wilson, Bigfoot expert and storyteller—tales for both the Bigfoot believer and those who just enjoy a good story.
The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature
Matt Ridley - 1993
The Red Queen answers dozens of other riddles of human nature and culture -- including why men propose marriage, the method behind our maddening notions of beauty, and the disquieting fact that a woman is more likely to conceive a child by an adulterous lover than by her husband. Brilliantly written, The Red Queen offers an extraordinary new way of interpreting the human condition and how it has evolved.
Cro-Magnon: How the Ice Age Gave Birth to the First Modern Humans
Brian M. Fagan - 2010
The prolonged encounter between the Cro-Magnons and the archaic Neanderthals and between 45,000 and 30,000 years ago was one of the defining moments of history. The Neanderthals survived for some 15,000 years in the face of the newcomers, but were finally pushed aside by the Cro-Magnons' vastly superior intellectual abilities and cutting-edge technologies, which allowed them to thrive in the intensely challenging climate of the Ice Age.What do we know about this remarkable takeover? Who were the first modern Europeans and what were they like? How did they manage to thrive in such an extreme environment? And what legacy did they leave behind them after the cold millennia? The age of the Cro-Magnons lasted some 30,000 years?longer than all of recorded history. Cro-Magnon is the story of a little known, yet seminal, chapter of human experience.
SASQUATCH! Reports From the Field: Encounters Across North America
Gary Swanson - 2019
Reclusive as these animals are, they do resemble humans in several ways; their appearance is “humanoid” and there is evidence they have family units and a hierarchy of command not unlike humans. They ask nothing from us, and they infrequently take anything from man! This volume of Sasquatch sightings and encounters span North America; from British Columbia, to our Eastern and Southern states; Pennsylvania, Maine and North Carolina, and then to the western part of the United States; including Colorado, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Northern California and Washington state. Our friends at The Sasquatch Outpost in Bailey, Colorado are featured in this book because not only have they brought us contributors of Colorado Bigfoot sightings, they have been dedicated to researching the Sasquatch and preserving evidence of Bigfoot. Their museum, “The Sasquatch Encounter Discovery Museum” provides a great learning tool for those who have never had a Sasquatch experience or would just like to learn more. Our many thanks to Jim and Daphne Myers at The Sasquatch Outpost for their support and their dedication to protecting North America’s endangered indigenous species of Bigfoot! Since these mysterious beings have convinced vast numbers of us of their existence, and also of their desire to live peaceably, we have the same goal. Thank you for your courtesy in observing and enjoying the realization that there are some things that man has not yet destroyed! We have taken great care to guarantee the privacy of every submitter, and due to having proven our confidentiality, more stories have arrived and are in this fifth volume; “SASQUATCH! Reports from the Field.” We try to do verification of the stories we accept, and although we cannot guarantee the validity of any submissions, we use due diligence to interview those whose story seems to be outside what the majority have established as the “norm;” if there could be one. Although our personal experiences with Bigfoot are limited to only a few instances, as we are always accompanied by two curious and noisy dogs; we have interviewed enough people from all walks of life, many with highly respected credentials that we must believe that Sasquatch lives!
Paleofantasy: What Evolution Really Tells Us about Sex, Diet, and How We Live
Marlene Zuk - 2013
Contrary to what the glossy magazines would have us believe, we do not enjoy potato chips because they crunch just like the insects our forebears snacked on. As Zuk argues, such beliefs incorrectly assume that we’re stuck—finished evolving—and have been for tens of thousands of years. She draws on fascinating evidence that examines everything from adults’ ability to drink milk to the texture of our ear wax to show that we’ve actually never stopped evolving. Our nostalgic visions of an ideal evolutionary past in which we ate, lived, and reproduced as we were “meant to” fail to recognize that we were never perfectly suited to our environment. Evolution is about change, and every organism is full of trade-offs.From debunking the caveman diet to unraveling gender stereotypes, Zuk gives an analysis of widespread paleofantasies and the scientific evidence that undermines them, all the while broadening our understanding of our origins and what they can really tell us about our present and our future.