With personal anecdotes, a well-written narrative, and clear examples, Human Natures is a major work of synthesis and scholarship as well as a valuable primer on genetics and evolution that makes complex scientific concepts accessible to lay readers.

    S. Ramachandran is at the forefront of his field-so much so that Richard Dawkins dubbed him the "Marco Polo of neuroscience." Now, in a major new work, Ramachandran sets his sights on the mystery of human uniqueness. Taking us to the frontiers of neurology, he reveals what baffling and extreme case studies can teach us about normal brain function and how it evolved. Synesthesia becomes a window into the brain mechanisms that make some of us more creative than others. And autism--for which Ramachandran opens a new direction for treatment--gives us a glimpse of the aspect of being human that we understand least: self-awareness. Ramachandran tackles the most exciting and controversial topics in neurology with a storyteller's eye for compelling case studies and a researcher's flair for new approaches to age-old questions. Tracing the strange links between neurology and behavior, this book unveils a wealth of clues into the deepest mysteries of the human brain.

    Offers a humanistic and cultural view of modern physics.

    Assuming the reader has little prior knowledge of the subject its importance, the principles of the techniques used and their applications are all carefully laid out, with over 250 clearly presented two-colour illustrations. In addition to a number of informative changes to the text throughout the book, the final four chapters have been significantly updated and extended to reflect the striking advances made in recent years in the applications of gene cloning and DNA analysis in biotechnology: Extended chapter on agriculture including new material on glyphosate resistant plantsNew section on the uses of gene cloning and PCR in archaeologyCoverage of ethical concerns relating to pharming, gene therapy and GM crops Gene Cloning and DNA Analysis remains an essential introductory text to a wide range of biological sciences students; including genetics and genomics, molecular biology, biochemistry, immunology and applied biology. It is also a perfect introductory text for any professional needing to learn the basics of the subject. All libraries in universities where medical, life and biological sciences are studied and taught should have copies available on their shelves. View the Gene Cloning and DNA Analysis webpage at www.blackwellpublishing.com/genecloning

    We’ll look at what identical twins can teach us about the epigenetic effects of our environment and experiences, why certain genes are 'switched on' or off at various stages of embryonic development, and how scientists have reversed the specialization of cells to clone frogs from a single gut cell. In Introducing Epigenetics, Cath Ennis and Oliver Pugh pull apart the double helix, examining how the epigenetic building blocks and messengers that interpret and edit our genes help to make us, well, us.

    This streamlined book is an excellent review for the larger text and an ideal primary text for health professions courses with brief coverage of anatomy.This edition features new full-color surface anatomy photographs and new diagnostic images. A new design makes the book visually appealing and easier to navigate.Accompanying the book is an Online Student Resource Center, which includes interactive clinical cases, USMLE-style review questions, and more.

    Created primarily for medical and premedical students, 'Neuroscience' emphasizes the structure of the nervous system, the correlation of structure and function, and the structure/function relationships particularly pertinent to the practice of medicine.

    But ask a physicist and there’s no doubt that James Clerk Maxwell will be near the top of the list.  Maxwell, an unassuming Victorian Scotsman, explained how we perceive colour. He uncovered the way gases behave. And, most significantly, he transformed the way physics was undertaken in his explanation of the interaction of electricity and magnetism, revealing the nature of light and laying the groundwork for everything from Einstein’s special relativity to modern electronics.   Along the way, he set up one of the most enduring challenges in physics, one that has taxed the best minds ever since. ‘Maxwell’s demon’ is a tiny but thoroughly disruptive thought experiment that suggests the second law of thermodynamics, the law that governs the flow of time itself, can be broken. This is the story of a groundbreaking scientist, a great contributor to our understanding of the way the world works, and his duplicitous demon.

    People unknowingly endanger or injure their brains, stress them by working at a frenzied pace and not getting enough sleep, pollute them with caffeine, alcohol, and drugs, and deprive them of proper nutrients. Brain dysfunction is the number one reason people fail at school, work, and relationships. The brain is the organ of learning, working, and loving—the supercomputer that runs our lives. It’s very simple: when our brains work right, we work right—and when our brains have trouble, we have trouble in our lives.Luckily, it’s never too late: the brain is capable of change, and when you care for it, the results are amazing. Making a Good Brain Great gives you the tools you need to optimize your brain power and enrich your health and your life in the process. The principles and exercises in this book, based on years of cutting-edge neuroscience research and the experiences of thousands of people, provide a wealth of practical information to teach you how to achieve the best brain possible. You will learn:•how to eat right to think right•how to protect your brain from injuries and toxic substances•how to nourish your brain with vitamins and do mental workouts to keep it strong•the critical component of physical exercise, and which kinds work best•how to rid your brain of negative thoughts, counteract stress, and much moreFull of encouraging anecdotes from Dr. Amen’s many years of experience, Making a Good Brain Great is a positive and practical road map for enriching and improving your own greatest asset—your brain.From the Hardcover edition.

    As researchers uncover new levels of astonishing complexity within the cell, they suddenly face a shocking conclusion: Darwin was wrong. This sophisticated complexity could not arise by change; it must have been designed.Darwinism Under the Microscope probes the exciting "Darwinism vs. Design" debate that is making headlines. It lays a scientific foundation for "divine design" and equips the reader to discuss the topic intelligently...even with professors!One of the book's contributing authors, biologist Michael Behe, has done revolutionary work on the cell's tiny molecular machines. His "evidence of design" in Darwin's Black Box triggered an ever-expanding global controversy. Using Darwin's own pass-fail test, Behe concludes:"Darwin's theory has absolutely broken down."Darwinism Under the Microscope explains the "breakdown" and provides the knowledge and skill to share this breaking news with the next generation.

    How to approach complex normal and abnormal behaviors through biology. How to integrate disciplines including sociobiology, ethology, neuroscience, and endocrinology to examine behaviors such as aggression, sexual behavior, language use, and mental illness.36 hours lectures

    Now there is a clear trail to the answer, and it leads through the dense jungle of quantum physics, Zen, and subjective experience, and arrives at an unexpected destination. In this tour-de-force of scientific investigation, Evan Harris Walker shows how the operation of bizarre yet actual properties of elementary particles support a new and exciting theory of reality, based on the principles of quantum physics-a theory that answers questions such as "What is the nature of consciousness, of will?" "What is the source of material reality?" and "What is God?"

    But things didn't turn out that way. For a start, we turned out to have far fewer genes than originally thought - just over 20,000, the same sort of number as a fruit fly or worm. What's more, the proportionof DNA consisting of genes coding for proteins was a mere 2%. So, was the rest of the genome accumulated 'junk'?Things have changed since those early heady days of the Human Genome Project. But the emerging picture is if anything far more exciting. In this book, John Parrington explains the key features that are coming to light - some, such as the results of the international ENCODE programme, still much debated and controversial in their scope. He gives an outline of the deeper genome, involving layers of regulatory elements controlling and coordinating the switching on and off of genes; the impact ofits 3D geometry; the discovery of a variety of new RNAs playing critical roles; the epigenetic changes influenced by the environment and life experiences that can make identical twins different and be passed on to the next generation; and the clues coming out of comparisons with the genomes ofNeanderthals as well as that of chimps about the development our species. We are learning more about ourselves, and about the genetic aspects of many diseases. But in its complexity, flexibility, and ability to respond to environmental cues, the human genome is proving to be far more subtle than we ever imagined.

    Written for both the casual reader and the science buff hungry for new information, The Vision Revolution is a resource that dispels commonly believed perceptions about sight and offers answers drawn from the field’s most recent research.Changizi focuses on four “why” questions:1. Why do we see in color?2. Why do our eyes face forward?3. Why do we see illusions?4. Why does reading come so naturally to us?Why Do We See in Color?It was commonly believed that color vision evolved to help our primitive ancestors identify ripe fruit. Changizi says we should look closer to home: ourselves. Human color vision evolved to give us greater insights into the mental states and health of other people. People who can see color changes in skin have an advantage over their color-blind counterparts; they can see when people are blushing with embarrassment, purple-faced with exertion or the reddening of rashes. Changizi’s research reveals that the cones in our eyes that allow us to see color are exquisitely designed exactly for seeing color changes in the skin. And it’s no coincidence that the primates with color vision are the ones with bare spots on their faces and other body parts; Changizi shows that the development of color vision in higher primates closely parallels the loss of facial hair, culminating in the near hairlessness and highly developed color vision of humans.Why Do Our Eyes Face Forward?Forward-facing eyes set us apart from most mammals, and there is much dispute as to why we have them. While some speculate that we evolved this feature to give us depth perception available through stereo vision, this type of vision only allows us to see short distances, and we already have other mechanisms that help us to estimate distance. Changizi’s research shows that with two forward-facing eyes, primates and humans have an x-ray ability. Specifically, we’re able to see through the cluttered leaves of the forest environment in which we evolved. This feature helps primates see their targets in a crowded, encroached environment. To see how this works, hold a finger in front of your eyes. You’ll find that you’re able to look “through” it, at what is beyond your finger. One of the most amazing feats of two forward-facing eyes? Our views aren’t blocked by our noses, beaks, etc.Why Do We See Illusions?We evolved to see moving objects, not where they are, but where they are going to be. Without this ability, we couldn’t catch a ball because the brain’s ability to process visual information isn’t fast enough to allow us to put our hands in the right place to intersect for a rapidly approaching baseball. “If our brains simply created a perception of the way the world was at the time light hit the eye, then by the time that perception was elicited—which takes about a tenth of a second for the brain to do—time would have marched on, and the perception would be of the recent past,” Changizi explains. Simply put, illusions occur when our brain is tricked into thinking that a stationary two-dimensional picture has an element that is moving. Our brains project the “moving” element into the future and, as a result, we don’t see what’s on the page, but what our brain thinks will be the case a fraction of a second into the future.Why Does Reading Come So Naturally to Us?We can read faster than we can hear, which is odd, considering that reading is relatively recent, and we’ve evolved to process speech for millions of years. Changizi’s research reveals that language has been carefully designed to tap in to elements of the visual processing center that have evolved for tens of millions of years. Visual signs of all languages are shaped like objects in nature, Changizi says, because we have evolved to see nature easily. “People have noticed letters in nature for some time, and there are artists who have a spent a lot of time photographing Latin letters in natural scenes or on butterfly wings,” Changizi says. “For example, if you look at an upper corner of the room you are in, you will see three contours meeting at a point, making a shape close to that of a ‘Y.’“ The Vision Revolution expands upon how our ancestors found the shapes of Latin letters and delves into how visual signs can have similar shapes even though their inspirations come from very different environments.In addition to these four areas, The Vision Revolution explores other phenomena such as cyclopses, peeking and many more you hadn’t even thought to wonder about. Changizi shows how deeply involved these evolutionary aspects of our vision are in why we see the way we do—and what the future holds for us.“…to understand how culture interacts with vision, one must understand not just the eye’s design, but the actual mechanisms we have evolved,” Changizi says, “for culture can tap in to both the designed responses of our brains and the unintended responses.”The Vision Revolution is a book that finally gives attention to what before has been largely neglected by other works on human vision—a book that looks at the “why.”

    Today, more than sixty years later, members of a new generation of scientists are attempting to create life from the ground up. Science has moved forward in leaps and bounds since Schrodinger's time, but our understanding of what does and does not constitute life has only grown more complex. An era that has already seen computer chip-implanted human brains, genetically engineered organisms, genetically modified foods, cloned mammals, and brain-dead humans kept alive by machines is one that demands fresh thinking about the concept of life. While a segment of our national debate remains stubbornly mired in moral quandaries over abortion, euthanasia, and other right to life issues, the science writer Ed Regis demonstrates how science can and does provide us with a detailed understanding of the nature of life. Written in a lively and accessible style, and synthesizing a wide range of contemporary research, What Is Life? is a brief and illuminating contribution to an age-old debate.