|
|
|
The Buzz about Bees: Biology of a Superorganism
With spectacularly beautiful colour photographs and an easy understandable text The Buzz about Bees tells the story of honeybees in a new perspective Based on the latest data, notably from his own research group, Jürgen Tautz provides a wonderful insight into the realms of bees. In contrast to the view of bee colonies as perfect societies of selfless individuals ruled by a queen, Tautz introduces them as a "superorganism", a self organizing and complex adaptive system based on a network of communication; a fascinating result of evolution, a mammal in several bodies. The entire range of astonishing bee activities is described. Remarkable action photographs never shown before present bees busy with cell cleaning, caring for the brood, serving in the queen's court, visiting flowers, receiving nectar, producing honey, comb building, entrance guarding, heating and cooling. Spotlights include bees grooming, swarming, fighting, telephoning, sleeping and communicating by high-toned beeping, scents and dances..
Price: $31.86
[Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Stealth Germs in Your Body: How Hidden Infectious Organisms Can Jeopardize Your Health
Would you have suspected that your stomach ulcer was due to bacteria, or that a viral infection causes cervical cancer? Faced with mounting evidence that “stealth germs”—smoldering chronic infections in the body (some treatable or even preventable)—are at the root of numerous health problems, Dr. Erno Daniel provides the first-ever medical reference book on the subject for the general public. Dr. Daniel is a recognized expert in the field who specializes in diagnosing such illnesses, so he has both the scientific background and illuminating case studies to offer. Organized by type of germ and where in the body each manifests itself, this invaluable guide will help patients overcome their lack of medical awareness; understand the variable ways individuals react to such infections; and navigate the complexities of physician-patient communication about multiple symptoms. It’s all done with an important life-saving goal in mind: helping people know more so they can get an accurate diagnosis of their ailments and get the treatment they need. Weaving cutting-edge scientific research together with a fascinating history of infectious disease and practical guidelines for collaborating with your doctor to avoid misdiagnosis, Stealth Germs is that rare health book that’s also a fascinating reference. Readers will turn to it again and again for valuable insight. .
Price: $11.00
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Intelligence in Nature
Continuing the journey begun in his acclaimed book The Cosmic Serpent, the noted anthropologist ventures firsthand into both traditional cultures and the most up-todate discoveries of contemporary science to determine nature's secret ways of knowing. Anthropologist Jeremy Narby has altered how we understand the Shamanic cultures and traditions that have undergone a worldwide revival in recent years. Now, in one of his most extraordinary journeys, Narby travels the globe-from the Amazon Basin to the Far East-to probe what traditional healers and pioneering researchers understand about the intelligence present in all forms of life. Intelligence in Nature presents overwhelming illustrative evidence that independent intelligence is not unique to humanity alone. Indeed, bacteria, plants, animals, and other forms of nonhuman life display an uncanny penchant for self-deterministic decisions, patterns, and actions. Narby presents the first in-depth anthropological study of this concept in the West. He not only uncovers a mysterious thread of intelligent behavior within the natural world but also probes the question of what humanity can learn from nature's economy and knowingness in its own search for a saner and more sustainable way of life..
Price: $2.79
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Introductory Biomechanics: From Cells to Organisms (Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering) (Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering)
Introductory Biomechanics is a new, integrated text written specifically for engineering students. It provides a broad overview of this important branch of the rapidly growing field of bioengineering. A wide selection of topics is presented, ranging from the mechanics of single cells to the dynamics of human movement. No prior biological knowledge is assumed and in each chapter, the relevant anatomy and physiology are first described. The biological system is then analyzed from a mechanical viewpoint by reducing it to its essential elements, using the laws of mechanics and then tying mechanical insights back to biological function. This integrated approach provides students with a deeper understanding of both the mechanics and the biology than from qualitative study alone. The text is supported by a wealth of illustrations, tables and examples, a large selection of suitable problems and hundreds of current references, making it an essential textbook for any biomechanics course. C. Ross Ethier is a professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, the Canada Research Chair in Computational Mechanics, and the Director of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto, with cross-appointment to the Department of Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences. His research focuses on biomechanical factors in glaucoma and blood flow and mass transfer in the large arteries. He has taught biomechanics for over ten years. Craig A. Simmons is the Canada Research Chair in Mechanobiology and an assistant professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, with cross-appointments to the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and the Faculty of Dentistry. His research interests include cell and tissue biomechanics and cell mechanobiology, particularly as it relates to tissue engineering and heart valve disease..
Price: $15.00
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Twilight of the Mammoths:: Ice Age Extinctions and the Rewilding of America (Organisms and Environments)
As recently as 11,000 years ago--"near time" to geologists--mammoths, mastodons, gomphotheres, ground sloths, giant armadillos, native camels and horses, the dire wolf, and many other large mammals roamed North America In what has become one of science's greatest riddles, these large animals vanished in North and South America around the time humans arrived at the end of the last great ice age. Part paleontological adventure and part memoir, Twilight of the Mammoths presents in detail internationally renowned paleoecologist Paul Martin's widely discussed and debated "overkill" hypothesis to explain these mysterious megafauna extinctions. Taking us from Rampart Cave in the Grand Canyon, where he finds himself "chest deep in sloth dung," to other important fossil sites in Arizona and Chile, Martin's engaging book, written for a wide audience, uncovers our rich evolutionary legacy and shows why he has come to believe that the earliest Americans literally hunted these animals to death. As he discusses the discoveries that brought him to this hypothesis, Martin relates many colorful stories and gives a rich overview of the field of paleontology as well as his own fascinating career. He explores the ramifications of the overkill hypothesis for similar extinctions worldwide and examines other explanations for the extinctions, including climate change. Martin's visionary thinking about our missing megafauna offers inspiration and a challenge for today's conservation efforts as he speculates on what we might do to remedy this situation--both in our thinking about what is "natural" and in the natural world itself..
Price: $10.25
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Encyclopedia of the Sea
From one of the world's leading experts on the sea comes this ocean-sized compendium of aquatic life and lore. Richard Ellis--who is also recognized as America's foremost painter of marine subjects--gives us a masterful synthesis of years of investigation and tens of thousands of disparate sources. The result is the first comprehensive, fully illustrated, and highly readable reference on almost everything that is known about the sea. Ellis's research has taken him all over the world--from Nantucket to Patagonia, from Newfoundland to New Zealand. Now he leads us on a great journey: from the amazing diversity of the creatures of the oceans to the birds who inhabit the skies above them; from the little-known realms of marine geography to the men and women who have bravely explored them; from the fabulous legends the sea has inspired through the ages to the intriguing evolution of the tools of nautical navigation. With more than 450 of the author's own drawings and paintings accompanying the text, Ellis reveals the many wonders of the oceans--abalone, zooxanthellae, and everything in between. We learn about the peculiar behavior of Vampyroteuthis infernalis (the "vampire squid from hell") and about Mocha Dick, the real sperm whale that may have inspired Melville's Moby-Dick; where the crown-of-thorns starfish gets its name and how the rare coelacanth, cousin to a species extinct for 70 million years--and one of the most mispronounced fish in the sea--was rediscovered. We visit lovely and exotic locations from Venice to Ni'ihau (Hawaii's "forbidden isle"), and consider both the fearsome kraken (a mythical sea monster often seen by Scandinavian clergymen) and the notorious real-life pirate Captain Kidd (whose hidden treasure was never found). Exhaustive, concise, and entertaining, the Encyclopedia of the Sea is invaluable as an all-inclusive, one-volume source for anyone interested in the sea, its inhabitants, and man's exploration of its mysteries..
Price: $20.85
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
The Triple Helix: Gene, Organism, and Environment
One of our most brilliant evolutionary biologists, Richard Lewontin has also been a leading critic of those--scientists and non-scientists alike--who would misuse the science to which he has contributed so much. In The Triple Helix, Lewontin the scientist and Lewontin the critic come together to provide a concise, accessible account of what his work has taught him about biology and about its relevance to human affairs. In the process, he exposes some of the common and troubling misconceptions that misdirect and stall our understanding of biology and evolution. The central message of this book is that we will never fully understand living things if we continue to think of genes, organisms, and environments as separate entities, each with its distinct role to play in the history and operation of organic processes. Here Lewontin shows that an organism is a unique consequence of both genes and environment, of both internal and external features. Rejecting the notion that genes determine the organism, which then adapts to the environment, he explains that organisms, influenced in their development by their circumstances, in turn create, modify, and choose the environment in which they live. The Triple Helix is vintage Lewontin: brilliant, eloquent, passionate, and deeply critical. But it is neither a manifesto for a radical new methodology nor a brief for a new theory. It is instead a primer on the complexity of biological processes, a reminder to all of us that living things are never as simple as they may seem..
Price: $11.99
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
The Rainbow and the Worm: The Physics of Organisms
This unusual book is a serious, in-depth enquiry into Schrodinger's question, "What is Life?" and at the same time, a celebration of life itself. It takes the reader on a voyage of discovery through many areas of contemporary physics from non-equilibrium thermodynamics to quantum optics, all necessary to illuminate the problem of life. In the process, the reader is treated to a rare and exquisite view of the organism, gaining novel insights, not only into the physics, but also "the poetry and meaning of being alive". It is intended for all who love the subject..
Price: $26.99
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
Singing Whales and Flying Squid: The Discovery of Marine Life
Two-thirds of this planet is covered by water inhabited by an incredible variety of living organisms, ranging in size from microbe to whale, and in abundance from scarce to uncountable. Whales and dolphins must surface to breathe, and some fishes occupy surface waters and can easily be seen from boats or shore, but most of the marine bio-profusion is hidden from human eyes, often under thousands of feet and millions of tons of water, which is usually cold, dark, and utterly inhospitable to humans. By definition, the study of marine life has been quantitatively and qualitatively different from the study of terrestrial life--it is, if you will, a different kettle of fish. What do we know today, how have we learned it, and what remains unknown and unknowable about inner space?
Because there have been so few human visitors to the uninviting world of the deep sea, scientists have had to rely on trawled specimens, photographs taken by robotic cameras, or occasionally, observations from deep-diving submersibles, to get even the vaguest idea of the nature of life in the abyss. So far, even our most elaborate efforts to penetrate the blackness have produced only minimal results. It is as if someone lowered a collecting basket from a balloon high above the tropical rain forest floor, and tried to analyze the nature of life in the jungle from a couple of random hauls. The inner space of the deep offers the last frontier on the planet. Even now, we know more about the back side of the moon than we do about the bottom of the ocean, but then the surface of the moon is not hidden under miles of impenetrable water. But we do know that living in this inaccessible medium are some of the most fascinating creatures on Earth.
An understanding of the interrelationships between various creatures-including the one predator that has the power to distort, damage, or even eliminate populations of marine animals-is necessary if we are to survive in harmony with these populations. Although new technologies have given us tools to better census the whales, dolphins, and fishes, and to see heretofore unexpected life and geological forms deep under the sea, we are a long way from comprehending the nature and importance of marine biodiversity. Singing Whales, Flying Squid, and Swimming Cucumbers is an attempt to put the search for knowledge into perspective-to try to find out how we got here, and where, with the help of curiosity, science, and technology, we might be headed. With this as our Baedeker, we will voyage through time and space, tracing the history of the discovery of marine biology, from the moment that the first scientists--although for the most part, "science" had barely been invented--tried to figure out what sorts of creatures lived in the Mediterranean, the sea right off their shores.
So join Richard Ellis on an underwater adventure like no other you've ever taken or heard of: a voyage to discover the mysteries and reveal the wonders of marine life--more unusual and more astonishing than you--or anyone else--ever imagined.
.
Price: $5.94
[ Notify me when price goes down.]
|
|
|
|
|
