The Roman sophist Claudius Aelianus, born in Praeneste in the late second century CE, spent his career cultivating a Greek literary persona. Aelian was a highly regarded writer during his own lifetime, and his literary compilations would be influential for a thousand years and more in the Roman world. This book argues that the De natura animalium, a miscellaneous treasury of animal lore and Aelian's greatest work, is a sophisticated ...
In The Eye of the Sandpiper, Brandon Keim pairs cutting-edge science with a deep love of nature, conveying his insights in prose that is both accessible and beautiful. In an elegant, thoughtful tour of nature in the twenty-first century, Keim continues in the tradition of Lewis Thomas, Stephen Jay Gould, and David Quammen, reporting from the frontiers of science while celebrating the natural world's wonders and posing new questions a...
Nunavut is a land of islands, encompassing some of the most remote places on Earth. It is also home to some of the world's most fascinating bird species. Birds of Nunavut is the first complete survey of every species known to occur in the territory. Cowritten by a team of eighteen experts, it documents 295 species of birds (of which 145 are known to breed there), presenting a wealth of information on identification, distribution, eco...
Quel est le point commun entre le son d'avoine, le quinoa, l'agar-agar ou encore la pectine ? Tout simplement leur incroyable teneur en fibres dites solubles ! Longtemps considérées comme des régulateurs du transit, on s'est aperçu depuis peu que les fibres sont aussi capables de retarder la sensation de faim. Les fibres solubles sont ainsi de véritables régulateurs de l'appétit qui modèrent les prises alimentaires et encouragent la ...
This book is notable for both its brazenness and its modesty. Bekoff and Pierce dare to argue for the moral agency of nonhuman animals; yet they do so in an entirely sober and scientific way, as well as with philosophic circumspection. Why is their thesis bold? Because it is common, even among animal-lovers, to attribute total moral innocence to other animals. Among animal users and abusers it is a chief argument for withholding mora...
... are dinosaurs social constructs? Do we really know anything about dinosaurs? Might not all of our beliefs about dinosaurs merely be figments of the paleontological imagination? A few years ago such questions would have seemed preposterous, even nonsensical. Now they must have a serious answer." At stake in the "Science Wars" that have raged in academe and in the media is nothing less than the standing of science in our culture. O...
In this elegant, portable masterpiece of scientific inquiry, Charles Darwin presents a convincing and engrossing case for his revolutionary theory of evolution by natural selection. The publication of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species in 1859 marked a dramatic turning point in scientific thought, but it also ignited a firestorm of controversy. More than two decades following his intercontinental voyage aboard the HMS Beagle, the...
In Chagas Disease: Prevalence, Diagnosis and Treatment Options, the authors begin reviewing the characterization of American trypanosomiasis, or Chagas Disease, noting that although the disease has become less prevalent in recent decades, it is estimated that 8-10 million people are currently infected. Next, authors present a study wherein the dynamics of Trypanosoma cruzi infection (which causes Chagas disease) were mathematically m...
Loss of biodiversity is among the greatest problems facing the world today. Conservation and the Genetics of Populations gives a comprehensive overview of the essential background, concepts, and tools needed to understand how genetic information can be used to conserve species threatened with extinction, and to manage species of ecological or commercial importance. New molecular techniques, statistical methods, and computer programs,...
Animals are disappearing, vanishing, and dying out—not just in the physical sense of becoming extinct, but in the sense of being erased from our consciousness. Increasingly, interactions with animals happen at a remove: mediated by nature programs, books, and cartoons; framed by the enclosures of zoos and aquariums; distanced by the museum cases that display lifeless bodies. In this thought-provoking book, Arran Stibbe takes us on a ...