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books tagged “evolutionary biology”
books tagged “evolutionary biology”
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The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolutionby Richard Dawkins, Yan WongISBN 061861916X (0-618-61916-X)
Softcover, Mariner Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution'Book summary:Just as we trace our personal family trees from parents to grandparents and so on back in time, so in The Ancestor's Tale Richard Dawkins traces the ancestry of life. As he is at pains to point out, this is very much our human tale, our ancestry. Surprisingly, it is one that many otherwise literate people are largely unaware of. Hopefully Dawkins's name and well deserved reputation as a best selling writer will introduce them to this wonderful saga.
The Ancestor's Tale takes us from our immediate human ancestors back through what he calls concestors, those shared with the apes, monkeys and other mammals and other vertebrates and beyond to the dim and distant microbial beginnings of life some 4 billion years ago. It is a remarkable story which is still very much in the process of being uncovered. And, of course from a scientist of Dawkins stature and reputation we get an insider's knowledge of the most up-to-date science and many of those involved in the research. And, as we have come to expect of Dawkins, it is told with a passionate commitment to scientific veracity and a nose for a good story. Dawkins's knowledge of the vast and wonderful sweep of life's diversity is admirable. Not only does it encompass the most interesting living representatives of so many groups of organisms but also the important and informative fossil ones, many of which have only been found in recent years.
Dawkins sees his journey with its reverse chronology as cast in the form of an epic pilgrimage from the present to the past [and] all roads lead to the origin of life. It is, to my mind, a sensible and perfectly acceptable approach although some might complain about going against the grain of evolution. The great benefit for the general reader is that it begins with the more familiar present and the animals nearest and dearest to usour immediate human ancestors. And then it delves back into the more remote and less familiar past with its droves of lesser known and extinct fossil forms. The whole pilgrimage is divided into 40 tales, each based around a group of organisms and discusses their role in the overall story. Genetic, morphological and fossil evidence is all taken into account and illustrated with a wealth of photos and drawings of living and fossils forms, evolutionary and distributional charts and maps through time, providing a visual compliment and complement to the text. The design also allows Dawkins to make numerous running comments and characteristic asides. There are also numerous references and a good index.-- Douglas Palmer [via]
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The Ant and the Peacock: Altrusim and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Todayby Helena CroninISBN 0521457653 (0-521-45765-3)
Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Ant and the Peacock: Altruism and Sexual Selection from Darwin to Today'Book summary:The "ant" and the "peacock" stand for two puzzles in Darwinism--altruism and sexual selection. How can natural selection favor those, such as the worker ant, that renounce tooth and claw in favor of the public-spirited ways of the commune? And how can "peacocks"--flamboyant, ornamental and apparently useless--be tolerated by the grimly economical Darwinian reaper? Helena Cronin has a deep understanding of today's answers to these riddles and their roots in the nineteenth century; the analysis is new and exciting and the explanations lucid and compelling. [via]
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The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Timeby Jonathan WeinerISBN 067973337X (0-679-73337-X)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Beak of the Finch: A Story of Evolution in Our Time'Book summary:On the Galapagos Islands Charles Darwin gave his first hint at his theory of natural selection, writing about the finches he studied there. In Darwin's time there was no proof of this theoretical mechanism for evolution. Indeed it would have been thought absurd to imagine observing it actually happen; the process was thought to take geological time spans. Weiner, an outstanding science journalist, details research done in the last 20 years that proves otherwise. Biologists Peter and Rosemary Grant have documented the evolution of Darwin's Galapagos finches, demonstrating that it is neither rare nor slow, but can be watched by the hour. Weiner's superb account reads like a thriller and won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction. [via]
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The Blind Watchmakerby Richard DawkinsISBN 0393022161 (0-393-02216-1)
Hardcover, Norton
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Blind Watchmaker'Book summary:Richard Dawkins is not a shy man. Edward Larson's research shows that most scientists today are not formally religious, but Dawkins is an in-your-face atheist in the witty British style:
I want to persuade the reader, not just that the Darwinian world-view happens to be true, but that it is the only known theory that could, in principle, solve the mystery of our existence.
The title of this 1986 work, Dawkins's second book, refers to the Rev. William Paley's 1802 work, Natural Theology, which argued that just as finding a watch would lead you to conclude that a watchmaker must exist, the complexity of living organisms proves that a Creator exists. Not so, says Dawkins: "All appearances to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind forces of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way... it is the blind watchmaker."
Dawkins is a hard-core scientist: he doesn't just tell you what is so, he shows you how to find out for yourself. For this book, he wrote Biomorph, one of the first artificial life programs. You can check Dawkins's results on your own Mac or PC. [via]
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Blind Watchmaker 1.2: An Evolution Simulation/Mac Versionby Richard DawkinsISBN 0393993418 (0-393-99341-8)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Designby Richard DawkinsISBN 0393315703 (0-393-31570-3)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design'Book summary:Richard Dawkins is not a shy man. Edward Larson's research shows that most scientists today are not formally religious, but Dawkins is an in-your-face atheist in the witty British style:
I want to persuade the reader, not just that the Darwinian world-view happens to be true, but that it is the only known theory that could, in principle, solve the mystery of our existence.
The title of this 1986 work, Dawkins's second book, refers to the Rev. William Paley's 1802 work, Natural Theology, which argued that just as finding a watch would lead you to conclude that a watchmaker must exist, the complexity of living organisms proves that a Creator exists. Not so, says Dawkins: "All appearances to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature is the blind forces of physics, albeit deployed in a very special way... it is the blind watchmaker."
Dawkins is a hard-core scientist: he doesn't just tell you what is so, he shows you how to find out for yourself. For this book, he wrote Biomorph, one of the first artificial life programs. You can check Dawkins's results on your own Mac or PC. [via]
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The Botany of Desire: A Plant'S-Eye View of the Worldby Michael PollanISBN 0375760393 (0-375-76039-3)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Botany of Desire: A Plant'S-Eye View of the World'Book summary:Working in his garden one day, Michael Pollan hit pay dirt in the form of an idea: do plants, he wondered, use humans as much as we use them? While the question is not entirely original, the way Pollan examines this complex coevolution by looking at the natural world from the perspective of plants is unique. The result is a fascinating and engaging look at the true nature of domestication.
In making his point, Pollan focuses on the relationship between humans and four specific plants: apples, tulips, marijuana, and potatoes. He uses the history of John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed) to illustrate how both the apple's sweetness and its role in the production of alcoholic cider made it appealing to settlers moving west, thus greatly expanding the plant's range. He also explains how human manipulation of the plant has weakened it, so that "modern apples require more pesticide than any other food crop." The tulipomania of 17th-century Holland is a backdrop for his examination of the role the tulip's beauty played in wildly influencing human behavior to both the benefit and detriment of the plant (the markings that made the tulip so attractive to the Dutch were actually caused by a virus). His excellent discussion of the potato combines a history of the plant with a prime example of how biotechnology is changing our relationship to nature. As part of his research, Pollan visited the Monsanto company headquarters and planted some of their NewLeaf brand potatoes in his garden--seeds that had been genetically engineered to produce their own insecticide. Though they worked as advertised, he made some startling discoveries, primarily that the NewLeaf plants themselves are registered as a pesticide by the EPA and that federal law prohibits anyone from reaping more than one crop per seed packet. And in a interesting aside, he explains how a global desire for consistently perfect French fries contributes to both damaging monoculture and the genetic engineering necessary to support it.
Pollan has read widely on the subject and elegantly combines literary, historical, philosophical, and scientific references with engaging anecdotes, giving readers much to ponder while weeding their gardens. --Shawn Carkonen [via]
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Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural Historyby Stephen Jay GouldISBN 039330857X (0-393-30857-X)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History'Book summary:Stephen Jay Gould has a wide range of interests, and for many years he has shared his enthusiasms in the pages of Natural History and the New York Review of Books, among other journals. His passions include baseball, the puzzles of evolutionary theory, and the game of scholarly detection as it applies to questions such as, "What became of dinosaurs, anyway?". He answers entertainingly, but never talks down to his readers. Gould is one of modern natural science's great popularizers, but he shuns the temptation to make the giant reptiles of prehistory the Smurfs of the 1990s, in the manner of a certain purple dinosaur. The 35 pieces gathered here make for fine browsing, full of sideways glances and digressions that eventually make sense. [via]
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Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Lifeby Daniel DennettISBN 068482471X (0-684-82471-X)
Softcover, Simon & Schuster
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meaning of Life'Book summary:One of the best descriptions of the nature and implications of Darwinian evolution ever written, it is firmly based in biological information and appropriately extrapolated to possible applications to engineering and cultural evolution. Dennett's analyses of the objections to evolutionary theory are unsurpassed. Extremely lucid, wonderfully written, and scientifically and philosophically impeccable. Highest Recommendation! [via]
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Dinosaur in a Haystack: Reflections in Natural Historyby Stephen Jay GouldISBN 0517888246 (0-517-88824-6)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dinosaur in a Haystack: Reflections in Natural History'Book summary:Award-winning, bestselling author, evolutionary biologist, and paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould takes the art of the essay to an unprecedented height of excellence in this vibrant new collection of writings on science and natural history. From fads to fungus, baseball to beeswax, Gould always circles back to the great themes of time, change, and history, carrying readers home to the centering theme of evolution. Illustrations. [via]
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Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creationby Olivia JudsonISBN 0805063323 (0-8050-6332-3)
Softcover, Owl Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dr Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation'Book summary:Finally, a how-to guide, in the guise of a Q&A advice column, for marching, flying, or slithering into the battle of the sexes, whatever your species. In this entertaining and informative book, evolutionary biologist Olivia Judson presents "letters" from sexually frustrated animals, birds, and insects who ask "Dr. Tatiana" to explain some sexual oddity. For example, "Don't Wanna Be Butch in Botswana" writes, "I'm a spotted hyena, a girl. The only trouble is, I've got a large phallus. I can't help feeling that this is unladylike. What's wrong with me?" Each question leads Dr. T. into a fascinating explanation about the sex life of this species, sprinkled with sprightly stories about other species with similar attributes or behavior.
You'll learn why one stick-insect copulation lasts for 10 weeks (to prevent other males from gaining access to the fertile female) and why the black-winged damselfly's penis has bristles (to scrape out his rival's sperm). You'll learn that male and female orangutans masturbate with sex toys fashioned from leaves and twigs, that slugs are hermaphrodites with penises on their heads, and that females in more than 80 species eat their lovers before, during, or after sex. You'll also ponder human sexuality when you learn that "monogamy is one of the most deviant behaviors in biology" (although jackdaws, chinstrap penguins, California mice, and some termites swear by it) and "natural selection, it seems, often smiles on strumpets."
Highly recommended--you'll read this through just for the fun of it and have plenty of odd facts with which to dazzle your dinner companions. --Joan Price [via]
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Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sexby Olivia JudsonISBN 0805063315 (0-8050-6331-5)
Hardcover, Holt & Company, Henry
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation: The Definitive Guide to the Evolutionary Biology of Sex'Book summary:Finally, a how-to guide, in the guise of a Q&A advice column, for marching, flying, or slithering into the battle of the sexes, whatever your species. In this entertaining and informative book, evolutionary biologist Olivia Judson presents "letters" from sexually frustrated animals, birds, and insects who ask "Dr. Tatiana" to explain some sexual oddity. For example, "Don't Wanna Be Butch in Botswana" writes, "I'm a spotted hyena, a girl. The only trouble is, I've got a large phallus. I can't help feeling that this is unladylike. What's wrong with me?" Each question leads Dr. T. into a fascinating explanation about the sex life of this species, sprinkled with sprightly stories about other species with similar attributes or behavior.
You'll learn why one stick-insect copulation lasts for 10 weeks (to prevent other males from gaining access to the fertile female) and why the black-winged damselfly's penis has bristles (to scrape out his rival's sperm). You'll learn that male and female orangutans masturbate with sex toys fashioned from leaves and twigs, that slugs are hermaphrodites with penises on their heads, and that females in more than 80 species eat their lovers before, during, or after sex. You'll also ponder human sexuality when you learn that "monogamy is one of the most deviant behaviors in biology" (although jackdaws, chinstrap penguins, California mice, and some termites swear by it) and "natural selection, it seems, often smiles on strumpets."
Highly recommended--you'll read this through just for the fun of it and have plenty of odd facts with which to dazzle your dinner companions. --Joan Price [via]
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El Origen De Las Especies/the Origin Of Speciesby Charles DarwinISBN 9871150121 (987-1150-12-1)
Softcover, Distal S R L
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Extended Phenotype: The Gene As the Unit of Selectionby Richard DawkinsISBN 0716713586 (0-7167-1358-6)
Hardcover, W H Freeman & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Extended Phenotype: The Gene As the Unit of Selection'Book summary:People commonly view evolution as a process of competition between individuals--known as "survival of the fittest"--with the individual representing the "unit of selection." Richard Dawkins offers a controversial reinterpretation of that idea in The Extended Phenotype, now being reissued to coincide with the publication of the second edition of his highly-acclaimed The Selfish Gene. He proposes that we look at evolution as a battle between genes instead of between whole organisms. We can then view Nanges in phenotypes--the end products of genes, like eye color or leaf shape, which are usually considered to increase the fitness of an individual--as serving the evolutionary interests of genes.
Dawkins makes a convincing case that considering one's body, personality, and environment as a field of combat in a kind of "arms race" between genes fighting to express themselves on a strand of DNA can clarify and extend the idea of survival of the fittest. This influential and controversial book illuminates the complex world of genetics in an engaging, lively manner. [via]More editions of Extended Phenotype: The Gene As the Unit of Selection:
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The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Geneby Richard Dawkins, Dennett, Daniel (AFT)ISBN 0192880519 (0-19-288051-9)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene'Book summary:People commonly view evolution as a process of competition between individuals--known as "survival of the fittest"--with the individual representing the "unit of selection." Richard Dawkins offers a controversial reinterpretation of that idea in The Extended Phenotype, now being reissued to coincide with the publication of the second edition of his highly-acclaimed The Selfish Gene. He proposes that we look at evolution as a battle between genes instead of between whole organisms. We can then view Nanges in phenotypes--the end products of genes, like eye color or leaf shape, which are usually considered to increase the fitness of an individual--as serving the evolutionary interests of genes.
Dawkins makes a convincing case that considering one's body, personality, and environment as a field of combat in a kind of "arms race" between genes fighting to express themselves on a strand of DNA can clarify and extend the idea of survival of the fittest. This influential and controversial book illuminates the complex world of genetics in an engaging, lively manner. [via]More editions of The Extended Phenotype: The Long Reach of the Gene:
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Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societiesby Jared DiamondISBN 0393317552 (0-393-31755-2)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies'Book summary:With a new chapter. The phenomenal bestseller; over 1.5 million copies sold; is now a major PBS special.Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, Guns, Germs, and Steel is a brilliant work answering the question of why the peoples of certain continents succeeded in invading other continents and conquering or displacing their peoples. This edition includes a new chapter on Japan and all-new illustrations drawn from the television series. Until around 11,000 BC, all peoples were still Stone Age hunter/gatherers. At that point, a great divide occurred in the rates that human societies evolved. In Eurasia, parts of the Americas, and Africa, farming became the prevailing mode of existence when indigenous wild plants and animals were domesticated by prehistoric planters and herders. As Jared Diamond vividly reveals, the very people who gained a head start in producing food would collide with preliterate cultures, shaping the modern world through conquest, displacement, and genocide.The paths that lead from scattered centers of food to broad bands of settlement had a great deal to do with climate and geography. But how did differences in societies arise? Why weren't native Australians, Americans, or Africans the ones to colonize Europe? Diamond dismantles pernicious racial theories tracing societal differences to biological differences. He assembles convincing evidence linking germs to domestication of animals, germs that Eurasians then spread in epidemic proportions in their voyages of discovery. In its sweep, Guns, Germs and Steel encompasses the rise of agriculture, technology, writing, government, and religion, providing a unifying theory of human history as intriguing as the histories of dinosaurs and glaciers. 32 illustrations [via]
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- Guns, Germs, And Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393061310 (0-393-06131-0)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc - Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 061318114X (0-613-18114-X)
Hardcover, Bt Bound - Guns, Germs, and Steel : The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393038912 (0-393-03891-2)
Hardcover, Norton & Company, Incorporated, W. W. - Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393973867 (0-393-97386-7)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc - Guns, Germs & Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393317552 (0-393-31755-2)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
- Guns, Germs, And Steel: The Fates of Human Societies: ISBN 0393061310 (0-393-06131-0)
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Guns, Germs, and Steel Reader's Companionby Jared DiamondISBN 1586638637 (1-58663-863-7)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Guns, Germs, and Steel Reader's Companion'Book summary:Scholar and professor Jared Diamond made a huge splash with this fascinating but controversial book, which argues that geography and environment have almost singlehandedly determined the course of human history. Dig deeper into his contentions with the information inside this invaluable reader's handbook:- Why did Europe colonize Africa and Asia rather than the other way around?
- Why is geography the most important factor in human history?
- How has the rest of the scientific community received Diamond's theory?
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The Illustrated Origin of Speciesby Richard E. Leakey, Charles Robert DarwinISBN 0571114776 (0-571-11477-6)
Hardcover, Faber and Faber
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Illustrated Origin of Species'Book summary:Tan hardback with gilt titles + wrapper Pub:-Book Club Associates-1979- presents 240 pages good clean tight copy. [via]
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The Illustrated Origin of Speciesby Charles Robert DarwinISBN 0809013975 (0-8090-1397-5)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Wormsby Stephen Jay GouldISBN 0609804758 (0-609-80475-8)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Leonardo's Mountain of Clams and the Diet of Worms'Book summary:One of this century's most thoughtful and prolific naturalists, Harvard professor Stephen Jay Gould looks at the human twists on science in his eighth series of essays taken from Natural History magazine. As only he can, Gould finds questions where others have never looked, and answers where others have been blinded--by their professional rivalries, by their unacknowledged privilege in society, by the dominant world-view at their particular juncture in history. "All great science," he says in the title essay, "indeed all fruitful thinking, must occur in a social and intellectual context--and contexts are just as likely to promote insight as to constrain thought." Gould's gift is being able to identify context, and see patterns in diverse fields or people or moments in history in a way that Darwin saw patterns in living species.
This book is less about clams, worms, and Leonardo than about some evolutionary dead ends in human intellectual history. It's not an easy read. Those who are already Gould fans will find more tantalizing tidbits--no, thick stew--from this fruitful author. Those first-timers drawn by an intriguing title will scratch, frown, fall asleep, swear, and generally want to give up. But don't! Gould is one of those authors that takes some getting used to. With a little patience, his extravagant prose will edify rather than trip you, and his digressions will delight rather than distract. --Lauran Cole Warner [via]
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Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankindby Donald JohansonISBN 0671724991 (0-671-72499-1)
Softcover, Touchstone Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Lucy: The Beginnings of Humankind'Book summary:The story of one of the most important fossil finds in man's search for his ancestors - the 60per cent complete female hominid skeleton nicknamed "Lucy". Confirming beyond doubt the early bipedal nature of human ancestors, she was discovered in 1973 in Ethiopia by a team of scientists led by Johanson. [via]
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The Making of the Fittest: DNA And the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolutionby Sean B. Carroll, Jamie W. Carroll, Leanne M. OldsISBN 0393061639 (0-393-06163-9)
Hardcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Making of the Fittest: DNA And the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution'Book summary:DNA evidence not only solves crimesin Sean Carroll's hands it will now end the Evolution Wars.
DNA is the genetic material that defines us as individuals. Over the last two decades, it has emerged as a powerful tool for solving crimes and determining guilt and innocence. But, very recently, an important new aspect of DNA has been revealedit contains a detailed record of evolution. That is, DNA is a living chronicle of how the marvelous creatures that inhabit our planet have adapted to its many environments, from the freezing waters of the Antarctic to the lush canopy of the rain forest.
In the pages of this highly readable narrative, Sean Carroll guides the general reader on a tour of the massive DNA record of three billion years of evolution to see how the fittest are made. And what a eye-opening tour it isone featuring immortal genes, fossil genes, and genes that bear the scars of past battles with horrible diseases. This book clinches the case for evolution, beyond any reasonable doubt. 50 black-and-white illustrations and 8 pages of color [via]More editions of The Making of the Fittest: DNA And the Ultimate Forensic Record of Evolution:
The Moral Animal: Evolutionary Psychology and Everyday Lifeby Robert Wright, Luann WaltherISBN 0679763996 (0-679-76399-6)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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The Moral Animal : Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionaryby Robert WrightISBN 0679407731 (0-679-40773-1)
Hardcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Moral Animal : Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary'Book summary:An accessible introduction to the science of evolutionary psychology and how it explains many aspects of human nature. Unlike many books on the topic,which focus on abstractions like kin selection, this book focuses on Darwinian explanations of why we are the way we are--emotionally and morally. Wright deals particularly well with explaining the reasons for the stereotypical dynamics of the three big "S's:" sex, siblings, and society. [via]
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Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selectionby Sarah Blaffer HrdyISBN 0679442650 (0-679-44265-0)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection'Book summary:Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection should be required reading for anyone who happens to be a human being. In it, Hrdy reveals the motivations behind some of our most primal and hotly contested behavioral patterns--those concerning gender roles, mate choice, sex, reproduction, and parenting--and the ideas and institutions that have grown up around them. She unblinkingly examines and illuminates such difficult subjects as control of reproductive rights, infanticide, "mother love," and maternal ambition with its ever-contested companions: child care and the limits of maternal responsibility. Without ever denying personal accountability, she points out that many of the patterns of abuse and neglect that we see in cultures around the world (including, of course, our own) are neither unpredictable nor maladaptive in evolutionary terms. "Mother" Nature, as she points out, is not particularly concerned with what we call "morality." The philosophical and political implications of our own deeply-rooted behaviors are for us to determine--which can be done all the better with the kind of understanding gleaned from this exhaustive work.
Hrdy's passion for this material is evident, and she is deeply aware of the personal stake she has here as a woman, a mother, and a professional. This highly accomplished author relies on her own extensive research background as well as the works of others in multiple disciplines (anthropology, primatology, sociobiology, psychology, and even literature). Despite the exhaustive documentation given to her conclusions (as witness the 140-plus-page notes and bibliography sections), the book unfolds in an exceptionally lucid, readable, and often humorous manner. It is a truly compelling read, highly recommended. --Katherine Ferguson [via]
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Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Speciesby Sarah Blaffer HrdyISBN 0345408934 (0-345-40893-4)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species'Book summary:Mother Nature: A History of Mothers, Infants, and Natural Selection should be required reading for anyone who happens to be a human being. In it, Hrdy reveals the motivations behind some of our most primal and hotly contested behavioral patterns--those concerning gender roles, mate choice, sex, reproduction, and parenting--and the ideas and institutions that have grown up around them. She unblinkingly examines and illuminates such difficult subjects as control of reproductive rights, infanticide, "mother love," and maternal ambition with its ever-contested companions: child care and the limits of maternal responsibility. Without ever denying personal accountability, she points out that many of the patterns of abuse and neglect that we see in cultures around the world (including, of course, our own) are neither unpredictable nor maladaptive in evolutionary terms. "Mother" Nature, as she points out, is not particularly concerned with what we call "morality." The philosophical and political implications of our own deeply-rooted behaviors are for us to determine--which can be done all the better with the kind of understanding gleaned from this exhaustive work.
Hrdy's passion for this material is evident, and she is deeply aware of the personal stake she has here as a woman, a mother, and a professional. This highly accomplished author relies on her own extensive research background as well as the works of others in multiple disciplines (anthropology, primatology, sociobiology, psychology, and even literature). Despite the exhaustive documentation given to her conclusions (as witness the 140-plus-page notes and bibliography sections), the book unfolds in an exceptionally lucid, readable, and often humorous manner. It is a truly compelling read, highly recommended. --Katherine Ferguson [via]
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On the Origin of Speciesby Charles DarwinISBN 1404322868 (1-4043-2286-8)
Hardcover, Indypublish.Com
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› Find signed collectible books: 'On the Origin of Species'Book summary:It's hard to talk about The Origin of Species without making statements that seem overwrought and fulsome. But it's true: this is indeed one of the most important and influential books ever written, and it is one of the very few groundbreaking works of science that is truly readable.
To a certain extent it suffers from the Hamlet problem--it's full of clichés! Or what are now clichés, but which Darwin was the first to pen. Natural selection, variation, the struggle for existence, survival of the fittest: it's all in here.
Darwin's friend and "bulldog" T.H. Huxley said upon reading the Origin, "How extremely stupid of me not to have thought of that." Alfred Russel Wallace had thought of the same theory of evolution Darwin did, but it was Darwin who gathered the mass of supporting evidence--on domestic animals and plants, on variability, on sexual selection, on dispersal--that swept most scientists before it. It's hardly necessary to mention that the book is still controversial: Darwin's remark in his conclusion that "Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history" is surely the pinnacle of British understatement. --Mary Ellen Curtin [via]
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On the Origin of Speciesby Joseph CarrollISBN 1551113376 (1-55111-337-6)
Softcover, Broadview Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'On the Origin of Species'Book summary:It's hard to talk about The Origin of Species without making statements that seem overwrought and fulsome. But it's true: this is indeed one of the most important and influential books ever written, and it is one of the very few groundbreaking works of science that is truly readable.
To a certain extent it suffers from the Hamlet problem--it's full of clichés! Or what are now clichés, but which Darwin was the first to pen. Natural selection, variation, the struggle for existence, survival of the fittest: it's all in here.
Darwin's friend and "bulldog" T.H. Huxley said upon reading the Origin, "How extremely stupid of me not to have thought of that." Alfred Russel Wallace had thought of the same theory of evolution Darwin did, but it was Darwin who gathered the mass of supporting evidence--on domestic animals and plants, on variability, on sexual selection, on dispersal--that swept most scientists before it. It's hardly necessary to mention that the book is still controversial: Darwin's remark in his conclusion that "Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history" is surely the pinnacle of British understatement. --Mary Ellen Curtin [via]
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On the Origin of Species a Facsimile of the Firstby C. DarwinISBN 0674637526 (0-674-63752-6)
Softcover, Harvard Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'On the Origin of Species a Facsimile of the First'Book summary:It is now fully recognized that the publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species in 1859 brought about a revolution in mans attitude toward life and his own place in the universe. This work is rightly regarded as one of the most important books ever published, and a knowledge of it should be part of the intellectual equipment of every educated person. The book remains surprisingly modern in its assertions and is also remarkably accessible to the layman, much more so than recent treatises necessarily encumbered with technical language and professional jargon.
This first edition had a freshness and uncompromising directness that were considerably weakened in later editions, and yet nearly all available reprints of the work are based on the greatly modified sixth edition of 1872. In the only other modern reprinting of the first edition, the pagination was changed, so that it is impossible to give page references to significant passages in the original. Clearly this facsimile reprint of the momentous first edition fills a need for scholars and general readers alike.
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On the Origin of Species: Appendix Dawrin's Original Manuscript Pagesby Charles DarwinISBN 1592242855 (1-59224-285-5)
Softcover, Wildside Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'On the Origin of Species: Appendix Dawrin's Original Manuscript Pages'Book summary:A facsimile of the 1859 first edition of Charles Darwin's classic work, On the Origin of Species. [via]
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The Origin of Species: Library Editionby Charles Robert Darwin, George LevineISBN 1593080778 (1-59308-077-8)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Origin of Species: Library Edition'Book summary:This book was originally published prior to 1923, and represents a reproduction of an important historical work, maintaining the same format as the original work. While some publishers have opted to apply OCR (optical character recognition) technology to the process, we believe this leads to sub-optimal results (frequent typographical errors, strange characters and confusing formatting) and does not adequately preserve the historical character of the original artifact. We believe this work is culturally important in its original archival form. While we strive to adequately clean and digitally enhance the original work, there are occasionally instances where imperfections such as blurred or missing pages, poor pictures or errant marks may have been introduced due to either the quality of the original work or the scanning process itself. Despite these occasional imperfections, we have brought it back into print as part of our ongoing global book preservation commitment, providing customers with access to the best possible historical reprints. We appreciate your understanding of these occasional imperfections, and sincerely hope you enjoy seeing the book in a format as close as possible to that intended by the original publisher. [via]
More editions of The Origin of Species: Library Edition:
- The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 1594620989 (1-59462-098-9)
Softcover, Standard Pubns Inc - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 1853267805 (1-85326-780-5)
Softcover, Lb May & Assoc Inc - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 0553214632 (0-553-21463-2)
Softcover, Bantam Classic & Loveswept - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 0812219546 (0-8122-1954-6)
Softcover, Univ of Pennsylvania Pr - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 0874716632 (0-87471-663-2)
Softcover, J M Dent & Sons Ltd - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 0879756756 (0-87975-675-6)
Softcover, Prometheus Books - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 0517123207 (0-517-12320-7)
Hardcover, Random House Value Pub - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 0679600701 (0-679-60070-1)
Hardcover, Random House Inc - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 0521282764 (0-521-28276-4)
Softcover, Cambridge Univ Pr - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 0679749551 (0-679-74955-1)
Softcover, Random House Inc - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 0785819118 (0-7858-1911-8)
Hardcover, Castle Books Inc - The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 1593080778 (1-59308-077-8)
Softcover, Sterling Pub Co Inc
- The Origin of Species: Library Edition: ISBN 1594620989 (1-59462-098-9)
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The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Lifeby Charles DarwinISBN 0486450066 (0-486-45006-6)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
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› Find signed collectible books: 'On the Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of FAvoured RAces in the Struggle for Life'Book summary:According to Wikipedia: "Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 - 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist. After becoming eminent among scientists for his field work and inquiries into geology, he proposed and provided scientific evidence that all species of life have evolved over time from one or a few common ancestors through the process of natural selection. The fact that evolution occurs became accepted by the scientific community and the general public in his lifetime, while his theory of natural selection came to be widely seen as the primary explanation of the process of evolution in the 1930s, and now forms the basis of modern evolutionary theory. In modified form, Darwin?s scientific discovery remains the foundation of biology, as it provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life." [via]
More editions of The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life:
- The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life: ISBN 0517309777 (0-517-30977-7)
Hardcover - The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life: ISBN 0517309785 (0-517-30978-5)
Hardcover - On the Origin of Species: By Means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of FAvoured RAces in the Struggle for Life: ISBN 0486450066 (0-486-45006-6)
Softcover, Dover Pubns
- The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection: Or, the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life: ISBN 0517309777 (0-517-30977-7)
The Origin of Virtueby Matt RidleyISBN 0670863572 (0-670-86357-2)
Softcover, Penguin USA
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Origin of Virtue'More editions of The Origin of Virtue:
The Origins of Virtue : Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperationby Matt RidleyISBN 0670874493 (0-670-87449-3)
Hardcover, Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Origins of Virtue : Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation'More editions of The Origins of Virtue : Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation:
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The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural Historyby Stephen Jay GouldISBN 0393308197 (0-393-30819-7)
Softcover, W W Norton & Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History'Book summary:"Gould is a natural writer; he has something to say and the inclination and skill with which to say it."P. B. Medawar, New York Review of Books
With sales of well over one million copies in North America alone, the commercial success of Gould's books now matches their critical acclaim. Reissued in a larger format, with a handsome new cover, The Panda's Thumb will introduce a new generation of readers to this unique writer, who has taken the art of the scientific essay to new heights. [via]More editions of The Panda's Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History:
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The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Natureby Matt RidleyISBN 0060556579 (0-06-055657-9)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature'Book summary:Two fascinating questions lie at the heart of The Red Queen: Why is Homo sapiens a sexual species, and what implications does this have for human nature? That man is sexual may seem unremarkable, yet in fact not all plants and animals need to have sex to reproduce; simple cloning is practiced by many animals with much greater efficiency. To understand how life evolves, and what benefit sex provides for humans, we must think like the Red Queen in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking-Glass, who had to keep running just to stay in place. According to a controversial yet persuasive new theory, evolution is not about progress, but about changing in order to survive. Because humans are in a perpetual battle with the parasites lurking within our bodies, we need to be able to change molecular locks as fast as parasites invent new keys. Sex enables us to alter genetic combinations every generation. Sex, then, is a vital weapon in disease resistance. It enables us to change, not so we progress ahead, but so we avoid falling behind. But what does all this mean for human nature? From a lucid overview of the Red Queen theory, Matt Ridley follows the logic of its argument into the heart of human behavior. For just as the human eye is a product of evolution, so is human nature. Evolutionary theory provides the clues to help us understand fundamental facts about human beings, from our fashion consciousness to our "system of monogamy plagued by adultery." Ridley's probing mind asks a series of provocative questions. Is mankind naturally polygamous like most of our ape relatives? Are men and women mentally different as well as physically, and if so why? Why do people share so many sexual habits withswallows? Are our notions of human beauty arbitrary, or is there method in them? Jumping into the middle of the debate over the definition of "human nature, " The Red Queen offers an extraordinary new way of interpreting the human condition and how it has evolved. It throws fresh light [via]
More editions of The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature:
- The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature: ISBN 0140245480 (0-14-024548-0)
Softcover, Penguin Group USA - The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature: ISBN 0026033402 (0-02-603340-2)
Hardcover, Simon & Schuster - The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature: ISBN 0060556579 (0-06-055657-9)
Softcover, Harpercollins
- The Red Queen: Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature: ISBN 0140245480 (0-14-024548-0)
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River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Lifeby Richard Dawkins, Lalla WardISBN 0465069908 (0-465-06990-8)
Softcover, Perseus Books Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life'Book summary:Nearly a century and a half after Charles Darwin formulated it, the theory of evolution is still the subject of considerable debate. Oxford scientist Richard Dawkins is among Darwin's chief defenders, and an able one indeed-- witty, literate, capable of turning a beautiful phrase. In River Out of Eden he introduces general readers to some fairly abstract problems in evolutionary biology, gently guiding us through the tangles of mitochondrial DNA and the survival-of-the- fittest ethos. (Superheroes need not apply: Dawkins writes, "The genes that survive . . . will be the ones that are good at surviving in the average environment of the species.") Dawkins argues for the essential unity of humanity, noting that "we are much closer cousins of one another than we normally realize, and we have many fewer ancestors than simple calculations suggest." [via]
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The Selfish Geneby Richard DawkinsISBN 0199291152 (0-19-929115-2)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Selfish Gene'Book summary:Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of The Selfish Gene. Suppose, instead of thinking about organisms using genes to reproduce themselves, as we had since Mendel's work was rediscovered, we turn it around and imagine that "our" genes build and maintain us in order to make more genes. That simple reversal seems to answer many puzzlers which had stumped scientists for years, and we haven't thought of evolution in the same way since.
Why are there miles and miles of "unused" DNA within each of our bodies? Why should a bee give up its own chance to reproduce to help raise her sisters and brothers? With a prophet's clarity, Dawkins told us the answers from the perspective of molecules competing for limited space and resources to produce more of their own kind. Drawing fascinating examples from every field of biology, he paved the way for a serious re-evaluation of evolution. He also introduced the concept of self-reproducing ideas, or memes, which (seemingly) use humans exclusively for their propagation. If we are puppets, he says, at least we can try to understand our strings. --Rob Lightner [via]
More editions of The Selfish Gene:
- The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0192860925 (0-19-286092-5)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0192177737 (0-19-217773-7)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0195200004 (0-19-520000-4)
Hardcover, Oxford University Press - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 019857519X (0-19-857519-X)
Hardcover, Oxford University Press - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0199291144 (0-19-929114-4)
Hardcover, Oxford Univ Pr - The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0199291152 (0-19-929115-2)
Softcover, Oxford Univ Pr
- The Selfish Gene: ISBN 0192860925 (0-19-286092-5)
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Sex, Time, and Power: How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolutionby Leonard ShlainISBN 0670032336 (0-670-03233-6)
Hardcover, Viking Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Sex, Time, and Power: How Women's Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution'Book summary:This book sets out to explore why and when people evolved so far away from other mammals in several key ways, all of which Dr. Shlain ties to the biological differences between men and women. As in his excellent prior work The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image (which holds that there are links between the ascendancy of patriarchy and written language and the descent of matriarchal societies and goddess-based religions), some of the concepts proposed in this book might seem a bit of a stretch. And they arewhether or not they turn out to be factual. Shlain contends, for instance, that women essentially invented the concept of time due to their experience of menses. Whatever conclusions the reader comes to, the author exposes the underlying gender biases in so many scientific assumptions; the result is one of those books that cannot help but alter one's perceptions. A consistently engaging writer, Shlain traces the course of his own evolving ideas with what might be called a didactic wit: bold statements are first writ large, then Dr. Shlain reveals how he came upon them, frequently with colorful anecdotes that show these are questions he's been wrestling with for many years. It's difficult to tell whether this fascinating thinker will be viewed as the next Darwin or as a crank, but there's no denying this is an audacious work in the realm of evolutionary biology. --Mike McGonigal [via]
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The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spiritby Melvin KonnerISBN 0805072799 (0-8050-7279-9)
Softcover, Holt & Company, Henry
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit'Book summary:Why do we behave as we do, and how are we to judge this behaviour in terms of right and wrong, good and evil, natural and unnatural? On the answers to these questions, whole systems of religion, law and government have been founded. Now, science has begun to address these same questions, offering data that is both exciting and controversial. Specifically concerned with the biological bases of human behaviour and human emotions, this book is a treatment of materials that have often been misused and exploited for questionable ends. [via]
More editions of The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit:
- The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit: ISBN 080501327X (0-8050-1327-X)
Softcover, Henry Holt & Co - The Tangled Wing : Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit: ISBN 0716746026 (0-7167-4602-6)
Hardcover, Holt & Company, Henry - The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit: ISBN 0805072799 (0-8050-7279-9)
Softcover, Holt & Company, Henry
- The Tangled Wing: Biological Constraints on the Human Spirit: ISBN 080501327X (0-8050-1327-X)
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The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animalby Jared M. DiamondISBN 0060845503 (0-06-084550-3)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution And Future of the Human Animal'Book summary:Jared Diamond states the theme of his book up-front: "How the human species changed, within a short time, from just another species of big mammal to a world conqueror; and how we acquired the capacity to reverse all that progress overnight." The Third Chimpanzee is, in many ways, a prequel to Diamond's prize-winning Guns, Germs, and Steel. While Guns examines "the fates of human societies," this work surveys the longer sweep of human evolution, from our origin as just another chimpanzee a few million years ago. Diamond writes:
It's obvious that humans are unlike all animals. It's also obvious that we're a species of big mammal down to the minutest details of our anatomy and our molecules. That contradiction is the most fascinating feature of the human species.
The chapters in The Third Chimpanzee on the oddities of human reproductive biology were later expanded in Why Is Sex Fun? Here, they're linked to Diamond's views of human psychology and history.
Diamond is officially a physiologist at UCLA medical school, but he's also one of the best birdwatchers in the world. The current scientific consensus that "primitive" humans created ecological catastrophes in the Pacific islands, Australia, and the New World owes a great deal to his fieldwork and insight. In Diamond's view, the current global ecological crisis isn't due to modern technology per se, but to basic weaknesses in human nature. But, he says, "I'm cautiously optimistic. If we will learn from our past that I have traced, our own future may yet prove brighter than that of the other two chimpanzees." --Mary Ellen Curtin [via]
More editions of The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal:
- The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal: ISBN 0060984031 (0-06-098403-1)
Softcover, Harpercollins - The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal: ISBN 0060183071 (0-06-018307-1)
Hardcover, Harpercollins - The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution And Future of the Human Animal: ISBN 0060845503 (0-06-084550-3)
Softcover, Harpercollins
- The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal: ISBN 0060984031 (0-06-098403-1)
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Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonderby Richard DawkinsISBN 0618056734 (0-618-05673-4)
Softcover, Mariner Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder'Book summary:Why do poets and artists so often disparage science in their work? For that matter, why does so much scientific literature compare poorly with, say, the phone book? After struggling with questions like these for years, biologist Richard Dawkins has taken a wide-ranging view of the subjects of meaning and beauty in Unweaving the Rainbow, a deeply humanistic examination of science, mysticism, and human nature. Notably strong-willed in a profession of bet-hedgers and wait-and-seers, Dawkins carries the reader along on a romp through the natural and cultural worlds, determined that "science, at its best, should leave room for poetry."
Inspired by the frequently asked question, "Why do you bother getting up in the morning?" following publication of his book The Selfish Gene, Dawkins set out determined to show that understanding nature's mechanics need not sap one's zest for life. Alternately enlightening and maddening, Unweaving the Rainbow will appeal to all thoughtful readers, whether wild-eyed technophiles or grumpy, cabin-dwelling Luddites. Excoriations of newspaper astrology columns follow quotes from Blake and Shakespeare, which are sandwiched between sparkling, easy-to-follow discussions of probability, behavior, and evolution. In Dawkins's world (and, he hopes, in ours), science is poetry; he ends his journey by referring to his title's author and subject, maintaining that "A Keats and a Newton, listening to each other, might hear the galaxies sing." --Rob Lightner [via]
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Why Is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexualityby Jared M. DiamondISBN 0465031269 (0-465-03126-9)
Softcover, Basic Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Why Is Sex Fun?: The Evolution of Human Sexuality'Book summary:Many of us pursue fitness because we want to remain attractive to partners and potential partners, and we stay healthy so we can continue to have sex with those partners. But why do people care so much about sex? This book, written by an evolutionary biologist, explains how all the weird quirks of human sexuality came to be: sex with no intention of procreation, invisible fertility, sex acts pursued in private--all common to us, but very different from most other species. Why Is Sex Fun? asks us to look at ourselves in a brand-new way, and richly rewards us for doing so. [via]
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Why We Love: The Nature And Chemistry Of Romantic Loveby Helen FisherISBN 0805077960 (0-8050-7796-0)
Softcover, Henry Holt & Co
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Why We Love: The Nature And Chemistry Of Romantic Love'Book summary:A groundbreaking exploration of our most complex and mysterious emotion[via]
Elation, mood swings, sleeplessness, and obsessionthese are the tell-tale signs of someone in the throes of romantic passion. In this revealing new book, renowned anthropologist Helen Fisher explains why this experiencewhich cuts across time, geography, and genderis a force as powerful as the need for food or sleep.
Why We Love begins by presenting the results of a scientific study in which Fisher scanned the brains of people who had just fallen madly in love. She proves, at last, what researchers had only suspected: when you fall in love, primordial areas of the brain light up with increased blood flow, creating romantic passion. Fisher uses this new research to show exactly what you experience when you fall in love, why you choose one person rather than another, and how romantic love affects your sex drive and your feelings of attachment to a partner. She argues that all animals feel romantic attraction, that love at first sight comes out of nature, and that human romance evolved for crucial reasons of survival. Lastly, she offers concrete suggestions on how to control this ancient passion, and she optimistically explores the future of romantic love in our chaotic modern world.
Provocative, enlightening, and persuasive, Why We Love offers radical new answers to the age-old question of what love is and thus provides invaluable new insights into keeping love alive.More editions of Why We Love: The Nature And Chemistry Of Romantic Love:
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The Woman That Never Evolvedby Sarah HrdyISBN 0674955412 (0-674-95541-2)
Softcover, Harvard Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Woman That Never Evolved'Book summary:Women's Studies, Sociology, Gender Studies [via]
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The Woman That Never Evolved: With a New Preface and Bibliographical Updatesby Sarah Blaffer HrdyISBN 0674955390 (0-674-95539-0)
Softcover, Harvard Univ Pr
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Woman That Never Evolved: With a New Preface and Bibliographical Updates'Book summary:What does it mean to be female? Sarah Blaffer Hrdy--a sociobiologist and a feminist--believes that evolutionary biology can provide some surprising answers. Surprising to those feminists who mistakenly think that biology can only work against women. And surprising to those biologists who incorrectly believe that natural selection operates only on males.
In The Woman That Never Evolved we are introduced to our nearest female relatives competitive, independent, sexually assertive primates who have every bit as much at stake in the evolutionary game as their male counterparts do. These females compete among themselves for rank and resources, but will bond together for mutual defense. They risk their lives to protect their young, yet consort with the very male who murdered their offspring when successful reproduction depends upon it. They tolerate other breeding females if food is plentiful, but chase them away when monogamy is the optimal strategy. When "promiscuity" is an advantage, female primates--like their human cousins--exhibit a sexual appetite that ensures a range of breeding partners. From case after case we are led to the conclusion that the sexually passive, noncompetitive, all-nurturing woman of prevailing myth never could have evolved within the primate order.
Yet males are almost universally dominant over females in primate species, and Homo sapiens is no exception. As we see from this book, women are in some ways the most oppressed of all female primates. Sarah Blaffer Hrdy is convinced that to redress sexual inequality in human societies, we must first understand its evolutionary origins. We cannot travel back in time to meet our own remote ancestors, but we can study those surrogates we have--the other living primates. If women --and not biology--are to control their own destiny, they must understand the past and, as this book shows us, the biological legacy they have inherited.
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Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of Historyby Stephen Jay GouldISBN 0735100314 (0-7351-0031-4)
Hardcover, Replica Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History'Book summary:The Burgess Shale of British Columbia "is the most precious and important of all fossil localities," writes Stephen Jay Gould. These 600-million-year-old rocks preserve the soft parts of a collection of animals unlike any other. Just how unlike is the subject of Gould's book.
Gould describes how the Burgess Shale fauna was discovered, reassembled, and analyzed in detail so clear that the reader actually gets some feeling for what paleobiologists do, in the field and in the lab. The many line drawings are unusually beautiful, and now can be compared to a wonderful collection of photographs in Fossils of the Burgess Shale by Derek Briggs, one of Gould's students.
Burgess Shale animals have been called a "paleontological Rorschach test," and not every geologist by any means agrees with Gould's thesis that they represent a "road not taken" in the history of life. Simon Conway Morris, one of the subjects of Wonderful Life, has expressed his disagreement in Crucible of Creation. Wonderful Life was published in 1989, and there has been an explosion of scientific interest in the pre-Cambrian and Cambrian periods, with radical new ideas fighting for dominance. But even though many scientists disagree with Gould about the radical oddity of the Burgess Shale animals, his argument that the history of life is profoundly contingent--as in the movie It's a Wonderful Life, from which this book takes its title--has become more accepted, in theories such as Ward and Brownlee's Rare Earth hypothesis. And Gould's loving, detailed exposition of the labor it took to understand the Burgess Shale remains one of the best explanations of scientific work around. --Mary Ellen Curtin [via]
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The Works of Charles Darwin: The Origin of Speciesby Charles Darwin, Paul H. Barrett, R.B. Freeman, Pete GautreyISBN 0814718051 (0-8147-1805-1)
Hardcover, New York Univ Pr
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Armas, germenes y acero/ Guns, Germs and Steelby Jared DiamondISBN 848306667X (84-8306-667-X)
Hardcover, Debate Editorial
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Armas, germenes y acero/ Guns, Germs and Steel'More editions of Armas, germenes y acero/ Guns, Germs and Steel:
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Destejiendo El Arco Irisby Richard DawkinsISBN 8483106698 (84-8310-669-8)
Softcover, Ediciones Urano
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Destejiendo El Arco Iris'Book summary:Desde la astronomia y la genetica hasta el lenguaje y la realidad virtual, Richard Dawkins nos demuestra -y nos convence con ejemplos irreprochables- que la ciencia tambien entrana belleza; y que el descubrimiento de los mecanismos que rigen los fenomenos naturales no solo no destruye su poesia sino que la ensalza, revelandonos aspectos sorprendentes que de ninguna otra manera podriamos apreciar o imaginar. Con un enorme caudal de citas poeticas, Destejiendo el arco iris sugiere que puede aprenderse mucho de los poetas, que la ciencia deberia saber recurrir a imagenes y metaforas inspiradoras que facilitarian una comprension profunda y una investigacion fertil. / Mysteries don't lose their poetry because they are solved: the solution often is more beautiful than the puzzle, uncovering deeper mysteries. Bestselling author, Dawkins takes up important topics in modern science, from astronomy and genetics to language and virtual reality, combining them in a landmark statement of the human appetite for wonder. [via]
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Genoma: La Autobiografia De Una Especie En 23 Capitulosby Matt RidleyISBN 8430604146 (84-306-0414-6)
Softcover, Santillana USA Pub Co Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Genoma: La Autobiografia De Una Especie En 23 Capitulos'More editions of Genoma: La Autobiografia De Una Especie En 23 Capitulos:
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El Origen De Las Especies/the Origin Of Speciesby Charles DarwinISBN 1583487778 (1-58348-777-8)
Softcover, Iuniverse Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'El Origen De Las Especies/the Origin Of Species'Book summary:Las teorías y pruebas que Darwin expuso en 'El origen de las especies' son definitivas en la comprensión de la naturaleza y en el sustento de los estudios biológicos. Desde su publicación, los conceptos de evolución, adaptación y selección natural se han incorporado a todos los estudios científicos. La resonancia de la obra de Darwin ha impregnado todos los campos del saber, incluidos los de filosofía y religión. [via]
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Dom Oba II D'Africa, O Principe Do Povo: Vida, Tempo E Pensamento De Um Homem Livre De Corby Eduardo da SilvaISBN 8571647232 (85-7164-723-2)
Hardcover, Companhia das Letras
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Dom Oba II D'Africa, O Principe Do Povo: Vida, Tempo E Pensamento De Um Homem Livre De Cor'More editions of Dom Oba II D'Africa, O Principe Do Povo: Vida, Tempo E Pensamento De Um Homem Livre De Cor:
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