The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation

The Origins of Virtue: Human Instincts and the Evolution of Cooperation
Matt Ridley (Author)
(60)

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Organic

If, as Darwin suggests, evolution relentlessly encourages the survival of the fittest, why are humans compelled to live in cooperative, complex societies? In this fascinating examination of the roots of human trust and virtue, a zoologist and former American editor of the Economist reveals the results of recent studies that suggest that self-interest and mutual aid are not at all incompatible. In fact, he points out, our cooperative instincts may have evolved as part of mankind?s natural selfish behavior--by exchanging favors we can benefit ourselves as well as others. Brilliantly orchestrating the newest findings of geneticists, psychologists, and anthropologists, The Origins of Virtue re-examines the everyday assumptions upon which we base our actions towards others, whether in our roles as parents, siblings, or trade partners. With the wit and brilliance of The Red Queen, his acclaimed study of human and animal sexuality, Matt Ridley shows us how breakthroughs in computer programming, microbiology, and economics have given us a new perspective on how and why we relate to each other.

• Rank: #42741 in Books
• Published on: 1998-04-01
• Released on: 1998-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 7.76" h x .59" w x 5.51" l, .45 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Evolution: A Theory In Crisis

Evolution: A Theory In Crisis
Michael Denton (Author)
(83)

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Organic

Michael Denton is an Australian molecular biologist and medical doctor who has lived and worked in London, Toronto and Sydney, and who is best known for his biological research.

• Rank: #246104 in Books
• Published on: 1986-04-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.06" h x .94" w x 5.91" l, 1.10 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Odd Couples

Odd Couples
Daphne J. Fairbairn (Author)
(2)

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Organic

While we joke that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, our gender differences can't compare to those of other animals. For instance: the male garden spider spontaneously dies after mating with a female more than fifty times his size. Female cichlids must guard their eggs and larvae--even from the hungry appetites of their own partners. And male blanket octopuses employ a copulatory arm longer than their own bodies to mate with females that outweigh them by four orders of magnitude. Why do these gender gulfs exist? Introducing readers to important discoveries in animal behavior and evolution, Odd Couples explores some of the most extraordinary sexual differences in the animal world. From the fields of Spain to the deep oceans, evolutionary biologist Daphne Fairbairn uncovers the unique and bizarre characteristics--in size, behavior, ecology, and life history--that exist in these remarkable species and the special strategies they use to maximize reproductive success. Fairbairn describes how male great bustards aggressively compete to display their gorgeous plumage and large physiques to watching, choosey females. She investigates why female elephant seals voluntarily live in harems where they are harassed constantly by eager males. And she reveals why dwarf male giant seadevils parasitically fuse to their giant female partners for life. Fairbairn also considers humans and explains that although we are keenly aware of our own sexual differences, they are unexceptional within the vast animal world.

Looking at some of the most amazing creatures on the planet, Odd Couples sheds astonishing light on what it means to be male or female in the animal kingdom.

• Rank: #293007 in eBooks
• Published on: 2013-04-28
• Released on: 2013-04-28
• Format: Kindle eBook
• Number of items: 1

Sparks of Life: Darwinism and the Victorian Debates over Spontaneous Generation

Sparks of Life: Darwinism and the Victorian Debates over Spontaneous Generation
James E. Strick (Author)
(1)

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Organic

How, asks James E. Strick, could spontaneous generation--the idea that living things can suddenly arise from nonliving materials--come to take root for a time (even a brief one) in so thoroughly unsuitable a field as British natural theology? No less an authority than Aristotle claimed that cases of spontaneous generation were to be observed in nature, and the idea held sway for centuries. Beginning around the time of the Scientific Revolution, however, the doctrine was increasingly challenged; attempts to prove or disprove it led to important breakthroughs in experimental design and laboratory techniques, most notably sterilization methods, that became the cornerstones of modern microbiology and sped the ascendancy of the germ theory of disease.

The Victorian debates, Strick shows, were entwined with the public controversy over Darwin's theory of evolution. While other histories of the debates between 1860 and 1880 have focused largely on the experiments of John Tyndall, Henry Charlton Bastian, and others, Sparks of Life emphasizes previously understudied changes in the theories that underlay the debates. Strick argues that the disputes cannot be understood without full knowledge of the factional infighting among Darwinians themselves, as they struggled to create a socially and scientifically viable form of "Darwinian" science. He shows that even the terms of the debate, such as "biogenesis," usually but incorrectly attributed to Huxley, were intensely contested.

• Rank: #622915 in Books
• Published on: 2000-12-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.57" h x 1.10" w x 6.50" l, 1.34 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 304 pages

Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History

Eight Little Piggies: Reflections in Natural History
Stephen Jay Gould (Author)
(13)

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Organic

What story lies behind the bent tail of an ichthyosaur? How did hearing bones evolve? Is it possible that our five fingers and toes just happened to be and were not ordained? Here are Gould's thoughts on extinction and on the ecological crisis, as he proposes a Golden Rule of our Earth: we should treat all species as we would ourselves. Drawings.

• Rank: #97557 in Books
• Published on: 1993-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 480 pages

Herpetology, Fourth Edition: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles

Herpetology, Fourth Edition: An Introductory Biology of Amphibians and Reptiles
Laurie J. Vitt (Author), Janalee P. Caldwell (Author)

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Organic

The fourth edition of the textbook Herpetology covers the basic biology of amphibians and reptiles, with updates in nearly every conceptual area. Not only does it serve as a solid foundation for modern herpetology courses, but it is also relevant to courses in ecology, behavior, evolution, systematics, and morphology.

Examples taken from amphibians and reptiles throughout the world make this book a useful herpetology textbook in several countries. Naturalists, amateur herpetologists, herpetoculturists, zoo professionals, and many others will find this book readable and full of relevant natural history and distributional information.

Amphibians and reptiles have assumed a central role in research because of the diversity of ecological, physiological, morphological, behavioral, and evolutionary patterns they exhibit. This fully revised edition brings the latest research to the reader, ranging over topics in evolution, reproduction, behavior and more, allowing students and professionals to keep current with a quickly moving field.

• Heavily revised and updated with discussion of squamate (lizard and snake) taxonomy and new content reflected in current literature
• Includes increased focus on conservation biology in herpetology while retaining solid content on organismal biology of reptiles and amphibians
• Presents new photos included from authors' extensive library

• Rank: #378477 in Books
• Published on: 2013-06-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 776 pages

Odd Couples: Extraordinary Differences between the Sexes in the Animal Kingdom

Odd Couples: Extraordinary Differences between the Sexes in the Animal Kingdom
Daphne J. Fairbairn (Author)
(2)

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Organic

While we joke that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, our gender differences can't compare to those of other animals. For instance: the male garden spider spontaneously dies after mating with a female more than fifty times his size. Female cichlids must guard their eggs and larvae--even from the hungry appetites of their own partners. And male blanket octopuses employ a copulatory arm longer than their own bodies to mate with females that outweigh them by four orders of magnitude. Why do these gender gulfs exist? Introducing readers to important discoveries in animal behavior and evolution, Odd Couples explores some of the most extraordinary sexual differences in the animal world. From the fields of Spain to the deep oceans, evolutionary biologist Daphne Fairbairn uncovers the unique and bizarre characteristics--in size, behavior, ecology, and life history--that exist in these remarkable species and the special strategies they use to maximize reproductive success. Fairbairn describes how male great bustards aggressively compete to display their gorgeous plumage and large physiques to watching, choosey females. She investigates why female elephant seals voluntarily live in harems where they are harassed constantly by eager males. And she reveals why dwarf male giant seadevils parasitically fuse to their giant female partners for life. Fairbairn also considers humans and explains that although we are keenly aware of our own sexual differences, they are unexceptional within the vast animal world.

Looking at some of the most amazing creatures on the planet, Odd Couples sheds astonishing light on what it means to be male or female in the animal kingdom.

• Rank: #99237 in Books
• Published on: 2013-04-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 9.02" h x .98" w x 5.98" l, 1.57 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 312 pages

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution

The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
Richard Dawkins (Author)
(409)

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Organic

Richard Dawkins transformed our view of God in his blockbuster, The God Delusion, which sold more than 2 million copies in English alone. He revolutionized the way we see natural selection in the seminal bestseller The Selfish Gene. Now, he launches a fierce counterattack against proponents of "Intelligent Design" in his latest New York Times bestseller, The Greatest Show on Earth. "Intelligent Design" is being taught in our schools; educators are being asked to "teach the controversy" behind evolutionary theory. There is no controversy. Dawkins sifts through rich layers of scientific evidence—from living examples of natural selection to clues in the fossil record; from natural clocks that mark the vast epochs wherein evolution ran its course to the intricacies of developing embryos; from plate tectonics to molecular genetics—to make the airtight case that "we find ourselves perched on one tiny twig in the midst of a blossoming and flourishing tree of life and it is no accident, but the direct consequence of evolution by non-random selection." His unjaded passion for the natural world turns what might have been a negative argument, exposing the absurdities of the creationist position, into a positive offering to the reader: nothing less than a master’s vision of life, in all its splendor.

• Rank: #35270 in Books
• Published on: 2010-08-24
• Released on: 2010-08-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.34" h x 6.48" w x 8.48" l, 1.06 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Extinct for a Reason: A Field Guide to Failimals and Evolosers (No)

Extinct for a Reason: A Field Guide to Failimals and Evolosers (No)
Scott Cooney (Author), Aaron Adler (Author)

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Organic

Before there was Darwin, before there was man’s best friend, there were . . . Failimals. The Royal Failimal Society presents the Unchameleon, Bipolar Bear, Emo Emu, and other Darwin-defiant animals that, though fascinating, have clearly become extinct for a reason. The culmination of years of research, study, and observation across each continent and every era, Extinct for a Reason is the definitive field guide to the hows, whys, and whats of Failimals and Evolosers. With colorful illustrations and vital information on everything from mating habits to defense mechanisms, this book is a must-have for any species considering undergoing the evolutionary process. Learn how to avoid common mistakes, such as: Alienating oneself from one's peers (see: Goth Sloth) Refusing to admit one's genes are improperly sized (see: Muffintopotamus) Having dangerously high levels of charisma (see: Elvisaurus) Weeded out but still proud, the curious creatures collected within serve as a warning to ambitious animals everywhere: Evolve with Caution.

• Rank: #3584846 in Books
• Published on: 2013-05-21
• Released on: 2013-05-21
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 7.87" h x .39" w x 7.87" l, .84 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages