Author: David Bainbridge
Publisher: White Lion Publishing
ISBN: 0711252262
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 259
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Book Description
Humankind’s fascination with the animal kingdom began as a matter of survival – differentiating the edible from the toxic, the ferocious from the tractable. Since then, our compulsion to catalogue wildlife has played a key role in growing our understanding of the planet and ourselves, inspiring religious beliefs and evolving scientific theories. The book unveils wild truths and even wilder myths about animals, as perpetuated by zoologists – revealing how much more there is to learn, and unlearn. Animals were among the first subjects ever drawn by humans. Long before Darwin or Watson and Crick, our ancestors studied the visual similarities and differences between the creatures which inhabit the Earth alongside us. Early savants could sense there was an order, a scheme, which unified all life. The schemes they formulated often tell us as much about ourselves as they do about the animals depicted, highlighting obsessions, fears, revelations and hopes. The human quest to classify living beings has left us with a rich artistic legacy in four great stages—the folklore and religiosity of the ancient and Medieval world; the naturalistic cataloging of the Enlightenment; the evolutionary trees and maps of the nineteenth century; and the modern, computer-hued classificatory labyrinth. The aim of this book is to tell the story of our systematization of the beasts. These charts of the zoological world parallel prevailing artistic trends and scientific discoveries, woven together with philosophical threads that run throughout: animal life as parable, a tree, a maze, a terra incognita, a mirror upon ourselves.
Author: David Bainbridge
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
ISBN: 0711252270
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 259
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Book Description
Humankind’s fascination with the animal kingdom began as a matter of survival – differentiating the edible from the toxic, the ferocious from the tractable. Since then, our compulsion to catalogue wildlife has played a key role in growing our understanding of the planet and ourselves, inspiring religious beliefs and evolving scientific theories. The book unveils wild truths and even wilder myths about animals, as perpetuated by zoologists – revealing how much more there is to learn, and unlearn. Long before Darwin, our ancestors were obsessed with the visual similarities and differences between the animals. Early scientists could sense there was an order that unified all life and formulated a variety of schemes to help illustrate this. This human quest to classify living beings has left us with a rich artistic legacy, from the folklore and religiosity of the ancient and Medieval world through the naturalistic cataloging of the Enlightenment to the modern, computer-generated classificatory labyrinth. This book tells the fascinating, visual story of this process. The wonderful zoological charts reflect prevailing artistic trends and scientific discoveries, as well as telling us as much about ourselves as they do about the creatures depicted.
Author: Fiona Danks
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
ISBN: 1781011141
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 182
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Book Description
The stick is a universal toy. Totally natural, all-purpose, free, it offers limitless opportunities for outdoor play and adventure and it provides a starting point for an active imagination and the raw material for transformation into almost anything! As New York's Strong National Museum of Play pointd out when they selected a stick for inclusion in their National Toy Hall of Fame, 'It can be a Wild West horse, a medieval knight's sword, a boat on a stream, or a slingshot with a rubber band . . .' In this book Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield offer masses of suggestions for things to do with a stick, in the way of adventures and bushcraft, creative and imaginative play, games, woodcraft and conservation, music and more.
Author: Fiona Danks
Publisher: Frances Lincoln
ISBN: 178101115X
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 128
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Book Description
Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield are back with more wonderful ideas for fun outdoors even in the most challenging weather! Imagine - jumping in the biggest puddle you can find! - Or running barefoot and feeling squidgy mud ooze up between your toes! - Or run up the nearest hill to feel the wind try to carry you away! When it’s wet, or windy or cold, there’s no need to stay cooped up indoors; it’s a great opportunity to rush outside for some fun. - Go on an animal hunt and find the creatures that come out in the wet. - Fly a kite in the wind and catch falling leaves. - Take your camera into a white world and see how many different icy patterns and shapes you can find. There are loads of exciting and creative things you can do in the natural world when the weather’s wild. So don’t wait for the sun: take this book with you and go outdoors for a wild weather adventure!
Author: David Bainbridge
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691235929
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 277
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Book Description
An illustrated look at the art and science of paleontology from its origins to today Humans have been stumbling upon the petrified remains of ancient animals since prehistoric times, leading to tales of giant dogs, deadly dragons, tree gods, sea serpents, and all manner of strange and marvelous creatures. In this richly illustrated book, David Bainbridge recounts how legends like these gradually gave rise to the modern science of paleontology, and how this pioneering discipline has reshaped our view of the natural world. Bainbridge takes readers from ancient Greece to the eighteenth century, when paleontology began to coalesce into the scientific field we know today, and discusses how contemporary paleontologists use cutting-edge technologies to flesh out the discoveries of past and present. He brings to life the stories and people behind some of the greatest fossil finds of all time, and explains how paleontology has long straddled the spheres of science and art. Bainbridge also looks to the future of the discipline, discussing how the rapid recovery of DNA and other genetic material from the fossil record promises to revolutionize our understanding of the origins and evolution of ancient life. This panoramic book brings together stunning illustrations ranging from early sketches and engravings to eye-popping paleoart and high-tech computer reconstructions.
Author: Polly Goodman
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780750251662
Category : Animal diversity
Languages : en
Pages : 48
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Book Description
An accessible guide to classification and diversity. Find out about the characteristics, life cycles, and habitats of each group. Discover how plants and animals make food, grow, reproduce and adapt to different habitats. Learn about extinction and why it is important to protect diversity for the future.
Author: Geoffrey Smith
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Evolution
Languages : en
Pages : 176
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Book Description
Author: Arik Kershenbaum
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241986850
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 368
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Book Description
DISCOVER HOW LIFE REALLY WORKS - ON EARTH AND IN SPACE 'A wonderfully insightful sidelong look at Earthly biology' Richard Dawkins 'Crawls with curious facts' Sunday Times _________________________ We are unprepared for the greatest discovery of modern science. Scientists are confident that there is alien life across the universe yet we have not moved beyond our perception of 'aliens' as Hollywood stereotypes. The time has come to abandon our fixation on alien monsters and place our expectations on solid scientific footing. Using his own expert understanding of life on Earth and Darwin's theory of evolution - which applies throughout the universe - Cambridge zoologist Dr Arik Kershenbaum explains what alien life must be like. This is the story of how life really works, on Earth and in space. _________________________ 'An entertaining, eye-opening and, above all, a hopeful view of what - or who - might be out there in the cosmos' Philip Ball, author of Nature's Patterns 'A fascinating insight into the deepest of questions: what might an alien actually look like' Lewis Dartnell, author of Origins 'If you don't want to be surprised by extraterrestrial life, look no further than this lively overview of the laws of evolution that have produced life on earth' Frans de Waal, author of Mama's Last Hug
Author: Frank E. Zachos
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319449664
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 227
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Book Description
Frank E. Zachos offers a comprehensive review of one of today’s most important and contentious issues in biology: the species problem. After setting the stage with key background information on the topic, the book provides a brief history of species concepts from antiquity to the Modern Synthesis, followed by a discussion of the ontological status of species with a focus on the individuality thesis and potential means of reconciling it with other philosophical approaches. More than 30 different species concepts found in the literature are presented in an annotated list, and the most important ones, including the Biological, Genetic, Evolutionary and different versions of the Phylogenetic Species Concept, are discussed in more detail. Specific questions addressed include the problem of asexual and prokaryotic species, intraspecific categories like subspecies and Evolutionarily Significant Units, and a potential solution to the species problem based on a hierarchical approach that distinguishes between ontological and operational species concepts. A full chapter is dedicated to the challenge of delimiting species by means of a discrete taxonomy in a continuous world of inherently fuzzy boundaries. Further, the book outlines the practical ramifications for ecology and evolutionary biology of how we define the species category, highlighting the danger of an apples and oranges problem if what we subsume under the same name (“species”) is in actuality a variety of different entities. A succinct summary chapter, glossary and annotated list of references round out the coverage, making the book essential reading for all biologists looking for an accessible introduction to the historical, philosophical and practical dimensions of the species problem.
Author: Guillaume Lecointre
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 9780674021839
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 568
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Book Description
Did you know that you are more closely related to a mushroom than to a daisy? That dinosaurs are still among us? That the terms "fish" and "invertebrates" do not indicate scientific groupings? All this is the result of major changes in classification. This book diagrams the tree of life according to the most recent methods of this system.
