The essential one-volume reference to evolutionThe Princeton Guide to Evolution is a comprehensive, concise, and authoritative reference to the major subjects and key concepts in evolutionary biology, from genes to mass extinctions.
A critical examination of James Lovelock's controversial Gaia hypothesisOne of the enduring questions about our planet is how it has remained continuously habitable over vast stretches of geological time despite the fact that its atmosphere and climate are potentially unstable.
The remarkable and unique ways that male and female animals play out gender roles in natureWhile we joke that men are from Mars and women are from Venus, our gender differences can't compare to those of many other animals.
The remarkable scientific story of how Earth became an oxygenated planetThe air we breathe is twenty-one percent oxygen, an amount higher than on any other known world.
Intended for all readers--including magicians, detectives, musicians, orthopedic surgeons, and anthropologists--this book offers a thorough account of that most intriguing and most human of appendages: the hand.
A revolutionary approach to the study of cooperation that unites evolutionary biology and the social sciencesFrom the family to the workplace to the marketplace, every facet of our lives is shaped by cooperative interactions.
The mysterious and remarkable ways that animals navigateWe know that animals cross miles of water, land, and sky with pinpoint precision on a daily basis.
The science of change from cells to cultureCells to Civilizations is the first unified account of how life transforms itself-from the production of bacteria to the emergence of complex civilizations.
How our stone-age brains made modern society, and why it matters for relationships between men and womenAs countless love songs, movies, and self-help books attest, men and women have long sought different things.
Whether our personality, intelligence, and behavior are more likely to be shaped by our environment or our genetic coding is not simply an idle question for today's researchers.
Harnessing evolution for more sustainable agricultureAs human populations grow and resources are depleted, agriculture will need to use land, water, and other resources more efficiently and without sacrificing long-term sustainability.
This book provides a first synthetic view of an emerging area of ecology and biogeography, linking individual- and population-level processes to geographic distributions and biodiversity patterns.
Opticsa field of physics focusing on the study of lightis also central to many areas of biology, including vision, ecology, botany, animal behavior, neurobiology, and molecular biology.
An illustrated guide to how birds design and build their nestsBirds are the most consistently inventive builders, and their nests set the bar for functional design in nature.
The ultimate field manual for identifying distant raptorsThe ultimate must-have guide for identifying migrant raptors, Hawks at a Distance is the first volume to focus on distant raptors as they are truly seen in the field.
A complete illustrated guide to these enigmatic seabirdsPetrels, albatrosses, and storm-petrels are among the most beautiful yet least known of all the world's birds, living their lives at sea far from the sight of most people.
A comprehensive introduction to tropical ecologyThis full-color illustrated textbook offers the first comprehensive introduction to all major aspects of tropical ecology.
Pollination and Floral Ecology is the most comprehensive single-volume reference to all aspects of pollination biology--and the first fully up-to-date resource of its kind to appear in decades.
Phase transitions--changes between different states of organization in a complex system--have long helped to explain physics concepts, such as why water freezes into a solid or boils to become a gas.
A fascinating look at the evolutionary origins of cooperationWhy do humans, uniquely among animals, cooperate in large numbers to advance projects for the common good?
A new approach to understanding animal and human cognitionWhen a chimpanzee stockpiles rocks as weapons or when a frog sends out mating calls, we might easily assume these animals know their own motivations--that they use the same psychological mechanisms that we do.
In Enhancing Evolution, leading bioethicist John Harris dismantles objections to genetic engineering, stem-cell research, designer babies, and cloning and makes an ethical case for biotechnology that is both forthright and rigorous.
The world's parrots in one convenient field guideFrom the macaws of South America to the cockatoos of Australia, parrots are among the most beautiful and exotic birds in the world-and among the most endangered.
How honeybees make collective decisions-and what we can learn from this amazing democratic processHoneybees make decisions collectively-and democratically.
Millions of years ago in the Cretaceous period, the mighty Tyrannosaurus rex--with its dagger-like teeth for tearing its prey to ribbons--was undoubtedly the fiercest carnivore to roam the Earth.
Seeds of Amazonian Plants is the first field guide to treat the extraordinary diversity of seeds and diaspores of plants commonly encountered in the Amazon and other lowland moist forests of the American tropics.
The major subdisciplines of ecology--population ecology, community ecology, ecosystem ecology, and evolutionary ecology--have diverged increasingly in recent decades.
China's stunning diversity of natural habitats--from parched deserts to lush tropical forests--is home to more than 10 percent of the world's mammal species.
In Moby-Dick, Ishmael declares, "e;Be it known that, waiving all argument, I take the good old fashioned ground that a whale is a fish, and call upon holy Jonah to back me.
Noted biologist and author John Tyler Bonner has experimented with cellular slime molds for more than sixty years, and he has done more than anyone else to raise these peculiar collections of amoebae from a minor biological curiosity to a major model organism--one that is widely studied for clues to the development and evolution of all living things.
