This book introduces the reader to the exciting new field of plant philosophy and takes it in a new direction to ask: what does it mean to say that plants are sexed? Do 'male' and 'female' really mean the same when applied to humans, trees, fungi and algae? Are the zoological categories of sex really adequate for understanding the - uniquely 'dibiontic' - life cycle of plants? Vegetal Sex addresses these questions through a detailed analysis of major moments in the history of plant sex, from Aristotle to the modern day. Tracing the transformations in the analogy between animals and plants that characterize this history, it shows how the analogy still functions in contemporary botany and asks: what would a non-zoocentric, plant-centred philosophy of vegetal sex be like? By showing how philosophy and botany have been and still are inextricably entwined, Vegetal Sex allows us to think vegetal being and, perhaps, to recognize the vegetal in us all.

'A brilliant book [that] shows a way out of the destructive trap of Anthropocentric arrogance.' Vandana Shiva, from the Foreword Biocivilisations is a fascinating, original and important exploration into how complex civilisations existed on Earth long before humans. What is life? This is arguably the most important question in all of science. Many scientists believe life can be reduced to ‘mechanistic’ factors, such as genes and information codes. Everything can be sequenced and explained. But in a world as rich and complex as this one, can such an assertion really be true? A growing army of scientists, philosophers and artists do not share this mechanistic vision for the science of life. The gene metaphor is not only too simplistic but also misleading. If there is a way to reduce life to a single principle, how does that principle acknowledge the creativity of life that turns both genetic and information determinism on their heads? Biocivilisations is a groundbreaking book exploring the mysteries of life and its deep uncertainty. Dr Predrag Slijep�ević turns anthropocentric scientific thinking on its head, showing how the humble bacteria created the equivalent of cities and connected them with information highways, bringing our planet to life three thousand million years ago. He explains how bacteria, amoebas, plants, insects, birds, whales, elephants and countless other species not only preceded human beings but also demonstrate elements of complex civilisation – communication, agriculture, science, art, medicine and more – that we associate with human achievement. More than 99.99 percent of life on Earth has existed without humanity, and life will continue without humans long into the future. Biocivilisations is an important rethinking of the current scientific paradigm. It challenges us to reconsider the limited scope and time-window of our current ‘scientific revolution’ and to fundamentally reimagine what we call ‘life on Earth’.

In response to enormous recent advances, particularly in molecular biology, the authors have revised their warmly received work. This new edition includes updates on seed development, gene expression, dormancy, and other subjects. It will serve as the field's standard textbook and reference source for many years to come.

With Genetics Essentials: Concepts and Connections, Ben Pierce presents an approachable genetics text that focuses on major genetic concepts and how they connect, giving students a foothold in a complex subject. Similar in approach to Ben Pierce's popular and acclaimed Genetics: A Conceptual Approach, this streamlined text covers basic transmission, molecular, and population genetics in just 18 chapters, helping students uncover major concepts of genetics and make connections among those concepts as a way of gaining a richer understanding of the essentials of genetics. The new edition of Genetics Essentials is now supported in Achieve, Macmillan's new online learning platform. The new 5th edition continues this mission by expanding upon the powerful pedagogy and tools that have made this title so successful. New question types, more learning guidelines for students, and an updated art program round out a powerful text, and improvements to the online resources in our newest platform, Achieve, give students the conceptual and problem solving understanding they need for success. Achieve is Macmillan's new online learning platform that supports educators and students throughout the full range of instruction, including assets suitable for pre-class preparation, in-class active learning, and post-class study and assessment. The pairing of a powerful new platform with outstanding biology content provides an unrivaled learning experience.

Ecology: The Economy of Nature teaches students the basic concepts in ecology through an evolutionary perspective with an emphasis on data analytic skill building, and new in class activities designed to improve student engagement. Available for the first time with Macmillan's new online learning tool, Achieve, Ecology: The Economy of Nature takes students through all of the key concepts of an ecology course. It challenges them along the way with questions that encourage critical thinking, whether about chapter concepts, quantitative tools, or figures. Achieve for Ecology: The Economy of Nature connects the interactive features and real-world examples in the book to rich digital resources that foster further understanding and application of ecology. Assets in Achieve support learning before, during, and after class for students, while providing instructors with class performance analytics in an easy-to-use interface.

The Sunday Times Bestseller A new, fully updated narrative edition of David Attenborough's seminal biography of our world, The Living Planet. Nowhere on our planet is devoid of life. Plants and animals thrive or survive within every extreme of climate and habitat that it offers. Single species, and often whole communities adapt to make the most of ice cap and tundra, forest and plain, desert, ocean and volcano. These adaptations can be truly extraordinary: fish that walk or lay eggs on leaves in mid-air; snakes that fly; flightless birds that graze like deer; and bears that grow hair on the soles of their feet. In The Living Planet, David Attenborough's searching eye, unfailing curiosity and infectious enthusiasm explain and illuminate the intricate lives of the these colonies, from the lonely heights of the Himalayas to the wild creatures that have established themselves in the most recent of environments, the city. By the end of this book it is difficult to say which is the more astonishing - the ingenuity with which individual species contrive a living, or the complexity of their interdependence on each other and on the habitations provided by our planet. In this new edition, the author, with the help of zoologist Matthew Cobb, has added all the most up-to-date discoveries of ecology and biology, as well as a full-colour 64-page photography section. He also addresses the urgent issues facing our living planet: climate change, pollution and mass extinction of species.