Philosophy of Biology is a rapidly expanding field. It is concerned with explanatory concepts in evolution, genetics, and ecology. This collection of 25 essays by leading researchers provides an overview of the state of the field. These essays are wholly new; none of them could have been written even ten years ago. They demonstrate how philosophical analysis has been able to contribute to sometimes contested areas of scientific theory making.
-Written by internationally acknowledged leaders in the field
- Entries make original contributions as well as summarizing state of the art discoveries in the field
- Easy to read and understand

Based on material delivered at several summer schools, this book is the first comprehensive textbook at the graduate level encompassing all aspects associated with the emerging field of astrobiology.

Volume II gathers another set of extensive lectures covering topics so diverse as the formation and the distribution of elements in the universe, the concept of habitability from both the planetologists' and the biologists' point of view and artificial life. The contributions are held together by the common goal to understand better the origin of life, its evolution and possible existence outside the Earth's realm.
The volume ends with 120 pages of a very useful appendix comprising "Some Astrophysical Reminders," "Useful Astrobiological Data" and "An Astrobiological Glossary."

This latest volume provides a comprehensive review of the latest developments and research studies on the pathogenesis and molecular biology of human congenital infections. It reviews current diagnostic techniques and epidemiological data while describing the progress in research and understanding of continuing prevention of congenital infections and prognosis.

All too plausibly, it seems, popes and scientists are warning us of impending collapse-yet humanity and our fellow creatures could still be looking forward to a long and glorious future: at least a million years of peace and personal fulfilment, with abundant and diverse wildlife. But to achieve this we need to re-think everything that we do and take for granted, from the day-to-day mundanities of growing and cooking, to the economy and methods of governance, to the most arcane reaches of science and metaphysics. It all amounts to nothing less than a Renaissance-a re-birth-and the Renaissance to come must be driven and led by us, ordinary Joes and Jos, because the oligarchy of governments, corporates, financiers, and their attendant intellectuals who now dominate the world have largely lost touch with the moral and ecological realities of life. The transformation won't be easy but-the good news!-millions of grassroots initiatives of all kinds the world over are already moving in the right directions.

This book (hardcover) is part of the TREDITION CLASSICS. It contains classical literature works from over two thousand years. Most of these titles have been out of print and off the bookstore shelves for decades. The book series is intended to preserve the cultural legacy and to promote the timeless works of classical literature. Readers of a TREDITION CLASSICS book support the mission to save many of the amazing works of world literature from oblivion. With this series, tredition intends to make thousands of international literature classics available in printed format again - worldwide.

Acknowledgement
This book is the result of a collective effort. Due to an oversight, mention of three of the contributors who played an especially decisive role in bringing the work to fruition was omitted from the book. They should share fully in the intellectual credits accruing from this publication. I would therefore like to acknowledge and thank the following for their outstanding contributions to editing the work:
Dr. Morten Dornonville la Cour (MD, Dr. Med. Sci.) solicited and edited the chapters on retina, RPE, choroid, vitreous, immunology, and sclera. Dr. la Cour is a Lecturer, Eye Department, Copenhagen University Hospital, specializes in vitreoretinal surgery, and frequently lectures in the international scene. A trained mathematician, he has done research in retinal pigment epithelial physiology in the laboratories of Drs. Thomas Zeuthen and Sheldon Miller.
Dr. Friedrich P.J. Diecke and Dr. Elliott M. Kanner also provided invaluable editorial assistance. Dr Diecke, who was formerly Professor and Chairman of the Department of Physiology, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, is a Professor Emeritus at that institution. His research has concentrated on membrane transport mechanisms in lens epithelial cells, corneal endothelial cells and peripheral nerve and on the regulation of vascular smooth muscle contraction. Dr. Elliott M. Kanner was born in Canada in 1970. He graduated from Yale University in 1992 with a BS/MS degree in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry. He received his PhD degree from the Rockefeller University in 1999 and his MD degree from Weill/Cornell in 2001. He is currently an Ophthalmology resident at Columbia University.
Jorge Fischbarg, December 2005
This book explores the many recent novel ideas about the eye in a systematic and synthetic way. It includes both basic sciences and applications towards clinical research. Chapters include both anatomical and functional descriptions of the different ocular tissues and treatments of a few subjects of practical importance for ophthalmologists. This book is intended for students in basic biomedical science interested in the eye, as well as ophthalmologists a comprehensive source on recent developments in ocular research.
* Combines basic science and practical opthalmological subjects
* Written with the simplicity of a textbook, while maintaining the comprehensive and rigorous approach of science papers
* Includes contributions by well-known experts

The book deals with the role of both oxygen- and nitrogen-centred free radicals in inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. The well-known involvement of the superoxide anion radical in the bactericidal action of inflammatory cells suggests that radicals and the inflammatory response are inextricably linked. The widespread involvement of radicals in human disease seems inevitable, because inflammation is such a conspicuous component of human disease. For the first time, the present text integrates contributions from leading research groups who have been investigating the role of radicals within the context of all stages of inflammtion, such as the recruitment of inflammatory cells, their bactericidal action, inflammatory tissue destruction and inflammatory cell death by apoptosis. The chapters are broadly organised so that they trace the clinical course of the acute and chronic inflammtory response, emphasising the therapeutic implications of recent data on the contribution of nitric oxide and related nitrogen-centred species. The book will be of interest to academic and industrial researchers and clinicians with interests in the fields of inflammation or free radical biology.

Purposefully designed as a resource for practicing and student toxicologists, Statistics and Experimental Design for Toxicologists and Pharmacologists, Fourth Edition equips you for the regular statistical analysis of experimental data. Starting with the assumption of basic mathematical skills and knowledge, the author supplies a complete and systematic yet practical introduction to the statistical methodologists available for, and used in, the discipline. For every technique presented, a worked example from toxicology is also presented. See what's new in the Fourth Edition: -The first practical guide to performing meta analysis allowing for using the power inherent in multiple similar studies -Coverage of Bayesian analysis and data analysis in pharmacology and toxicology -Almost 200 problems with solutions -Discussion of analysis of receptor binding assays, safety pharmacology assays and other standard types conducted in pharmacology -A new chapter explaining the basics of Good Laboratory Practices (GLPs) -For those with computer skills, this edition has been enhanced with the addition of basic SAS Written specifically for toxicologists and pharmacologists, the author draws on more than 30 years of experience to provide understanding of the philosophical underpinnings for the overall structure of analysis. The book's organization fosters the ordered development of skills and yet still facilitates ease of access to information as needed. This Fourth Edition gives you the tools necessary to perform rigorous and critical analysis of experimental data and the insight to know when to use them.

What is the actual basis of terms such as "goal," "function," and "for the sake of"? Can these teleological concepts be validly applied to non-conscious biological processes such as the heartbeat, plant growth, and cellular metabolism? Does the behavior of any inanimate objects, natural or man-made, qualify as goal-directed? To resolve these issues, Harry Binswanger provides a unique approach combining factual and epistemological considerations. If human purposeful action is the paradigm case of goal-directed action, then regarding a non-purposeful process as goal-directed means taking it to be causally similar to purposeful action. Accordingly, to determine the proper extent of teleological concepts, Binswanger provides an analysis of purposeful action and a point-by-point comparison of the features of purposeful action to those of vegetative and inanimate processes. He concludes that natural selection, in adapting actions to ends with survival value, does make all living action qualify as goal-directed, and that no inanimate process qualifies. An appendix compares Binswanger's views with those of Larry Wright and Andrew Woodfield.

This volume is an interdisciplinary book which introduces, in a very readable way, state-of-the-art research in the fundamental topics of mathematical modelling of Biosystems. In short, the book offers an overview of mathematical and computational modelling of biosystems including biological phenomena in general. There is also a special introduction to Protein Physics which aims to explain the all-or-none first order phase transitions from native to denatured states.

This 2nd edition begins with an overview of NMR development and applications in biological systems. It describes recent developments in instrument hardware and methodology. Chapters highlight the scope and limitation of NMR methods. While detailed math and quantum mechanics dealing with NMR theory have been addressed in several well-known NMR volumes, chapter two of this volume illustrates the fundamental principles and concepts of NMR spectroscopy in a more descriptive manner. Topics such as instrument setup, data acquisition, and data processing using a variety of offline software are discussed. Chapters further discuss several routine stategies for preparing samples, especially for macromolecules and complexes. The target market for such a volume includes researchers in the field of biochemistry, chemistry, structural biology and biophysics.

Salicylic acid (SA) was first discovered as a major component in the extracts from Salix (willow) whose bark from ancient time, was used as an anti-inflammatory drug. This acid (SA) is a phenol, ubiquitous in plants generating a significant impact on plant growth and development, photosynthesis, transpiration, ion uptake and transport and also induces specific changes in leaf anatomy and chloroplast structure. SA is recognized as an endogenous signal, mediating in plant defence, against pathogens.This book includes contributions made by various experts, spread over the world. Since the work on Salicylic Acid is currently rather scattered it was thought prudent to draw this all together in one volume. This will naturally facilitate a ready reference of the material to students and researchers, alike.

Recent decades have witnessed the thriving development of new mathematical, computational and theoretical approaches, such as bioinformatics and neuroinformatics, to tackle fundamental issues in biology. These approaches focus no longer on individual units, such as nerve cells or genes, but rather on dynamic patterns of interactions between them. This volume explores the concept in full, featuring contributions from a global group of contributors, many of whom are pre-eminent in their field.

This is the first monograph on computation in living cells - one of the central and fastest growing areas of research in this field. Gene assembly in ciliates (unicellular organisms) is a splendid example of such computations. This work has helped to clarify important biological aspects of gene assembly, yielded novel insights into the nature of computation, and broadened our understanding of what computation is about. The monograph gives an accessible account of both the biology and the formal analysis of the gene assembly process. It can be used as a textbook for either graduate courses or seminars.