A biology professor's illuminating tour of the physical imperfections--from faulty knees to junk DNA--that make us human. "A funny, fascinating catalog of our collective shortcomings that's tough to put down."--Discover We humans like to think of ourselves as highly evolved creatures. But if we are supposedly evolution's greatest creation, why do we have such bad knees? Why do we catch head colds so often--two hundred times more often than a dog does? How come our wrists have so many useless bones? Why is the vast majority of our genetic code pointless? And are we really supposed to swallow and breathe through the same narrow tube? Surely there's been some kind of mistake? As professor of biology Nathan H. Lents explains in Human Errors, our evolutionary history is indeed nothing if not a litany of mistakes, each more entertaining and enlightening than the last. The human body is one big pile of compromises. But that is also a testament to our greatness: as Lents shows, humans have so many design flaws precisely because we are very, very good at getting around them. A rollicking, deeply informative tour of humans' four-billion-year-and-counting evolutionary saga, Human Errors both celebrates our imperfections and offers an unconventional accounting of the cost of our success.

How did an obscure academic idea pave the way to the Holocaust within just fifty years? Why does eugenics still loom large in the 21st century, despite its genocidal past? Did eugenics work? Could it work? Or was it always a pseudoscientific fantasy? Throughout history, people have sought to reduce suffering, eliminate disease and enhance desirable qualities in their children. In the Victorian era eugenics, a full-blooded attempt to impose control over unruly biology, began to grow among the powerful and quickly spread to dozens of countries around the world. But these ideas are not merely historical: today, with new gene editing techniques, conversations are happening about tinkering with the DNA of our unborn children to make them smarter, fitter, stronger. Deeply steeped in contemporary genetics, CONTROL offers a vital account of one of the defining - and most destructive - ideas of the twentieth century.

Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Physiology is the science of life, and sets out to understand how living things work and what makes them distinct from the non-living. It considers how our bodies are supplied with energy, how they maintain their internal parameters, the ways in which we gather and process information, the ways we take action, and the creation of new generations. This Very Short Introduction explores the field of human physiology, considering how the body works, senses, reacts, and defends itself. As Jamie A. Davies shows, human life (and indeed, all life) is sustained by the interplay of a wide variety of physiological mechanisms and principles. He discusses the physiological experiments and research undertaken to understand these processes, and analyses the ethical issues involved. He also considers the evolution of the scientific field itself, showing how enhanced understandings of physiological knowledge can help inform medical research and care. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

With 2003 being the 100th anniversary of modern aviation, Passenger Behaviour was published at a milestone for the aviation industry. Remarkable achievements in engineering have made air travel highly accessible within the span of a single lifetime. However, when evolutionary barriers are exceeded various penalties are exacted. The most common experienced by air passengers include motion sickness, jetlag and increased arousal and stress at different stages of flight. Air travel also brings us into closer contact with strangers, making our examination and understanding of the social psychology of behaviour within groups (among passengers) especially relevant. This book examines a wide range of topics that help the reader to acquire a psychological understanding of how air travel impacts on human relationships; behaviour as well as physiological functions. Written by leading authorities in their areas, it is intended primarily for those with an interest in passenger behaviour and those who work professionally in commercial aviation. This includes pilots, cabin crew, ground staff, airline and airport managers, aviation psychologists, human factors specialists, aerospace medical/nursing personnel and aircraft designers and manufacturers. As air travel being an integral part of most people's lives, this book will also be of interest to anyone who travels either on a frequent or infrequent basis.

Bio-Architecture studies the natural principles of animal and human constructions from several different perspectives, and presents a great part of the knowledge that gives origin and shape to built form.
Organic architecture offers a design approach arising from natural principles, bringing us back to local history, tradition, and cultural roots to give us built forms which are in harmony with nature. It also shows how architects can take advantage of the resources that contemporary technology has placed within our grasp.
Bio-Architecture is a unique book that studies the natural principles of animal and human constructions from several different perspectives and looks at what gives origin and shape to built form. The text gives an informative, inspiring overview of the drive toward organically informed design both intrinsically and aesthetically using a wide variety of international examples.
Javier Senosiain is an architect and an historian. He has pursued his interest in Organic Architecture across the globe drawing parallels between Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic dome and the spider's web; between Santiago Calatrava's Cathedral of St John in NY and the roots of a tree. Where nature has inspired form, Senosiain has made a career of analyzing and applying the principles he sees in some very creative writing and architecture.
* Beautiful book inspires readers to design with the environment in mind
* Comparative study of the engineering principles in nature and built structures outlines the fundamentals of architectural design
* International examples show how architects use different locations and climates to inform specific biological forms and techniques

This fascinating, multi-disciplinary volume weaves together the fields of biology, archaeology, anthropology and history to produce a stimulating and wide-ranging analysis of the biological history of past human populations. Research methods, theoretical approaches and the outcomes of research are all fully explored, and contributions to the book are made by an eminent mix of experts in the afore-mentioned fields.
Comprehensive in its coverage of the subject, chapters include discussions on adaptation and the English demographic regime; British polygyny, warfare and population structure; and a human ecological approach to the interface of history and biology.
A unique interlacing of human biology and history, this book will encourage further reflection and debate and presents a fresh perspective to the subject for students and professionals across all levels in biology, archaeology, anthroplogy and social history.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203217594

Evolutionary science is critical to an understanding of integrated human biology and is increasingly recognised as a core discipline by medical and public health professionals. Advances in the field of genomics, epigenetics, developmental biology, and epidemiology have led to the growing realisation that incorporating evolutionary thinking is essential for medicine to achieve its full potential. This revised and updated second edition of the first comprehensive textbook of evolutionary medicine explains the principles of evolutionary biology from a medical perspective and focuses on how medicine and public health might utilise evolutionary thinking. It is written to be accessible to a broad range of readers, whether or not they have had formal exposure to evolutionary science. The general structure of the second edition remains unchanged, with the initial six chapters providing a summary of the evolutionary theory relevant to understanding human health and disease, using examples specifically relevant to medicine. The second part of the book describes the application of evolutionary principles to understanding particular aspects of human medicine: in addition to updated chapters on reproduction, metabolism, and behaviour, there is an expanded chapter on our coexistence with micro-organisms and an entirely new chapter on cancer. The two parts are bridged by a chapter that details pathways by which evolutionary processes affect disease risk and symptoms, and how hypotheses in evolutionary medicine can be tested. The final two chapters of the volume are considerably expanded; they illustrate the application of evolutionary biology to medicine and public health, and consider the ethical and societal issues of an evolutionary perspective. A number of new clinical examples and historical illustrations are included. This second edition of a novel and popular textbook provides an updated resource for doctors and other health professionals, medical students and biomedical scientists, as well as anthropologists interested in human health, to gain a better understanding of the evolutionary processes underlying human health and disease.

The diversity of contemporary investigative approaches included in this volume provides an exciting account of our current understanding of brain mechanisms responsible for sensory and perceptual experience in the areas of touch, kinesthesia, and pain.
Postgraduate research students in sensory physiology, neurology, psychology and anatomy, and researchers themselves will find that this volume addresses many of the key issues in our attempts to understand the neural mechanisms that mediate sensory experience arising from the body as a whole, the so-called somatic senses, in particular for touch and pain. The volume provides a record of the occasion of the St Petersburg IUPS symposium, chaired by the editors of this volume, and includes some added recent contributions from other leading international figures in the field. Brought together under the sponsoring banner of the IUPS Commission for Somatosensory Physiology and Pain, these scientists with their different experimental approaches seek collectively to understand the brain mechanisms that underlie our own nature and experience.

This volume dealing with the male body in the iconography of fascism reflects an ambition rather than an achievement. The supremacy of the global fascist superman never became a reality but was certainly an intention. This work explores the use of the image of the male body for this purpose in European, American and Asian fascism of varying degrees and various interpretations, and the differences and similarities involved. Among the similarities isthe fact that sport in all the cases in this volume was at the centre of the induction of the male body (and mind) into martial self-sacrifice. Sport was an important part of fascist socialization. The reasons are not hard to find. Sport develops muscle and muscle is equated with power - literally and metaphorically. War, the essence of fascism, demands physical fitness and sport helps promote this fitness. Competitive sport can help develop attitudes of aggression and aggression is essential in war.

This volume dealing with the male body in the iconography of fascism reflects an ambition rather than an achievement. The supremacy of the global fascist superman never became a reality but was certainly an intention. This work explores the use of the image of the male body for this purpose in European, American and Asian fascism of varying degrees and various interpretations, and the differences and similarities involved. Among the similarities isthe fact that sport in all the cases in this volume was at the centre of the induction of the male body (and mind) into martial self-sacrifice. Sport was an important part of fascist socialization. The reasons are not hard to find. Sport develops muscle and muscle is equated with power - literally and metaphorically. War, the essence of fascism, demands physical fitness and sport helps promote this fitness. Competitive sport can help develop attitudes of aggression and aggression is essential in war.

This text begins with an in-depth overview into the human organism at the molecular, cellular, tissue and organ levels, and develops into a discussion of the objectives and features of organ systems of the evolved human. The book also covers the relationship between the human body and the environment in which it exists including other organisms that co-habitate the environment. Discussions of the nature of other organisms such as various animals, plants, and micro-organisms makes later information about food science, nutrient density in various food sources, and nutraceuticals easier to comprehend.
Advanced Human Nutrition examines human nutrient requirements, the basis for RDA and other recommendations; human nutrition, digestion, and absorption with relation to organs, exocrine and endocrine functions, histology, and absorptive activities; macronutrients and micronutrients; eicosanoid chemistry and function, and more.
The present and future of nutrition research is examined, including everything from the HANES studies to electron microscopy and molecular biology.

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Jerry Stannard assembled a legendary collection of materials on the history of botany from Homer to Linnaeus, and his mastery of the field was acknowledged as incomparable. However, his work was sadly cut short by his death, and so did not result in the ultimate synthesis he envisioned; the present volume, and its companion, Herbs and Herbalism in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, bring together his important output in articles and studies. In this selection of papers on pharmacy and medical botany, from the classical period to 1500, Stannard combined philological expertise with the scientific perspective of modern pharmacology to measure the descriptive accuracy and therapeutic efficacy of Materia Medica from Hippocrates to the Renaissance. His sources included not only the obvious technical treatises but also works of literature and the traditions of folklore especially in Italy. Three studies of the scholastic botany of Albertus Magnus form the centrepiece of the collection, and the detailed indexes cover both common and scientific names of plants.

The genome's been mapped.
But what does it mean?

Arguably the most significant scientific discovery of the new century, the mapping of the twenty-three pairs of chromosomes that make up the human genome raises almost as many questions as it answers. Questions that will profoundly impact the way we think about disease, about longevity, and about free will. Questions that will affect the rest of your life.

"Genome" offers extraordinary insight into the ramifications of this incredible breakthrough. By picking one newly discovered gene from each pair of chromosomes and telling its story, Matt Ridley recounts the history of our species and its ancestors from the dawn of life to the brink of future medicine. From Huntington's disease to cancer, from the applications of gene therapy to the horrors of eugenics, Matt Ridley probes the scientific, philosophical, and moral issues arising as a result of the mapping of the genome. It will help you understand what this scientific milestone means for you, for your children, and for humankind.

Signaling by calcium ions is an important regulator of muscle contraction, nerve impulses, fertilization, and numerous other cellular processes. This book explores the experimental techniques used to monitor movement of calcium ions into/out of cells and between subcellular compartments, as well as analyse its effects on the intracellular targets that mediate its effects.

This book bridges the gap between a clinician's and material scientists' knowledge by elucidating upon the different biomaterials used in anatomical systems and how those materials react to the human body. It explores both established and future prospective of biomaterial types/designs, and considerations in material selection and synthesis, to guide students from non-clinical background in understanding the relations of material science and the human body.

The Thrive in Bioscience revision guides are written to help students achieve exam success in all core areas of bioscience. Each title encourages the reader to follow four steps to maximise their learning, with features to support this process. Step one: Review the facts The revision guides are designed to help learning be quick and effective: * Information is set out in bullet points, making it easy to digest * Clear, uncluttered illustrations illuminate what is said in the text * Key concept panels summarise the essential learning points Step two: Check your understanding Readers are encouraged to: * Complete the questions at the end of chapters and online multiple-choice questions to reinforce their learning * Use the flashcard app to master the essential terms and phrases Step three: Take note of extra advice Revision tips, and hints for getting those precious extra marks in exams, are presented throughout. Step four: Go the extra mile Readers can explore the suggestions for further reading to take their understanding one step further. Each title in the series is tailored to maximise understanding and achievement, to ensure that the reader really can thrive in their studies. They are the perfect course companions for any bioscience degree. Each title in the series is accompanied by the following digital resources: A flashcard glossary app, enabling the user to test their understanding of key terminology; A bank of interactive MCQs, giving users a hands-on way to check they have fully understood the concepts presented.

This handbook presents the most current information on the effects of ionizing radiation on mammalian cells, with emphasis on human tissues. The dose-effect relationship is emphasized in a quantitative manner. The book contains up-to-date data on the late effects of low levels of radiation on humans. It also provides some of the late consequences of radiation therapy detected among cancer survivors.

Provides clear summaries of Fluorescence in situ hybridization technologies and others. Comprehensively covers established and emerging methods. Chapters from an international team of leading researchers. Useful for students, researchers and clinicians.

'Amy's book is everything I should have learned at school. It is a reminder to empower ourselves, in a world that still sadly lacks so much knowledge around women's health, by getting to know our own bodies more intimately - with the help of technology built by women' Emma Gannon 'Moody is a fascinating and friendly guide for you to understand you better.' Melissa Hemsley 'Knowledge is power and this book equips you with the power to unlock potential and happiness.' Poppy Jamie, author of Happy Not Perfect There is a secret inside you which, once you understand it fully, has the capacity to unlock untold potential. Once you learn the science of your hormones, you will be able to harness it forever. Hormones were something Amy Thomson, founder and CEO of leading women's health app and tech service Moody, never paid attention to, until one day her periods stopped and what had been an inconvenience each month became a barometer for her body's health and mental happiness. When she discovered that her hormonal burnout was driven by stress, she quit her job and focused on trying to understand how her body worked, to establish why and how she had pushed herself too far. In this guide, Amy shares the research and science behind how our hormones work for twenty-first-century survival, how understanding them can help you build better and healthier routines, and why the systems and cycles inside us are an invisible but powerful force. With insights from nutritionists, gynaecologists, endocrinologists, personal trainers and others, Moody provides a holistic and practical blueprint for understanding your hormones and optimising your life around them. Praise for Moody 'As a woman, medical doctor and scientist I found Moody hugely illuminating' Dr Tara Swart