Written primarily for 16-19 year old students, this primer aims to extend students' knowledge and inspire them to take their school-level learning further. It explores topics that are familiar from the curriculum and also introduces new ideas, giving students a first taste of the study of biology beyond school-level and demonstrating how concepts frequently encountered at school are relevant to and applied in current research. This is the ideal text to support students who are considering making the transition from studying biology at school to university. This primer introduces students to key elements of the endocrine system, including the structure and function of the major types of hormones. It explores the role of hormones in disease, in development, in reproduction and in behaviour. Although humans are its main focus, it draws on illuminating examples from a range of other species, including sex changes and aggression in fish, metamorphosis in amphibians, induction of ovulation in different species, and bonding behaviour in birds. The final section of the book looks at ways in which hormones can be used in medicine and agriculture, and can be abused to enhance sporting performance and weight loss. This primer will expand the breadth and depth of student understanding of the endocrine system, its variety, and its huge importance.

Adaptable, resilient, yet often overlooked, the goat - sometimes called the 'poor man's cow' - is found in nearly every part of the world where humans live. But our relationship with this strange yet familiar animal is oddly ambivalent. In Goat, Joy Hinson explores the reasons behind this unease, from our interaction with the endangered wild goat species of remote mountainous regions to the more familiar farmyard goat. This book traces the history of the animal, moving from their evolution through their domestication and global spread to the role of goats in the modern world. It considers in particular the harm done by the indiscriminate importing of tamed goats, which formed huge feral populations on the Galapagos Islands and Australia, for example. It considers the place of goat products in both the culinary and medical traditions of the world, from the time of Pliny the Elder who recommended pouring goat urine into the ear as a cure for neck pain, to the use of a bezoar stone as an antidote to poison. Goat also explores the connections between goats and wrongdoing and questions whether the goat really deserves its reputation for promiscuity and lasciviousness.Across the globe goats are part of our culture, art and tradition: from goat festivals in the U. S. to the Christmas Goat in Sweden. An exciting new addition to Reaktion's Animal series, Goat presents readers with this frequently neglected animal's fascinating history, life and role in today's world.