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Reading recommendations for fiction, nonfiction, and audiobooks across all reading levels.
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Say "algae" and most people think of pond scum. What they don't know is that without algae, none of us would exist. There are as many algae on Earth as stars in the universe, and they have been essential to life on our planet for eons. Algae created the Earth we know today, with its oxygen-rich atmosphere, abundant oceans, and coral reefs. Crude oil is made of dead algae, and algae are the ancestors of all plants. Today, seaweed production is a multi-billion...
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Biologists and laypeople alike have repeatedly claimed victory over life. A thousand years ago we thought we knew almost everything; a hundred years ago, too. But even today, Rob Dunn argues, discoveries we can't yet imagine still await.
In a series of vivid portraits of single-minded scientists, Dunn traces the history of human discovery, from the establishment of classification in the eighteenth century to today's attempts to find life in space....
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National Geographic pairs gripping and gruesome stories of shark attacks with cutting edge research to illuminate a fascinating underwater world that few truly understand. Sharks are the world's most fascinating predators--capable of detecting a single drop of blood in 25 million drops of ocean and sensing electricity emitted by their prey. This ebook short takes readers deep into the realm of the very latest shark science, including new insights
...4) On evolution
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Essays from the award-winning geneticist on evolutionary biology-from protein electrophoresis to the recent ability to scan entire genomes.
John Avise is one of the most distinguished evolutionary biologists of our time. His groundbreaking work with mitochondrial DNA created the entire discipline of phylogeography and his work on the Pleistocene refugia hypothesis redirected scientific thinking about patterns of distribution. Spanning a remarkable...
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It took Charles Darwin more than twenty years to publish this book, in part because he realized that it would ignite a firestorm of controversy. The Origin of Species first appeared in 1859, and it remains a continuing source of conflict to this day. Even among those who reject its ideas, however, the work's impact is undeniable. In science, philosophy, and theology, this is a book that changed the world.
In addition to its status as the focus of...
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"Your brain is a collection of maps: detailed representations, scrawled across your brain’s surfaces, of the sights, sounds, and actions that hold the key to your survival. Although scientists began discovering these maps over a century ago, we are only now beginning to unlock their secrets—and comprehend their profound impact on our lives. Brain maps distort and shape our experience of the world, support complex thought, and make technology-enabled...
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Sapiens volume 0
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"One hundred thousand years ago, at least six different species of humans inhabited Earth. Yet today there is only one--homo sapiens. What happened to the others? And what may happen to us? Most books about the history of humanity pursue either a historical or a biological approach, but Dr. Yuval Noah Harari breaks the mold with this highly original book that begins about 70,000 years ago with the appearance of modern cognition."-- Provided by publisher....
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"In his new book human paleoanthropologist Ian Tattersall argues that a long tradition of "human exceptionalism" in paleoanthropology has distorted the picture of human evolution. Drawing partly on his own career--from young scientist in awe of his elders to crotchety elder statesman--Tattersall offers an idiosyncratic look at the competitive world of paleoanthropology, beginning with Charles Darwin 150 years ago, and continuing through the Leakey...
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In The Descent of Man Darwin addresses many of the issues raised by his notorious Origin of Species: finding in the traits and instincts of animals the origins of the mental abilities of humans, of language, of our social structures and our moral capacities, he attempts to show that there is no clear dividing line between animals and humans. Most importantly, he accounts for what Victorians called the 'races' of mankind by means of what he calls sexual...
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"Superbugs, born of antibiotic resistance, are a growing global health crisis. Award-winning educator and researcher at Boston University Muhammad Zaman, Ph.D. tells the story about how we got here and what we must do to combat this threat that connects us all"-- Provided by publisher.
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Why was there a meltdown at the Fukushima power plant? Why do some people get cancer and not others? Why is global warming happening? Why does one person get depressed in the face of life's vicissitudes while another finds resilience? Questions like these--questions of causality--form the basis of modern scientific inquiry, posing profound intellectual and methodological challenges for researchers in the physical, natural, biomedical, and social...
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"In this riveting, behind-the-scenes courtroom drama, a brilliant legal team battles corporate greed and government overreach for our fundamental right to control our genes. When attorney Chris Hansen learned that the U.S. government was issuing patents for human genes to biotech companies, his first thought was, How can a corporation own what makes us who we are? Then he discovered that women were being charged exorbitant fees to test for hereditary...
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A Urogenital System Reference Guide provides lateral & anterior views and explanations of the female and male anatomy, with attention to the genitourinary and reproductive systems. It includes details and illustrations of nephrons, renal corpuscles, the bladder and kidneys, and also has a description of the development of the system in a developing embryo. The guide explains the workings of supporting structures and processes of the urinary tract,...
15) Physiology
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A Physiology Study Guide can help a student in various ways. Basically this study guide highlights what a student needs to know and puts the knowledge in easily understood terms. These guides are easy to use, easy to read and help you with your Physiology coursework. This Physiology study guide will make your Physiology class go better and make complex terms more easily understood and relevant. In addition, a Physiology Study Guide is affordable and...
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Six years after Charles Darwin announced his theory of evolution to the world, Gregor Mendel began studying the inheritance of traits in pea plants. Mendel's research led to his discovery of dominant and recessive traits and other facts of evolution, which he reported in his groundbreaking 1865 paper, Experiments in Plant Hybridization. His findings languished until 1902, when William Bateson revived interest in the subject with this book, a succinct...
17) Mutual Aid
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Kropotkin's Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution represents one of the major contributions to twentieth-century political thought. A classic, though often misunderstood text of anarchist thinking, the book offers an exciting and viable alternative to our current political models. Kropotkin's idea of mutual aid is the radical practice of caring for each other while actively working to change the world. This new and authoritative edition of Kropotkin's...
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This edition includes a modern introduction and a list of suggested further reading. Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature (1863) has been considered the most important of Thomas Huxley's Darwinian writings. Despite warnings from friends that publishing an argument in support of evolution could ruin his career, it in fact did the opposite. This book did much to facilitate the general acceptance of Darwinism in Huxley's day. Huxley demonstrates that...
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Published in 1872, thirteen years after On the Origin of Species, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals is devoted to documenting what Darwin believes is the genetically determined aspects of behavior. Together with The Descent of Man (1871), it sketches out Darwin's main thesis of human origins. Here he traces the animal origins of human characteristics such as pursing of the lips in concentration, tightening of the muscles around the...
