Understanding Body Shapes of Animals
Understanding Body Shapes of Animals

Author: Holger Preuschoft

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-06-28

Total Pages: 587

ISBN-13: 3030276686

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This book discusses how and why animals evolved into particular shapes. The book identifies the physical laws which decide over the evolutionary (selective) value of body shape and morphological characters. Comparing the mechanical necessities with morphological details, the author attempts to understand how evolution works, and which sorts of limitations are set by selection. The book explains morphological traits in more biomechanical detail without getting lost in physics, or in methods. Most emphasis is placed on the proximate question, namely the identification of the mechanical stresses which must be sustained by the respective body parts, when they move the body or its parts against resistance. In the first part of the book the focus is on ‘primitive’ animals and later on the emphasis shifts to highly specialized mammals. Readers will learn more about living and fossil animals. A section of the book is dedicated to human evolution but not to produce another evolutionary tree, nor to refine a former one, but to contribute to answering the question: “WHY early humans have developed their particular body shape".

Understanding Body Shapes of Animals
Understanding Body Shapes of Animals

Author: Holger Preuschoft

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2023-07-13

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783030276706

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This book discusses how and why animals evolved into particular shapes. The book identifies the physical laws which decide over the evolutionary (selective) value of body shape and morphological characters. Comparing the mechanical necessities with morphological details, the author attempts to understand how evolution works, and which sorts of limitations are set by selection. The book explains morphological traits in more biomechanical detail without getting lost in physics, or in methods. Most emphasis is placed on the proximate question, namely the identification of the mechanical stresses which must be sustained by the respective body parts, when they move the body or its parts against resistance. In the first part of the book the focus is on ‘primitive’ animals and later on the emphasis shifts to highly specialized mammals. Readers will learn more about living and fossil animals. A section of the book is dedicated to human evolution but not to produce another evolutionary tree, nor to refine a former one, but to contribute to answering the question: “WHY early humans have developed their particular body shape".

Understanding Body Shapes of Animals
Understanding Body Shapes of Animals

Author: Holger Preuschoft

Publisher:

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9783030276690

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This book discusses how and why animals evolved into particular shapes. The book identifies the physical laws which decide over the evolutionary (selective) value of body shape and morphological characters. Comparing the mechanical necessities with morphological details, the author attempts to understand how evolution works, and which sorts of limitations are set by selection. The book explains morphological traits in more biomechanical detail without getting lost in physics, or in methods. Most emphasis is placed on the proximate question, namely the identification of the mechanical stresses which must be sustained by the respective body parts, when they move the body or its parts against resistance. In the first part of the book the focus is on 'primitive' animals and later on the emphasis shifts to highly specialized mammals. Readers will learn more about living and fossil animals. A section of the book is dedicated to human evolution but not to produce another evolutionary tree, nor to refine a former one, but to contribute to answering the question: “WHY early humans have developed their particular body shape".

Concepts of Biology
Concepts of Biology

Author: Samantha Fowler

Publisher:

Published: 2023-05-12

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781739015503

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Black & white print. Concepts of Biology is designed for the typical introductory biology course for nonmajors, covering standard scope and sequence requirements. The text includes interesting applications and conveys the major themes of biology, with content that is meaningful and easy to understand. The book is designed to demonstrate biology concepts and to promote scientific literacy.

A General History of Chinese Art
A General History of Chinese Art

Author: Xifan Li

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2022-10-03

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 3110790920

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This volume explores the prehistoric beginnings of Chinese art and its development during the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties. It analyses the conditions of the emergence of Chinese art and its transformation of form, content and function throughout the Three Dynasties, a historical period marked by important changes in the social and cultural Chinese landscape. A General History of Chinese Art comprises six volumes with a total of nine parts spanning from the Prehistoric Era until the 3rd year of Xuantong during the Qing Dynasty (1911). The work provides a comprehensive compilation of in-depth studies of the development of art throughout the subsequent reign of Chinese dynasties and explores the emergence of a wide range of artistic categories such as but not limited to music, dance, acrobatics, singing, story telling, painting, calligraphy, sculpture, architecture, and crafts. Unlike previous reference books, A General History of Chinese Art offers a broader overview of the notion of Chinese art by asserting a more diverse and less material understanding of arts, as has often been the case in Western scholarship.

Humans
Humans

Author: Sergio Almécija

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2023-05-23

Total Pages: 526

ISBN-13: 0231553986

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How did humanity evolve? And what does our evolutionary history tell us about what it means to be human? These questions are fundamental to our identity as individuals and as a species and to our relationship with the world. But there are almost as many answers to them as there are scientists who study these topics. This book brings together more than one hundred top experts, who share their insights on the study of human evolution and what it means for understanding our past, present, and future. Sergio Almécija asks leading figures across paleontology, primatology, archaeology, genetics, and many other disciplines about their lives, their work, and the philosophical significance of human evolution. They reflect on questions that are both fun and profound: What set you down your career path? Are humans special? Where and when would you travel in a time machine? Does human evolution offer lessons for society? Is evolution compatible with spirituality and religion? Humans features a remarkably accomplished cast of contributors, including Kay Behrensmeyer, Frans de Waal, Nina Jablonski, Richard Leakey, Robert Sapolsky, and Richard Wrangham. Together, they provide a refreshing, personable, engaging, cross-disciplinary, and thought-provoking exploration of different—even diametrically opposed—ideas about our nature and evolution, what makes humans unique, and what our future might hold. This book also offers practical suggestions for readers seeking to embark on a scientific career.

Story Of Genetics, Development And Evolution, The: A Historical Dialogue
Story Of Genetics, Development And Evolution, The: A Historical Dialogue

Author: Gaspar Jekely

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2017-11-24

Total Pages: 541

ISBN-13: 1786342553

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This unique story offers an introductory conversation to genetics, embryology and evolution, taking us on a historical journey of biology through the ages. Using a series of dialogues between the Greek philosopher Democritus and his disciple Alkimos, we travel through time visiting eminent scientists throughout the centuries, from Lazzaro Spallanzani and Theodor Boveri to Francis Crick, Max Perutz and Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard. We find ourselves at the intersection of competing theories in biology and witness the progression from the debunking the theory of spontaneous generation to the mapping of the genome. Attention is given not only to the great successes in the field but also to the equally important and exciting failures.Originally published in Hungarian, The Story of Genetics, Development and Evolution provides a historical background to the life sciences, with complex scientific concepts stripped down and explained carefully for academics and anyone interested in going back to the roots and philosophies of scientific progress.Translated from: Jékely G Master, are you awake? A fictitious dialogue on genetics, development and evolution. 2006, Bratislava: Kalligram

Eckert Animal Physiology
Eckert Animal Physiology

Author: David J. Randall

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 814

ISBN-13: 9780716738633

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This classic animal physiology text focuses on comparative examples that illustrate the general principles of physiology at all levels of organisation—from molecular mechanisms to regulated physiological systems to whole organisms in their environment. This textbook is an authoritative and complete guide to the field of animal physiology which uses a threefold approach to teaching. The Comparative Approach emphasises basic mechanisms but allows patterns of physiological function in different species to demonstrate how evolution creates diversity. This approach encourages students to appreciate the underlying principles that govern physiological systems. The Experimental Emphasis helps students to understand the process of scientific discovery and shows how our knowledge of physiology continually increases and finally the Integrative Approach presents information about specific physiological systems at all levels of organisation, from molecular interactions to interactions between an organism and its environment.n included.

Animal!
Animal!

Author: DK

Publisher: Penguin

Published: 2016-09-06

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 1465459006

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Created in association with the Smithsonian Institution, Knowledge Encyclopedia: Animal! is a groundbreaking visual approach to the animal kingdom and is packed with facts about mammals, birds, fish, amphibians, reptiles, and more! Follow the timeline of evolution and extinction of animals throughout history and see how different animals have adapted to their environments to survive. Covering all the major animal groups and how they fit into the tree of life, photorealistic computer-generated images, infographics, and cutaways that reveal the inner workings of the animals make sure that everything is easy to understand at a glance. Learn amazing animal facts and get up close to some of the most dangerous animals around, including the Komodo dragon with its deadly and poisonous bite, and the saltwater crocodile, which uses a "death roll" to drown its prey. Knowledge Encyclopedia: Animal! has amazing details about the smallest crustaceans to the largest mammals. Dive into the deep to see orcas, great white sharks, stingrays, and more. Get the bird's eye view to see how penguins, owls, hawks, eagles, and other birds live and fly in the wild. See different animal habitats and ecosystems that contribute to the world's biodiversity, learn about the different senses and life cycles of animals, and find out how animals communicate with each other. A perfect reference book for young readers, Knowledge Encyclopedia: Animal! takes a walk on the wild side to show you the animal kingdom like you've never seen it before.

How the Body Shapes the Way We Think
How the Body Shapes the Way We Think

Author: Rolf Pfeifer

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2006-10-27

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 0262288524

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An exploration of embodied intelligence and its implications points toward a theory of intelligence in general; with case studies of intelligent systems in ubiquitous computing, business and management, human memory, and robotics. How could the body influence our thinking when it seems obvious that the brain controls the body? In How the Body Shapes the Way We Think, Rolf Pfeifer and Josh Bongard demonstrate that thought is not independent of the body but is tightly constrained, and at the same time enabled, by it. They argue that the kinds of thoughts we are capable of have their foundation in our embodiment—in our morphology and the material properties of our bodies. This crucial notion of embodiment underlies fundamental changes in the field of artificial intelligence over the past two decades, and Pfeifer and Bongard use the basic methodology of artificial intelligence—"understanding by building"—to describe their insights. If we understand how to design and build intelligent systems, they reason, we will better understand intelligence in general. In accessible, nontechnical language, and using many examples, they introduce the basic concepts by building on recent developments in robotics, biology, neuroscience, and psychology to outline a possible theory of intelligence. They illustrate applications of such a theory in ubiquitous computing, business and management, and the psychology of human memory. Embodied intelligence, as described by Pfeifer and Bongard, has important implications for our understanding of both natural and artificial intelligence.