Explore the fascinating world of animals - the shapes of their bodies, the food they eat, the adorable animal babies - through simple text and colourful, whimsical illustrations.
“A palaeontological howdunnit…[Spying on Whales] captures the excitement of…seeking answers to deep questions in cetacean science.” —Nature Called “the best of science writing” (Edward O. Wilson) and named a best book by Popular Science, a dive into the secret lives of whales, from their four-legged past to their perilous present. Whales are among the largest, most intelligent, deepest diving species to have ever lived on our planet. They evolved from land-roaming, dog-sized creatures into animals that move like fish, breathe like us, can grow to 300,000 pounds, live 200 years and travel entire ocean basins. Whales fill us with terror, awe, and affection--yet there is still so much we don't know about them. Why did it take whales over 50 million years to evolve to such big sizes, and how do they eat enough to stay that big? How did their ancestors return from land to the sea--and what can their lives tell us about evolution as a whole? Importantly, in the sweepstakes of human-driven habitat and climate change, will whales survive? Nick Pyenson's research has given us the answers to some of our biggest questions about whales. He takes us deep inside the Smithsonian's unparalleled fossil collections, to frigid Antarctic waters, and to the arid desert in Chile, where scientists race against time to document the largest fossil whale site ever found. Full of rich storytelling and scientific discovery, Spying on Whales spans the ancient past to an uncertain future--all to better understand the most enigmatic creatures on Earth.
“Readers new to the work of Christopher Moore will want to know two things immediately. First: Where has this guy been hiding? (Answer: In plain sight, since he has a cult following.)...[H]e writes laid back fables straight out of Margaritaville, on the cusp of humor and science fiction.”—Janet Maslin, New York Times Whale researcher Nathan Quinn has a problem. It’s not a new problem; in fact, it’s been around for nearly 20 million years. And Nate’s spent most of his adult life working to solve it. You see, although everybody (well, almost everybody) knows that humpback whales sing (outside of human composition, the most complex songs on the planet) no one knows why. Nate, a Ph.D. in behavior biology, intends to discover the answer to this burning question—and soon. Every winter he and Clay Demolocus, his partner in the Maui Whale Research Foundation, ply the warm waters between the islands of Maui and Lanai, recording the eerily beautiful songs of the humpbacks and returning to their lab for electronic analysis. The trouble is, Nate’s beginning to wonder if he hasn’t spent just a little too much time in the sun. Either that, or he’s losing his mind. Because today, as he was shooting an I.D. photo of a humpback tail fluke, Nate could’ve sworn he saw the words “Bite Me” scrawled across the whale’s tail. . .
Laugh and learn with fun facts about whales, porpoises, dolphins, and more—all told in Dr. Seuss’s beloved rhyming style and starring the Cat in the Hat! “What’s the story today? Funny that you should ask. We’re going to take on a whale of a task!” The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library series combines beloved characters, engaging rhymes, and Seussian illustrations to introduce children to non-fiction topics from the real world! Go under the sea and discover: • what a cetacean is • how to tell dolphins and porpoises apart • how whales “talk” to one another • and much more! Perfect for story time and for the youngest readers, A Whale of a Tale! All About Porpoises, Dolphins, and Whales also includes an index, glossary, and suggestions for further learning. Look for more books in the Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library series! If I Ran the Horse Show: All About Horses Clam-I-Am! All About the Beach Miles and Miles of Reptiles: All About Reptiles Safari, So Good! All About African Wildlife There's a Map on My Lap! All About Maps Oh, the Lavas That Flow! All About Volcanoes Out of Sight Till Tonight! All About Nocturnal Animals What Cat Is That? All About Cats Once upon a Mastodon: All About Prehistoric Mammals Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today? All About Weather The Cat on the Mat: All About Mindfulness
When the Whales Walked is an exquisitely illustrated exploration of the most incredible events in evolution, through 13 case studies. Discover a world where whales once walked, crocodiles were warm-blooded, and rhinos ruled the Earth!
Using a question and answer format, this entertaining narrative addresses a multitude of general interest questions about the sea, sea life, seabirds and man's relationship with the sea. Have you ever wondered: Does drinking seawater drive you mad? Do fish drink water? Does anything eat jellyfish? How do flying fish fly? Why do icebergs float? Do Whales Get the Bends? will answer these and over a hundred other intriguing questions. Inspired by questions raised whilst the author was guest lecturer on cruise ships, this fascinating and informative book is a light-hearted, surprising and entertaining read for anyone interested in the sea in its many forms. Each bite-sized entry is no more than two or three pages long, making it an ideal book to dip into for anyone interested in the oceans and the teeming life above and below them.
Everybody Out of the Pond At the Water's Edge will change the way you think about your place in the world. The awesome journey of life's transformation from the first microbes 4 billion years ago to Homo sapiens today is an epic that we are only now beginning to grasp. Magnificent and bizarre, it is the story of how we got here, what we left behind, and what we brought with us. We all know about evolution, but it still seems absurd that our ancestors were fish. Darwin's idea of natural selection was the key to solving generation-to-generation evolution -- microevolution -- but it could only point us toward a complete explanation, still to come, of the engines of macroevolution, the transformation of body shapes across millions of years. Now, drawing on the latest fossil discoveries and breakthrough scientific analysis, Carl Zimmer reveals how macroevolution works. Escorting us along the trail of discovery up to the current dramatic research in paleontology, ecology, genetics, and embryology, Zimmer shows how scientists today are unveiling the secrets of life that biologists struggled with two centuries ago. In this book, you will find a dazzling, brash literary talent and a rigorous scientific sensibility gracefully brought together. Carl Zimmer provides a comprehensive, lucid, and authoritative answer to the mystery of how nature actually made itself.
For more than six decades, and for thousands of students, Introduction to Logic has been the gold standard in introductory logic texts. In this fifteenth edition, Carl Cohen and Victor Rodych update Irving M. Copi’s classic text, improving on its many strengths and introducing new and helpful material that will greatly assist both students and instructors. In particular, chapters 1, 8, and 9 have been greatly enhanced without disturbing the book’s clear and gradual pedagogical approach. Specifically: Chapter 1 now uses a simpler and better definition of "deductive validity," which enhances the rest of the book (especially chapters 1 and 8-10, and their new components). Chapter 8 now has: Simpler definitions of "simple statement" and "compound statement" More and more detailed examples of the Complete Truth-Table Method. Chapter 9 now has: A detailed, step-by-step account of the Shorter Truth-Table Method (with detailed step-by-step examples for conclusions of different types) A more complete and detailed account of Indirect Proof A detailed justification for Indirect Proof treating each of the three distinct ways in which an argument can be valid A new section on Conditional Proof, which complements the 19 Rules of Inference and Indirect Proof Explications of proofs of tautologies using both Indirect Proof and Conditional Proof A new section at the end of the chapter explaining the important difference between sound and demonstrative arguments. The Appendices now include: A new appendix on making the Shorter Truth-Table Technique (STTT) more efficient by selecting the most efficient sequence of STTT steps A new appendix on Step 1 calculations for multiple-line shorter truth tables A new appendix on unforced truth-value assignments, invalid arguments, and Maxims III-V. In addition, a Companion Website will offer: for Students: A Proof Checker Complete Truth Table Exercises Shorter Truth-Table Exercises A Truth-Table Video Venn Diagram Testing of Syllogisms Hundreds of True/False and Multiple Choice Questions for Instructors: An Instructor’s Manual A Solutions Manual www.routledge.com/cw/9781138500860