The Serengeti Rules
The Serengeti Rules

Author: Sean B. Carroll

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2024-08-20

Total Pages: 197

ISBN-13: 0691264287

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One of today's most accomplished biologists and gifted storytellers reveals the rules that regulate all life How does life work? How does nature produce the right numbers of zebras and lions on the African savanna, or fish in the ocean? How do our bodies produce the right numbers of cells in our organs and bloodstream? In The Serengeti Rules, award-winning biologist and author Sean Carroll tells the stories of the pioneering scientists who sought the answers to such simple yet profoundly important questions, and shows how their discoveries matter for our health and the health of the planet we depend upon. One of the most important revelations about the natural world is that everything is regulated—there are rules that regulate the amount of every molecule in our bodies and rules that govern the numbers of every animal and plant in the wild. And the most surprising revelation about the rules that regulate life at such different scales is that they are remarkably similar—there is a common underlying logic of life. Carroll recounts how our deep knowledge of the rules and logic of the human body has spurred the advent of revolutionary life-saving medicines, and makes the compelling case that it is now time to use the Serengeti Rules to heal our ailing planet. Bold and inspiring, The Serengeti Rules illuminates how life works at vastly different scales. Read it and you will never look at the world the same way again.

The Nature of Difference
The Nature of Difference

Author: George Ellison

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2006-04-19

Total Pages: 307

ISBN-13: 1420004174

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Unprecedented advances in genetics and biotechnology have brought profound new insights into human biological variation. These present challenges and opportunities for understanding the origins of human nature, the nature of difference, and the social practices these sustain. This provides an opportunity for cooperation between the biological and s

Design in Nature
Design in Nature

Author: Adrian Bejan

Publisher: Anchor

Published: 2013-01-08

Total Pages: 306

ISBN-13: 0307744345

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In this groundbreaking book, Adrian Bejan takes the recurring patterns in nature—trees, tributaries, air passages, neural networks, and lightning bolts—and reveals how a single principle of physics, the constructal law, accounts for the evolution of these and many other designs in our world. Everything—from biological life to inanimate systems—generates shape and structure and evolves in a sequence of ever-improving designs in order to facilitate flow. River basins, cardiovascular systems, and bolts of lightning are very efficient flow systems to move a current—of water, blood, or electricity. Likewise, the more complex architecture of animals evolve to cover greater distance per unit of useful energy, or increase their flow across the land. Such designs also appear in human organizations, like the hierarchical “flowcharts” or reporting structures in corporations and political bodies. All are governed by the same principle, known as the constructal law, and configure and reconfigure themselves over time to flow more efficiently. Written in an easy style that achieves clarity without sacrificing complexity, Design in Nature is a paradigm-shifting book that will fundamentally transform our understanding of the world around us.

Regenesis
Regenesis

Author: George M Church

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2014-04-08

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0465038654

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A Harvard biologist and master inventor explores how new biotechnologies will enable us to bring species back from the dead, unlock vast supplies of renewable energy, and extend human life. In Regenesis, George Church and science writer Ed Regis explore the possibilities of the emerging field of synthetic biology. Synthetic biology, in which living organisms are selectively altered by modifying substantial portions of their genomes, allows for the creation of entirely new species of organisms. These technologies-far from the out-of-control nightmare depicted in science fiction-have the power to improve human and animal health, increase our intelligence, enhance our memory, and even extend our life span. A breathtaking look at the potential of this world-changing technology, Regenesis is nothing less than a guide to the future of life.

On Human Nature
On Human Nature

Author: Michel Tibayrenc

Publisher: Academic Press

Published: 2016-09-12

Total Pages: 816

ISBN-13: 0127999159

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On Human Nature: Biology, Psychology, Ethics, Politics, and Religion covers the present state of knowledge on human diversity and its adaptative significance through a broad and eclectic selection of representative chapters. This transdisciplinary work brings together specialists from various fields who rarely interact, including geneticists, evolutionists, physicians, ethologists, psychoanalysts, anthropologists, sociologists, theologians, historians, linguists, and philosophers. Genomic diversity is covered in several chapters dealing with biology, including the differences in men and apes and the genetic diversity of mankind. Top specialists, known for their open mind and broad knowledge have been carefully selected to cover each topic. The book is therefore at the crossroads between biology and human sciences, going beyond classical science in the Popperian sense. The book is accessible not only to specialists, but also to students, professors, and the educated public. Glossaries of specialized terms and general public references help nonspecialists understand complex notions, with contributions avoiding technical jargon. - Provides greater understanding of diversity and population structure and history, with crucial foundational knowledge needed to conduct research in a variety of fields, such as genetics and disease - Includes three robust sections on biological, psychological, and ethical aspects, with cross-fertilization and reciprocal references between the three sections - Contains contributions by leading experts in their respective fields working under the guidance of internationally recognized and highly respected editors

From Molecules to Minds
From Molecules to Minds

Author: Institute of Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2008-12-07

Total Pages: 90

ISBN-13: 0309120926

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Neuroscience has made phenomenal advances over the past 50 years and the pace of discovery continues to accelerate. On June 25, 2008, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders hosted more than 70 of the leading neuroscientists in the world, for a workshop titled "From Molecules to Minds: Challenges for the 21st Century." The objective of the workshop was to explore a set of common goals or "Grand Challenges" posed by participants that could inspire and rally both the scientific community and the public to consider the possibilities for neuroscience in the 21st century. The progress of the past in combination with new tools and techniques, such as neuroimaging and molecular biology, has positioned neuroscience on the cusp of even greater transformational progress in our understanding of the brain and how its inner workings result in mental activity. This workshop summary highlights the important issues and challenges facing the field of neuroscience as presented to those in attendance at the workshop, as well as the subsequent discussion that resulted. As a result, three overarching Grand Challenges emerged: How does the brain work and produce mental activity? How does physical activity in the brain give rise to thought, emotion, and behavior? How does the interplay of biology and experience shape our brains and make us who we are today? How do we keep our brains healthy? How do we protect, restore, or enhance the functioning of our brains as we age?

The Singularity of Nature
The Singularity of Nature

Author: John S Torday

Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry

Published: 2020-11-26

Total Pages: 293

ISBN-13: 1839162252

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Understanding how simple molecules have given rise to the complex biochemical systems and processes of contemporary biology is widely regarded as one of chemistry’s great unsolved questions. There are numerous theories as to the origins of life, the majority of which draw on the idea that DNA and nucleic acids are the central dogma of biology. The Singularity of Nature: A Convergence of Biology, Chemistry and Physics takes a systems-based approach to the origin and evolution of complex life. Readers will gain a novel understanding of physiologic evolution and the limits to our current understanding: why biology remains descriptive and non-predictive, as well as offering new opportunities for understanding relationships between physics and biology in the origins of biological life at the cellular-molecular level.

Reading Nature
Reading Nature

Author: Matthew Kloser

Publisher: National Science Teachers Association

Published: 2018

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781681402802

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By making room for this book in your curriculum, you' ll have a fresh way to motivate your students to look at the living world and ask not only " Why?" but also " How do we know?" Unique in both its structure and approach, Reading Nature is a supplemental resource that provides a window into science ideas and practices. You' ll find the book useful because it * Draws on carefully selected peer-reviewed articles so that students have an opportunity for text-based inquiry into scientific investigations. Each of these evidence-based texts ties into one of five disciplinary core ideas in the Next Generation Science Standards-- from molecules to organisms, ecosystems, heredity, biological evolution, and human impacts on Earth systems. * Is organized to make the source material easy for students to grasp and for you to teach. Within each of the book' s five chapters, the authors have framed section headings as questions; highlighted the roles of people in the narrative; offered context and relevant data for the investigations; and provided supplementary teacher questions and prompts. * Can be adapted to your needs as an active tool for inquiry. You may use the various texts in the book to introduce a unit or an investigation or to pull ideas together before a summative assessment. The texts are also useful as extensions of existing ideas. Unlike traditional textbooks, Reading Nature makes it clear that biology is much more than dry facts and complicated vocabulary. It can help you prompt students to think deeply about the " endeavor of science" as it truly is-- full of ingenious experiments, frustrating dead ends, and incredible finds that contribute to our understanding of the amazing phenomena of living things.