Best Developmental Biology

In this groundbreaking and prophetic book, Taleb shows in a playful way that Black Swan events explain almost everything about our world, and yet we—especially the experts—are blind to them. Bestselling author Nassim Nicholas Taleb continues his exploration of randomness in his fascinating new book, The Black Swan , in which he examines the influence of highly improbable and unpredictable events that have massive impact. Now consider the typical stock market report: "Today investors bid shares down out of concern over Iranian oil production." Nassim Nicholas Taleb first made this argument in Fooled by Randomness, an engaging look at the history and reasons for our predilection for self-deception when it comes to statistics. The problem, Nassim explains, is that we place too much weight on the odds that past events will repeat (diligently trying to follow the path of the "millionaire next door," when unrepeatable chance is a better explanation). Nassim argues that most of the really big events in our world are rare and unpredictable, and thus trying to extract generalizable stories to explain them may be emotionally satisfying, but it's practically useless. Our assumptions grow out of the bell-curve predictability of what he calls "Mediocristan," while our world is really shaped by the wild powerlaw swings of "Extremistan."

Spanning from Antarctica to Greenland, the Mojave Desert to the Australian Outback, the result is a stunning and unique visual collection of ancient organisms unlike anything that has been created in the arts or sciences before, insightfully and accessibly narrated by Sussman along the way. These ancient individuals live on every continent and range from Greenlandic lichens that grow only one centimeter a century, to unique desert shrubs in Africa and South America, a predatory fungus in Oregon, Caribbean brain coral, to an 80,000-year-old colony of aspen in Utah. ( New York Times ) “The Oldest Living Things. in the World serves us the humbling profundity and pathos of things that live almost forever. (Jerry Saltz, New York Magazine) “The Oldest Living Things in the World adds in dramatic manner a fascinating new perspective—literally, dinosaurs—of the living world around us.”. (Stewart Brand, cofounder, The Long Now Foundation). “Something astounding happens when Rachel Sussman photographs the most ancient organisms to be found across our planet. (Charlotte Cotton, author of The Photograph as Contemporary Art). “I am in awe—awe staring at my planet's old sages, who know the way things were, will be, and should be—awe when I appreciate Rachel Sussman's epic quest to round them all up and her daring in stealing their soul with her photographs.”. With an artist’s gift for ‘aesthetic force’ and a scientist’s rigorous respect for truth, Sussman straddles a multitude of worlds as she travels across space and time to unearth Earth’s greatest stories of resilience, stories of tragedy and triumph, past and future, but above all stories that humble our human lives.”.

Starting with the hallowed halls of academic science, Axe dismantles the widespread belief that Darwin’s theory of evolution is indisputably true, showing instead that a gaping hole has been at its center from the beginning. Armed with that confidence, readers will affirm what once seemed obvious to all of us—that living creatures, from single-celled cyanobacteria to orca whales and human beings, are brilliantly conceived, utterly beyond the reach of accident. Using the latest science, molecular biologist Douglas Axe shows why you don’t have to be an expert to trust your firm knowledge of the wonderful design of life.” ( Michael J. Behe, author of Darwin's Black Box ). “Highly rigorous yet passionate, lyrical, forthright, refreshingly brief and accessible, Undeniable is an urgently needed addition to the library of books on intelligent design.” ( Evolution News ). “Axe has carefully crafted a case that strongly favors our human intuition that life was designed, demonstrating why unguided evolution is improbable in the extreme. This book’s power to convince surpasses that of everything I’ve read on origins science in my sixty-five years as an engineer, biophysicist, and physiologist.” ( Mark C. Biedebach, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Dept.

Essential Cell Biology provides a readily accessible introduction to the central concepts of cell biology, and its lively, clear writing and exceptional illustrations make it the ideal textbook for a first course in both cell and molecular biology. Molecular detail has been kept to a minimum in order to provide the reader with a cohesive conceptual framework for the basic science that underlies our current understanding of all of biology, including the biomedical sciences. Bruce Alberts received his PhD from Harvard University and is Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco. Alexander Johnson received his PhD from Harvard University and is Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Director of the Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Genetics, and Developmental Biology Graduate Program at the University of California, San Francisco.

Aquaponics is a revolutionary system for growing plants by fertilizing them with the waste water from fish in a sustainable closed system. Starting with an overview of the theory, benefits, and potential of aquaponics, the book goes on to explain: System location considerations and hardware components The living elements--fish, plants, bacteria, and worms Putting it all together--starting and maintaining a healthy system. This isn't just another book for dummies; this is a comprehensive handbook on how to grow real food...so meticulously documented, that failure is not an option. I have always wanted to put my money where my mouth is and figure out how to do sustainable aquaculture in the context of my home garden. Now the thousands of people who are discovering aquaponics every day have a resource for moving from the dream to the step-by-step reality of raising fish and food in their homes, yards, and even businesses. --John Thompson Sr. VP Sales and Marketing (and Basement and Backyard Aquaponist) AeroGrow International, Inc.

• step-by-step directions for all stages from setting up an apiary to harvesting honey; • approximately 100 illustrations featuring techniques, equipment, and bee biology; • information about how to manage new pests and diseases including Colony Collapse Disorder; • coverage of new trends and changes in beekeeping including green IPM techniques and new laws for urban beekeeping; • the most up-to-date bibliography and list of resources on the topic; and. • a new user-friendly book design that clearly highlights instructions and other important features. "The text is presented in a very readable way, and the diagrams are some of the clearest I have seen for a long time. The book outlines options for each operation within beekeeping, listing advantages and disadvantages of each alternative. "Since the publication of the first edition of the handbook in 1973, many thousands of novice and experienced beekeepers have relied on this book as the preferred single-volume guide to bee keeping. The fourth edition has been redesigned, revised and expanded to incorporate the latest findings on Colony Collapse Disorder, green integrated pest management techniques, overwintering protocols and ways to control bee mites .