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Essays by leading intellectuals and public figures explore extreme events, environments, and achievements.
Prominent intellectuals and public figures explore the dynamics of development, offering varying perspectives from a range of fields.
Blood is life, its complex composition is finely attuned to our vital needs and functions. Blood can also signify death, while 'bloody' is a curse. Arising from the 2021 Darwin College Lectures, this volume invites leading thinkers on the subject to explore the many meanings of blood across a diverse range of disciplines. Through the eyes of artist Marc Quinn, the paradoxical nature of blood plays with the notion of self. Through those of geneticist Walter Bodmer, it becomes a scientific reality: bloodlines and diaspora capture our notions of community. The transfer of blood between bodies, as Rose George relates, can save lives, or as we learn from Claire Roddie can cure cancer. Tim Pedley and Stuart Egginton explore the extraordinary complexity of blood as a critical biological fluid. Sarah Read examines the intimate connection between blood and womanhood, as Carol Senf does in her consideration of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula.
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The End of Illness comes an ingenious guide to what our fellow animals can teach us about living longer, healthier, happier lives. Mother nature has a lot to teach us, if only we open our eyes. Pigeons and dolphins offer creative strategies for preserving our memories and warding off dementia, while squirrels and pigs harbor secrets for managing chronic pain. Rhinoceroses demonstrate the subtle power of our environments—and how to exercise better—while chimps have surprising parenting tips, not to mention great diet advice. Studying elephants has unlocked insights into preventing cancer, and we can look to giraffes for solutions to cardiov...
Prominent public intellectuals offer their expertise on the games that shape aspects of all of our lives.
Thomas Hardy and Animals looks at creatures in Hardy's novels, examining human-animal boundaries debated by the Victorian scientific and philosophical communities.
The Bureaucracy of Empathy revolves around two central questions: What is pain? And how do we recognize, understand, and ameliorate the pain of nonhuman animals? Shira Shmuely investigates these ethical issues through a close and careful history of the origins, implementation, and enforcement of the 1876 Cruelty to Animals Act of Parliament, which for the first time imposed legal restrictions on animal experimentation and mandated official supervision of procedures "calculated to give pain" to animal subjects. Exploring how scientists, bureaucrats, and lawyers wrestled with the problem of animal pain and its perception, Shmuely traces in depth and detail how the Act was enforced, the medical...
Eight interdisciplinary essays by leading scholars and public figures discuss the timely theme of migration in a range of contexts.
How were narratives composed in the ancient Near East? What patterns and principles, constraints and considerations guided the shaping of cuneiform stories? The study of narrative structures has emerged as a promising approach to the textual heritage of the cuneiform world. Engaging with practically any ancient text—whether literary, historical, or religious—requires some understanding of the narrative forms that shaped their content. This volume gives researchers the tools to better understand those form, illustrating each approach to narrative analysis with a case study from the cultures of the ancient Near East: Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Hittite.
This engaging and timely collection analyses the impact of plagues, from early history to current medicine and the future. Featuring essays arising from the 2014 Darwin College Lectures, this book examines the spectrum of tragic consequences of different types of plagues, and asks if plagues are the manifestation of nature's checks and balances.