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Our oceans are becoming increasingly inhospitable to life—growing toxicity and rising temperatures coupled with overfishing have led many marine species to the brink of collapse. And yet there is one creature that is thriving in this seasick environment: the beautiful, dangerous, and now incredibly numerous jellyfish. As foremost jellyfish expert Lisa-ann Gershwin describes in Stung!, the jellyfish population bloom is highly indicative of the tragic state of the world’s ocean waters, while also revealing the incredible tenacity of these remarkable creatures. Recent documentaries about swarms of giant jellyfish invading Japanese fishing grounds and summertime headlines about armadas of st...
Jellyfish are mysterious creatures, luminously beautiful with remarkably varied life cycles. These ancient animals are found in every ocean at every depth, and have lived on Earth for at least 500 million years. Jellyfish looks at their anatomy, life history, taxonomy and ecology, and includes species profiles featuring stunning marine photography.
Jellyfish have been swimming in our oceans for over half a billion years, longer than any other animal that lives on the planet. Their sting is the fastest known motion in the animal kingdom, their venom so toxic it can kill a human in three minutes. Made of roughly 95 percent water, some jellies are barely perceptible virtuosos of disguise, while others’ luminescent glow has revolutionized biotechnology. Yet until recently, jellyfish were largely ignored by science, and they remain among the most poorly understood of ocean dwellers. Over a decade ago, ocean scientist Juli Berwald left her career to raise a family in landlocked Austin, Texas, but jellyfish drew her back to the sea. Driven ...
Before there were mammals on land, there were dinosaurs. And before there were fish in the sea, there were cephalopods-the ancestors of modern squid and Earth's first truly substantial animals. Cephalopods became the first creatures to rise from the seafloor, essentially inventing the act of swimming. With dozens of tentacles and formidable shells, they presided over an undersea empire for millions of years. But when fish evolved jaws, the ocean's former top predator became its most delicious snack. Cephalopods had to step up their game. Many species streamlined their shells and added defensive spines, but these enhancements only provided a brief advantage. Some cephalopods then abandoned th...
In a triumph of marketing, the Tasmanian salmon industry has for decades succeeded in presenting itself as world’s best practice and its product as healthy and clean, grown in environmentally pristine conditions. What could be more appealing than the idea of Atlantic salmon sustainably harvested in some of the world’s purest waters? But what are we eating when we eat Tasmanian salmon? Richard Flanagan’s exposé of the salmon farming industry in Tasmania is chilling. In the way that Rachel Carson took on the pesticide industry in her ground-breaking book Silent Spring, Flanagan tears open an industry that is as secretive as its practices are destructive and its product disturbing. From the burning forests of the Amazon to the petrochemicals you aren’t told about to the endangered species being pushed to extinction you don’t know about; from synthetically pink-dyed flesh to seal bombs . . . If you care about what you eat, if you care about the environment, this is a book you need to read. Toxic is set to become a landmark book of the twenty-first century.
Cnidarians are elegant and dazzling aquatic organisms, but despite their beauty they are known to be a threat in many coastal areas around the world. Several species of cnidaria living in tropical or sub-tropical areas are remarkably dangerous, but many Mediterranean species can also cause serious health problems. Really, cnidarians (sea anemones, corals, medusae) are considered among the most dangerous and venomous organisms, thanks to the occurrence in their tissues of batteries of intracellular capsules (nematocysts or cnidocysts) produced by the Golgi apparatus of specialized cells (nematocytes or cnidocytes) from which the phylum Cnidaria takes the name (from the Greek κνίδη = nett...
An examination of the role nutrients play in mental health, this book reviews the scientific literature from many fields of science: health, psychology, nutrition, mental well-being, and the interface with chronic disease. The book provides a straightforward, readable report of broadly selected scientific research on how various nutrients affect mental health. It covers several types of mental health disorders and their links to nutrients, nutritional status, and nutritional supplements. This book provides mental health professionals with the information they need to evaluate nutritional issues.
Chronicles the campaign by Frank and Deborah Popper to return to the Buffalo Commons on the Great Plains.
Looking for the first time at the cut-price anatomy schools rather than genteel Oxbridge, Desmond winkles out pre-Darwinian evolutionary ideas in reform-minded and politically charged early nineteenth-century London. In the process, he reveals the underside of London intellectual and social life in the generation before Darwin as it has never been seen before. "The Politics of Evolution is intellectual dynamite, and certainly one of the most important books in the history of science published during the past decade."—Jim Secord, Times Literary Supplement "One of those rare books that not only stakes out new territory but demands a radical overhaul of conventional wisdom."—John Hedley Brooke, Times Higher Education Supplement
From medieval bestiaries to Borges’s Book of Imaginary Beings, we’ve long been enchanted by extraordinary animals, be they terrifying three-headed dogs or asps impervious to a snake charmer’s song. But bestiaries are more than just zany zoology—they are artful attempts to convey broader beliefs about human beings and the natural order. Today, we no longer fear sea monsters or banshees. But from the infamous honey badger to the giant squid, animals continue to captivate us with the things they can do and the things they cannot, what we know about them and what we don’t. With The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, Caspar Henderson offers readers a fascinating, beautifully produced moder...