Showing results for "Book of David" in Biological Sciences

This is the story of how your life shapes your brain and how your brain shapes your life. Locked in the silence and darkness of your skull, the brain fashions the rich narratives of your reality and your identity. Join renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman for a journey into the questions at the heart of our existence. What is reality? Who are 'you'? How do you make decisions? Why does your brain need other people? How is technology poised to change what it means to be human?

Brought to you by Penguin. For generations, our remote ancestors have been cast as primitive and childlike - either free and equal, or thuggish and warlike. Civilization, we are told, could be achieved only by sacrificing those original freedoms or, alternatively, by taming our baser instincts...

How can a blind person learn to see with her tongue or a deaf person learn to hear with his skin? What does a baby born without a nose tell us about our sensory machinery? Might we someday control a robot with our thoughts? And what does any of this have to do with why we dream? The answers to these questions are not right in front of our eyes; they're right behind our eyes. This book is not simply about what the brain is but what it does. Covering decades of research to the present day, Livewired also presents new findings from Eagleman's own research.

Why can your foot move halfway to the brake pedal before you're consciously aware of danger? Why do you notice when your name is mentioned in a conversation that you didn't think you were listening to? Why are people whose name begins with J more likely to marry other people whose name begins with J? Why is it so difficult to keep a secret? Renowned neuroscientist David Eagleman navigates the depths of the subconscious brain to illuminate these surprising mysteries.

*** Shortlisted for William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2013 *** Is Usain Bolt a superhuman one-off? Are sports stars like Paula Radcliffe and Tiger Woods born or made? Could we all be Olympians if we trained hard enough? And is the answer to be found by looking at Alaskan huskies? In this...

Call it "Zen and the Art of Farming" or a "Little Green Book", Masanobu Fukuoka's manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book "is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical."

A look at the extraordinary ways the brain turns thoughts into actions - and how this shapes our everyday lives. In On Task, cognitive neuroscientist David Badre presents the first authoritative introduction to the neuroscience of cognitive control - the remarkable ways that our brains devise sophisticated actions to achieve our goals. We barely notice this routine part of our lives. Yet, cognitive control, also known as executive function, is an astonishing phenomenon that has a profound impact on our well-being.   

Does your dog get sad when you leave for the day? Does your cat purr because she loves you? Do bears attack when they’re angry? You can’t very well ask them. In fact, scientists haven’t been able to reach a consensus on whether animals even have emotions like humans do, let alone how to study them. Yet studies of animal emotion are critical for understanding human emotion and mental illness. In The Nature of the Beast, pioneering neuroscientist David J. Anderson describes a new approach to solving this problem. 

The author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Forest Unseen visits with nature’s most magnificent networkers — trees "At once lyrical and informative, filled with beauty." – Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction David Haskell’s award-winning The Forest Unseen won acclaim...

With stories that entertain as much as they inform, renowned evolutionist David Sloan Wilson outlines the basic principles of evolution and shows how, when properly understood, they can illuminate the length and breadth of creation, from the origin of life to the nature of religion. What is the...

David Copperfield, like all of Dickens' novels, is filled with many memorable characters (because they are hyperbolic representations of character types) from all members of society. Here we have, for example, the virtuous, but relatively poor, Mr. Peggotty beside the grasping and greedy and vengeful and more middle-class Heep, but also beside Julia Mills whose only desire is also for money, which she possesses to excess (alluding to the capitalistic aggrandizement of European exploitation of foreign nations). And David Copperfield, like other of Dickens' works, emphasizes thematically that ...

David Elginbrod was George MacDonald's first real success, a novel of Scottish country life. Published in 1862, it was dedicated to the memory of Lady Noel Byron.(Summary from Wikipedia)

The words in this essay on positive thought sing like those in Whitman's "Leaves of Grass." The author praises joyous living and recommends certain routes to its attainment. He explores schooling (public secondary and the university), travel, and the study of nature as ways to stay buoyant during life's trials. He also praises the power of the arts (literature, music, painting, sculpture) to keep spirits soaring. (Summary by Bill Boerst)

“Book of Monsters” by David and Marian Fairchild was published in 1914. Riveting descriptions of spiders and insects, from the perspective of both predator and prey, draw the reader into a world beyond the human perspective. Insightful accounts are given of body structures and behaviors employed by insects in their struggle to exist – a struggle which may conflict or align with that of the humans in their environment, and cause them to be viewed as enemy or ally. Additional enjoyment is provided by the explanation of innovative and elaborate photography techniques used to capture the ...

An exploration of two geniuses with limitless minds and the conflict that has lasted beyond their lifetimes. Every Living Thing centres on the rivalry pledged between two scientists, Linnaeus and Buffon, who, from 1743 to 1778 raced each other to complete an inventory of all life on Earth. Their...

Inspired by the abundance of unique personalities available on dating websites, a renowned neuroscientist examines the science of what makes you, you. David J. Linden has devoted his career to understanding the biology common to all humans. But a few years ago he found himself on OkCupid...

Nature writer David Gessner chronicles the year-long odyssey of Flaco, the Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped from Central Park Zoo and captured the hearts and imaginations of millions of followers around the world. Though he'd spent his life in a cage, Flaco learned to survive in New York City by eating rats, squirrels, and birds. He was an immigrant coming from elsewhere to make it in the big city. Central Park, the island of green in an urban sea, was his new home territory.

In Nature's Genius David Farrier takes us on a profound journey into this ever-changing natural world. What we discover could change us. The ways animals adjust to the urban landscape can help us design sustainable cities. Examining other intelligences can help us remake our economies. Learning from bacterial evolution may help solve our waste problem. Synthetic biology could rescue animals from the brink of extinction. Thinking in timescales of the natural world could help us choose a better future.

Sharks are some of the most fascinating and ecologically important, yet most threatened and misunderstood animals on Earth. More often feared than revered, their role as predators of the deep has earned them a reputation as a major threat to humans. But the truth is that sharks are not a danger to us—they’re in danger from us. In Why Sharks Matter, marine conservation biologist Dr. David Shiffman urges us to overcome our misconceptions and embrace sharks as the imperiled and elegant ocean guardians they really are. 

Containing important information about the coronavirus, this comprehensive, easy-to-follow primer on pandemics, epidemics, and the panics they ignite around the world also shares solutions for a safer, healthier future.