In the next book in Dr Karl's mega-selling science series, Australia's favourite scientist answers more curly questions about life, the universe and everything; questions such as Are virgin births possible? (they are) Will a black hole suck you in? (it won't) Is the most radioactive device in our homes the microwave? (it's not, it's the smoke detector)No-one conveys the excitement and wonder of science quite like Dr Karl and this, his twenty-fifth book, takes us on another thoroughly entertaining exploration of the world around us. If you like your science fun and unpredictable, don't miss this new addition to the Dr Karl library.

In this, his 45th book, Dr Karl goes full kolour, with brilliant and funny illustrations to match his dress sense. So take a technikolour trip through science with the intrepid Dr Karl, Australia's favourite science guru. Q: HOW MANY DR KARL BOOKS ARE THERE IN THE UNIVERSE? A: MORE THAN A MILLION! Dr Karl is on a mission to track down Awe and Wonder in the Universe. Why do wombats poo cubes? What nearly destroyed humanity on Halloween 2015? How do you use an incinerating toilet? Find out why we've sent a spacecraft with Dr Karl's name on it to kiss the Sun, whether cannibalism is nutritious, and the answer to the Biggeset Question of All - why does spaghetti always break into three pieces? Plus a whole lot more. So strap in and get ready for a random ride through the Universe. Who knows where you'll end up!

Spaceflight historian Amy Shira Teitel tells the riveting story of the female pilots who each dreamed of being the first American woman in space. When the space age dawned in the late 1950s, Jackie Cochran held more propeller and jet flying records than any pilot of the twentieth century-man or woman. She had led the Women's Auxiliary Service Pilots during the Second World War, was the first woman to break the sound barrier, ran her own luxury cosmetics company, and counted multiple presidents among her personal friends. She was more qualified than any woman in the world to make the leap from atmosphere to orbit. Yet it was Jerrie Cobb, twenty-five years Jackie's junior and a record-holding pilot in her own right, who finagled her way into taking the same medical tests as the Mercury astronauts. The prospect of flying in space quickly became her obsession. While the American and international media spun the shocking story of a "woman astronaut" program, Jackie and Jerrie struggled to gain control of the narrative, each hoping to turn the rumored program into their own ideal reality-an issue that ultimately went all the way to Congress. This dual biography of audacious trailblazers Jackie Cochran and Jerrie Cobb presents these fascinating and fearless women in all their glory and grit, using their stories as guides through the shifting social, political, and technical landscape of the time.

Timely and unrivalled, this first work to categorize and systematically cover all recently identified receptors in the human genome is all set to become the gold standard in the field of receptor genetics and physiology. In three handy volumes, this comprehensive guide adopts an innovative approach, where, in the first part, each receptor family is discussed individually, based on the latest evidence. In the second part, the knowledge is integrated into concepts and overviews of common themes in present-day receptor research.While serving as a central resource for many disciplines, including biochemistry, molecular genetics and physiology, this reference will be equally welcomed by drug developers and cancer researchers.

Philosophers have not taken the evolution of human beings seriously enough. If they did, argues Peter Munz, many long standing philosophical problems would be resolved. One of philosophical concequences of biology is that all the knowledge produced in evolution is a priori , i.e., established hypothetically by chance mutation and selective retention, not by observation and intelligent induction. For organisms as embodied theories, selection is natural and for theories as disembodied organisms, it is artificial. Following Popper, the growth of knowledge is seen to be continuous from the amoeba to Einstein'. Philosophical Darwinism throws a whole new light on many contemporary debates. It has damaging implications for cognitive science and artificial intelligence, and questions attempts from within biology to reduce mental events to neural processes. More importantly, it provides a rational postmodern alternative to what the author argues are the unreasonable postmodern fashions of Kuhn, Lyotard and Rorty.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

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The significance of human individuality is such that each human functions as a unique "molecular" unit of the mass of humanity. Understanding the natural basis for the uniqueness of the individual has long been an objective. The possibilities have been analyzed by Julian Huxley, by A. E. Needham, by Roger Williams, and by others. With his books Biochemical Individuality and Free and Unequal, Roger Williams has done as much as anyone to focus atten tion on this complex of questions. Although scheduled to partici pate in this program, Roger Williams* was unable to attend due to illness. He asked, however, that a quotation be included in the proceedings. This quotation from Chraka is presented early in this book. While metabolic bases for individuality have received a con siderable investigation and discussion by Williams and others, the case for underlying determinants and derivative consequences have not been examined as fully. The specificities that abound in our living world can be traced to the manner in which molecules fit with each other. While numerous studies having other objectives can be cited in support of molecularly based specificities, a few of the leaders in the development of the understanding of physical aspects of biological information present here some of their latest inferences. Several of the participants discuss some of the conse quences at higher levels. Examination of the fascinating cases of reunited identical twins are seen as providing a capstone to the hierarchical treatment.

A fascinating tribute to the forefathers of two of today’s most exciting scientific fields Thanks to Max Delbruck and George Gamow, today we have mapped the human genome and understand the ramifications of the Big Bang. In his characteristically inviting and elegant style, Gino Segre brings to life the story of these two great scientists and their long friendship and offers an accessible inside look the people behind the scenes of science—the collaboration and competition, the quirks and failures, the role of intuition and luck, and the sense of wonder and curiosity that keeps these extraordinary minds going.

These original contributions by symbiosis biologists and evolutionary theorists address the adequacy of the prevailing neo-Darwinian concept of evolution in the light of growing evidence that hereditary symbiosis, supplemented by the gradual accumulation of heritable mutation, results in the origin of new species and morphological novelty. A departure from mainstream biology, the idea of symbiosis—as in the genetic and metabolic interactions of the bacterial communities that became the earliest eukaryotes and eventually evolved into plants and animals—has attracted the attention of a growing number of scientists. These original contributions by symbiosis biologists and evolutionary theorists address the adequacy of the prevailing neo-Darwinian concept of evolution in the light of growing evidence that hereditary symbiosis, supplemented by the gradual accumulation of heritable mutation, results in the origin of new species and morphological novelty. They include reports of current research on the evolutionary consequences of symbiosis, the protracted physical association between organisms of different species. Among the issues considered are individuality and evolution, microbial symbioses, animal­bacterial symbioses, and the importance of symbiosis in cell evolution, ecology, and morphogenesis. Lynn Margulis, Distinguished Professor of Botany at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is the modern originator of the symbiotic theory of cell evolution. Once considered heresy, her ideas are now part of the microbiological revolution. Contributors Peter Atsatt, Richard C. Back, David Bermudes, Paola Bonfante-Fasolo, René Fester, Lynda J. Goff, Anne-Marie Grenier, Ricardo Guerrero, Robert H. Haynes, Rosmarie Honegger, Gregory Hinkle, Kwang W. Jeon, Bryce Kendrick, Richard Law, David Lewis, Lynn Margulis, John Maynard Smith, Margaret J. McFall-Ngai, Paul Nardon, Kenneth H. Nealson, Kris Pirozynski, Peter W. Price, Mary Beth Saffo, Jan Sapp, Silvano Scannerini, Werner Schwemmler, Sorin Sonea, Toomas H. Tiivel, Robert K. Trench, Russell Vetter

In this modern era of mathematical modeling, applications have become increasingly complicated. As the complexity grows, it becomes more and more difficult to draw meaningful conclusions about the behavior of theoretical models and their relations to reality. Alongside methods that emphasize quantitative properties and the testing of scientific details, there is a need for approaches that are more qualitative. These techniques attempt to cover whole families of models in one bold stroke, in a manner that allows robust conclusions to be drawn about them. Loop analysis and time averaging provide a means of interpreting the properties of systems from the network of interactions within the system. The authors' methodology concentrates on graphical representation to guide experimental design, to identify sources of external variability from the statistical pattern of variables, and to make management decisions. Although most of the examples are drawn from ecology, the methods are relevant to all of the pure and applied sciences. This relevance is enhanced by case studies from such diverse areas as physiology, resource management, the behavioral sciences, and social epidemiology. The book will be useful to a broad readership from the biological and social sciences as well as the physical sciences and technology. It will interest undergraduate and graduate students along with researchers active in these disciplines. Here the reader will find a strong rationale for maintaining a holistic approach, revealing what insights and advantages are retained by the broader perspective and, more explicitly, by the synergistic effects that cannot be discerned by reducing systems to their smallest parts.

Partial table of contents: NEUROPEPTIDES AND THE STRESS RESPONSE. Brain Corticotropin Releasing Factor and Development (T. Insel, et al.). Opioids, Stress, and the Developing Brain (I. Zagon & P. McLaughlin). THE ADRENAL MEDULLA AND STRESS. Catecholamines and Stress in the Newborn (T. Slotkin & F. Seidler). Endogeneous Neuropeptides Maintain Adrenal Catecholamine Output during Stress (B. Livett, et al.). IMMUNOBIOLOGY OF STRESS. Shock Induced Immunosuppression: Naltrexone Sensitive and Insensitive Parameters (J. Cunnick, et al.). Regulation of Interleukin-2 Expression by Dexamethasone in a Mouse T Cell Line (B. Sorg, et al.). PHYSICAL CONSEQUENCES OF STRESS. Enzymatic and Morphological Adaptation to Physical Exercise in Young Middle Aged, and Old Mice: A Model for Physical Stress (A. Reznick, et al.). Gastric Erosion Formation by Stress: Brain Stem Mechanisms (H. Weiner, et al.). STRESS AND BEHAVIOR. Information-Induced Stress in Humans (S. Breznitz). Affect Specific Retrieval from Archival Memory (H. Weingartner, et al.). Index.

First published in 1988 and now known as a classic. In this book Stephen Fry describes, in bench-top detail, techniques for the study of primary cell walls in higher plants. Deepening interest in the chelistry and metabolism of cell walls reflects the breadth of their significance in biology. Walls play crutial roles in morphogenesis, growth, disease-resistance, recognition, signalling, digestibility, nutrition and decay. Scientists interested in questions concerning these processes need to know about methods of cell wall analysis. This book was written with these people in mind. There are 11 chapters as follows: 1. Introduction to the growing plant cell wall 2. Radioactive labelling of cell walls 3. Wall polymers: extraction and fractionation 4. Wall polymers: chemical characterisation 5. Wall biosyntesis 6. Wall enzymes 7. Wall architecture 8. Wall turnover and sloughing 9. Biologically-active wall oligosaccharides 10. Wall tightening and loosening: growth 11. Wall degradation "Stephen Fry has written an invaluable book on the analytical techniques available in this important research field. This is an excellent book for the typical modern biologist." J. Experimental Biology "This book will be of considerable value to anyone engaged in the analysis of plant cell walls." Ann. Botany "For those who intend to do any practical cell wall analysis this book will be an invaluable laboratory manual." Plant Pathology "As a practical guide to wall analysis this book will be a most valuable tool." Times Higher Education Supplement

The 18th volume in this annual review begins with a preface by one of the editors, Randy Schekman (U. of California, Berkeley), concerning the obligation of scientists to see that funds allotted for research in response to terrorism are invested wisely, and to offer advice to legislative representat

The 18th volume in this annual review begins with a preface by one of the editors, Randy Schekman (U. of California, Berkeley), concerning the obligation of scientists to see that funds allotted for research in response to terrorism are invested wisely, and to offer advice to legislative representat