In these essays Heinz von Foerster discusses some of the fundamental principles that govern how we know the world and how we process the information from which we derive that knowledge. Included are path- breaking articles concerning the principles of computation in neural nets (1967), the definition of self-organizing systems (1960), the nature of cognition (1970), as well as recent expansions on these themes (e.g. "How recursive is communication," 1993). Working with Norbert Wiener, Warren McCullough, and others in the 1960s and 1970s, von Foerster was one of the founders of the science of cybernetics, which has had profound effects both on modern systems theory and on the philosophy of cognition. At the Biological Computer Laboratory at the University of Illinois he produced the first parallel computers and contributed to many other developments in the theory of computation and cognition.

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Co-publication with Yale University Press (USA). Discussion of the biological diversity of the earth. Demonstrates how the natural systems that surround us play an essential role in protecting our basic life-support systems. Describes the millions of species providing ecosystem services and explains how biological diversity opens the way for new medicines, construction materials and designs, and manufactured goods. Urges us to protect the biological wealth of the earth from destructive human activity. Includes reccommended reading and index. Beattie is director of the Commonwealth Key Centre for Biodiversity and Bioresources at Macquarie University. Turnbull is a research associate at Macquarie. Erlich is Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford University.

LIFE AND ENERGY is a brilliant introduction to the chemistry of life. In this highly lucid guide to the dynamics of modern biology, Isaac Asimov deftly explores the most recent discoveries in this constantly surprising field of inquiry. In the first part, he explains the mechanics of the inanimate world, the significance of energy, work, motion, heat, and chemical reaction. He then uses these concepts in the second half to analyze and explain the latest advances in the study of enzymes, amino acids, proteins and the very processes which constitute life itself. In short, Dr. Asimov's keen examination of biology's current desire to isolate and control the very basis of life--the significance of which promises to revolutionize life itself--becomes a fascinating as well as informative excursion. Illustrated with drawings, charts and diagrams.

This is the classic, beautiful study about the migratory birds in flight over the Arkansas Prairie. Originally published in 1946 by Ducks Unlimited, it now is loved by a new audience of bird enthusiasts. Through exciting photographs and line drawings, the elusive mechanics of flight are illustrated.

Gold, gold, gold for Australia's mega-selling scientist's 27th book... 'Nullius in verba', the Royal Society's motto, roughly translated, means 'take nobody's word for it'. Why not do the experiment for yourself and see the reality of nature. Don't trust authority - trust nature.Does cranberry juice cure urinary tract infections? Is the hookah really a safer way to smoke? Will the Large Hadron Collider destroy the Earth and the Universe? Is the purpose of the peacock's tail to attract females? And in the unlikely event of a plane crash, are some seats safer than others?the human hand has 27 bones; Uranus has 27 moons; 27 is a perfect cube, being 3 x 3 x 3; and in this, Dr Karl's 27th book, he takes us on another exploration of the dazzling world of science.

Could an alien organism really survive a centuries-long trip on a meteor and remain virulent enough to attack a human being? How would a scientist know she was peering at a microbe from another planet? What's the possibility of a genetically mutated monster actually developing? In a gripping exploration of the facts behind the science fiction that has enthralled millions of X-philes, Anne Simon -- the respected virologist who comes up with the science for many intriguing episodes -- discusses telomeres, cloning, the Hayflick limit, nanotechnology, endosymbionts, lentiviruses, and other strange phenomena that have challenged the intellect and threatened the lives and sanity of America's favorite FBI agents. With Simon's extraordinary gift for explaining complicated, cutting-edge science in a light, accessible style, and her behind-the-scenes commentary on the development of various plot lines, The Real Science Behind the X-Files will appeal to science buffs and X-Files aficionados alike.

THE 49TH VOLUME OF THE ANNUAL REVIEW OF ENTOMOLOGY FOR 2004

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!

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.

Scientists are racing to unravel the code of life in our DNA sequences. But once we know the code, will we know what life means? Will we know what to do with the powerful -- healing, destructive, and marketable -- information we will have? Barbara Katz Rothman's warm, learned, passionate, and humorous voice is just the one we need to guide us through some of the most loaded issues and technologies of our time -- ones that bear on the most intimate aspects of our lives. Her astute observations about the new genetics are combined with personal reflections: about raising a black child; the risks of cancer; midwives and pregnancy; the social web into which we are born; motherhood; time, growth, chance, and all the indefinable things that make us human. She helps us to think about the place of genetic science in our own lives, its role in our social world, and how we choose to think about human life itself. A genetic map will take us places, but we need an imagination to see the relationship between DNA and public policy, between genes and the society we live in, and to understand why human life can't be reduced to genetics. Rothman inspires that imagination, in a book that is essential reading.

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.

'Daring, learned and humane... A revelatory restoration of wonder' Stephen Greenblatt. We no longer think, like the ancient Chinese did, that the world was hatched from an egg, or, like the Maori, that it came from the tearing-apart of a love embrace. The Greeks told of a tempestuous Hera and a cunning Zeus, but we now use genes and natural selection to explain fear and desire, and physics to demystify the workings of the universe. Science is an astounding achievement, but are we really any wiser than the ancients? Has science revealed the secrets of fate and immortality? Has it provided protection from jealousy or love? There are those who believe that science has replaced faith, but must it also be a death knell for mythology? Evolutions brings to life the latest scientific thinking on the birth of the universe and the solar system, the journey from a single cell all the way to our human minds. Reawakening our sense of wonder and terror at the world around us and within us, Oren Harman uses modern science to create new and original mythologies. Here are the Earth and the Moon presenting a cosmological view of motherhood, a panicking Mitochondrion introducing sex and death to the world, the loneliness of consciousness emerging from the memory of an octopus, and the birth of language in evolution summoning humankind's struggle with truth. Science may not solve our existential puzzles, but like the age-old legends, its magical discoveries can help us continue the never-ending search.

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.

2020 Reprint of the 1943 Edition. Full facsimile of the original edition and not reproduced with Optical Recognition software. Published on October 25, 1943, The Races of Mankind makes the argument that all the world's humans are biologically the same. Written by anthropologists Ruth Benedict and Gene Weltfish and illustrated by Ad Reinhardt, The Races of Mankind attacked Nazi party racial policies and urged mankind to see past superficial differences and live in harmony. The pamphlet was a publication of The Public Affairs Committee, a non-profit educational organization whose purpose was "to make available in summary and inexpensive form the results of research on economic and social problems to aid in the understanding and development of American policy" (Benedict and Weltfish, 1943). The idea of scientific racial equality, however, was not met with universal agreement. When the U.S. Army ordered 55,000 copies, members of Congress labeled the pamphlet "communistic" and its use by the Army was banned. Still, the scientific pamphlet's popularity grew, and by 1945 three-quarters of a million copies were in circulation (Abraham, 2012).

The most adventourous, polymathic - and readable - scientific populariser of the age offers in Janus a summing up of a quarter of a century's study and speculations on the life sciences and their philosophic implications. Koestler has an interesting theme to propose. It is this; the human brain has developed a terrible biological flaw, such that it is working now against the survival of the race. Something has "snapped" inside the brain. It is no longer necessarily a function which will lead us to a better world, but something demonic, possessed, perhaps even evil. The anguished humanity of Koestler's concepts and the lucid energy of his style comman respect. Here is one of the major political "experiencers" an dmost widely informed spirits of the age turning to the crux of human survival on a ravaged planet. The title of the book tells not only of a central allegory of division in the human species. It stands for the rare tension on Koestler's discourses: between desolation and zest, between darkness and noon.