Biologist Andreas Wagner reveals the deep symmetry between innovation in biological evolution and human cultural creativity. Rarely is either a linear climb to perfection--instead, "progress" is typically marked by a sequence of peaks, plateaus, and pitfalls. For instance, in Picasso's forty-some iterations of Guernica, we see the same combination of small steps, incessant reshuffling, and large, almost reckless, leaps that characterize the way evolution transformed a dinosaur's grasping claw into a condor's soaring wing. By understanding these principles, we can also better realize our own creative potential to find new solutions to adversity.
Ultimately, Life Finds a Way offers a new framework for the nature of creativity, enabling us to better adapt, grow, and change in art, business, or science--that is, in life.

Popular urban beekeeper Hilary Kearney challenges nature lovers, science fans, and beekeepers alike to "spot the queen" in 48 amazing fold-out photo challenges, accompanied by stories of the dramatic life of the queen honey bee and stories of swarm-capturing adventures.

Animals plainly know where they're going, but how they get there has remained surprisingly mysterious--until now.
In Supernavigators, award-winning author David Barrie catches us up on the cutting-edge science. Here are astounding animals of every stripe: Dung beetles that steer by the light of the Milky Way. Ants and bees that rely on patterns of light invisible to humans. Sea turtles and moths that find their way using Earth's magnetic field. Humpback whales that swim thousands of miles while holding a rocksteady course. Birds that can locate their nests on a tiny island after crisscrossing an ocean.
The age of viewing animals as unthinking drones is over. As Supernavigators makes clear, a stunning array of species command senses and skills--and arguably, types of intelligence--beyond our own. Weaving together interviews with leading animal behaviorists and the groundbreaking discoveries of Nobel Prize-winning scientists, David Barrie reveals these wonders in a whole new light.

A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction that offers a dramatic new perspective on the history of humankind, this text shows how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity's fate.

Say "algae" and most people think of pond scum. What they don't know is that without algae, none of us would exist.
There are as many algae on Earth as stars in the universe, and they have been essential to life on our planet for eons. Algae created the Earth we know today, with its oxygen-rich atmosphere, abundant oceans, and coral reefs. Crude oil is made of dead algae, and algae are the ancestors of all plants. Today, seaweed production is a multi-billion dollar industry, with algae hard at work to make your sushi, chocolate milk, beer, paint, toothpaste, shampoo and so much more.
In Slime we'll meet the algae innovators working toward a sustainable future: from seaweed farmers in South Korea, to scientists using it to clean the dead zones in our waterways, to the entrepreneurs fighting to bring algae fuel and plastics to market.

In Blueprint, behavioral geneticist Robert Plomin describes how the DNA revolution has made DNA personal by giving us the power to predict our psychological strengths and weaknesses from birth. A century of genetic research shows that DNA differences inherited from our parents are the consistent life-long sources of our psychological individuality--the blueprint that makes us who we are. This, says Plomin, is a game changer.
Plomin has been working on these issues for almost fifty years, conducting longitudinal studies of twins and adoptees. He reports that genetics explains more of the psychological differences among people than all other factors combined. Genetics accounts for fifty percent of psychological differences--not just mental health and school achievement but all psychological traits, from personality to intellectual abilities. Nature, not nurture is what makes us who we are.
Plomin explores the implications of this, drawing some provocative conclusions--among them that parenting styles don't really affect children's outcomes once genetics is taken into effect. Neither tiger mothers nor attachment parenting affects children's ability to get into Harvard. After describing why DNA matters, Plomin explains what DNA does, offering readers a unique insider's view of the exciting synergies that came from combining genetics and psychology.

A science journalist chronicles his surreal journey through the strange evolutionary history of mind control and real-life zombies, and what it reveals to us about nature—and ourselves.

Inside this funny, fascinating field guide to nature's most colorful characters, you'll meet killer snails, social bacteria, and an animal with toxic elbows. But Strange Survivors is more than a collection of curiosities--it is a love letter to science and an argument for the continuing relevance of this evolutionary battle as we face the threat of resistant bacteria and the need for novel medical therapies. Whether discussing blood-thinning bats and electric fish or pondering the power of cooperation, Pagán reveals the surprising lessons found in some of life's natural oddities and how the tactics they employ to live might aid our own survival.

This 2 volume encyclopedia is available in our reference collection or online in the Gale Virtual Reference Library.