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Superlative : the biology of extremes / Matthew D. LaPlante.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Dallas, TX : BenBella Books, Inc., [2019]Copyright date: ©2019Description: x, 373 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781946885944
  • 1946885940
Other title:
  • Biology of extremes
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Introduction: Nature's best ambassadors -- All things great and tall: How the world's biggest life forms are saving human lives -- All the small things: Why little things have such a big impact on our world -- The old dominion : how our biological elders are offering us new knowledge -- Fast times : why the quickest animals probably aren't the ones you think -- Aural sects: How superlative sound helps drive life as we know it -- The tough get going : how the world's strongest organisms might lift us to the heavens -- Deadly serious : why the world's most efficient killers are such effective lifesavers -- Smarter all the time : why the most intelligent life-forms ain't us -- Conclusion: The next superlative discovery is yours.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 591 L314 Available 33111009147238
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

2019 Foreword Indie Silver Award Winner for Science



Welcome to the biggest, fastest, deadliest science book you'll ever read.

The world's largest land mammal could help us end cancer. The fastest bird is showing us how to solve a century-old engineering mystery. The oldest tree is giving us insights intoclimate change. The loudest whale is offering clues about the impact of solar storms.

For a long time, scientists ignoredsuperlativelife forms as outliers. Increasingly, though, researchers are coming to see great value in studying plants and animals that exist on the outermost edges of the bell curve.

As it turns out, there's a lot of value in paying close attention to the "oddballs" nature has to offer.

Go for a swim with a ghost shark, the slowest-evolving creature known to humankind,which is teaching usnew ways to think about immunity. Get to know the axolotl, which has the longest-known genome and may hold the secret to cellularregeneration. Learn about Monorhaphis chuni , the oldest discovered animal, whichis providing insights into the connection between our terrestrial and aquatic worlds.

Superlative is the story of extreme evolution, and what we can learn from it about ourselves, our planet, and the cosmos. It's a tale of crazy-fast cheetahs and super-strong beetles, of microbacteria and enormous plants, of whip-smart dolphins and killer snakes.

This book will inspire you to change the way you think about the world and your relationship to everything in it.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: Nature's best ambassadors -- All things great and tall: How the world's biggest life forms are saving human lives -- All the small things: Why little things have such a big impact on our world -- The old dominion : how our biological elders are offering us new knowledge -- Fast times : why the quickest animals probably aren't the ones you think -- Aural sects: How superlative sound helps drive life as we know it -- The tough get going : how the world's strongest organisms might lift us to the heavens -- Deadly serious : why the world's most efficient killers are such effective lifesavers -- Smarter all the time : why the most intelligent life-forms ain't us -- Conclusion: The next superlative discovery is yours.

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