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The Origin of Politics : Human Nature and the Shaping of Political Systems. by Wade, Nicholas.;
Combining the scope of Yuval Noah Harari with the political savvy of Francis Fukuyama, 'The Origin of Politics' draws from anthropology, evolutionary biology, and historical analysis to explore how human nature shapes the direction of society - and how policies which ignore human nature risk chaos and even extinction.Library Bound Incorporated
Subjects: HISTORY / Civilization; POLITICAL SCIENCE / World / General; SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution;
Available copies: 0 / Total copies: 1
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Hurricane lizards and plastic squid : the fraught and fascinating biology of climate change / by Hanson, Thor,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."In his three previous books-Feathers, The Triumph of Seeds, and Buzz-Thor Hanson has taken his readers on unforgettable journeys into nature, rendered with great storytelling, the soul of a poet, and the insight of a biologist. In this new book, he is doing it again, but exploring one of the most vital scientific and cultural issues of our time: climate change. As a young biologist, Hanson by his own admission watched with some detachment as our warming planet presented plants and animals with an ultimatum: change or face extinction. But his detachment turned to both concern and awe, as he observed the remarkable narratives of change playing out in each plant and animal he studied. In Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid, Hanson tells the story of how nature-both plants and animals, from beech trees to beetles-are meeting the challenges of rapid climate change head-on, adjusting, adapting, and sometimes noticeably evolving. Brown pelicans are fleeing uphill, seeking out new lives in the mountains. Gorillas in Uganda are turning to new food sources, such as eucalyptus trees (which humans only imported to Africa in the past several decades), as their old sources wain. Auklets, a little sea bird, aren't so lucky: changes in the lifecycles of their primary food source means they return at specific times of year to oceanic feeding grounds expecting plankton blooms that are no longer there. As global warming transforms and restructures the ecosystems in which these animals and others live, Hanson argues, we are forced to conclude that climate change will not have just one effect: Some transformations are beneficial. Others, and perhaps most, are devastating, wiping out entire species. One thing is constant: with each change an organism undergoes, the delicate balance of interdependent ecosystems is tipped, forcing the evolution of thousands more species, including us. To understand how, collectively, these changes are shaping the natural world and the future of life, Hanson looks back through deep time, examining fossil records, pollen, and even the tooth enamel of giant wombats and mummified owl pellets. Together, these records of our past tell the story of ancient climate change, shedding light on the challenges faced by today's species, the ways they will respond, and how these strategies will determine the fate of ecosystems around the globe. Ultimately, the story of nature's response to climate change is both fraught and fascinating, a story of both disaster and resilience, and, sometimes, hope. Lyrical and thought-provoking, Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid is poised to transform the conversation around climate change, shifting the focus from humans to the lattice of life, of which humans are just a single point"--
Subjects: Adaptation (Biology); Bioclimatology.; Biotic communities.; Climatic changes.; Global environmental change.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Still alive : a wild life of rediscovery / by Galante, Forrest,author.;
"Forrest Galante, host of Extinct or Alive and the world's #1 rare species expert, takes readers along with him through the deepest wilderness and most remote and dangerous parts of the world to find all the animals we thought were extinct. In the course of his travels, Galante has been attacked by lions, stung by jellyfish, bitten by snakes and had run-ins with pissed off hippos. Still Alive offers a travelogue of Galante's most harrowing adventures, introducing readers to some of the most unique rare species he's encountered--while also adding the unpredictable drama and human element of traveling to some of the world's most isolated locations. Part memoir, part biological adventure, Still Alive is a calling card for conservation, highlighting not just Galante's toughness as he finds animals thought to be lost, but also the resiliency of the animals themselves, as they keep their species alive in spite of the odds"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Galante, Forrest.; Adventure and adventurers; Rare animals; Rare animals;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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X-Men. [graphic novel] / by Duggan, Gerry,author.; Noto, Phil,illustrator,colourist.; Cassara, Joshua,illustrator.; Cowles, Clayton,letterer.; Fajardo, Romulo,colourist.;
The X-Men's last stand! As the chaos of mutantkind's fight back against their fall at the hands of Orchis rages in Fall of the House of X, other forgotten foes come out of the woodwork to take on the X-Men in their time of peril! Synch and Talon find themselves once more besieged by the High Evolutionary and his creations to reap the consequences of their last encounter - and the results will be devastating! Then Nimrod shows just why the X-Men lived in fear of its creation! The ultimate weapon of mutant extinction is ever-adapting, ever-evolving, with only one goal: death to mutantkind! But with the end nigh, Kate Pryde and Illyana Rasputin fight side by side - blades in hand! And the X-Men assemble for what might be the last battle of the heroes of Krakoa!T+.
Subjects: Graphic novels.; Superhero comics.; Mutation (Biology); Superheroes; X-Men (Fictitious characters);
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Twelve trees : the deep roots of our future / by Lewis, Daniel,1959-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A compelling global exploration of nature and survival as seen via a dozen species of trees that represent the challenges facing our planet, and the ways that scientists are working urgently to save our forests and our future.The world today is undergoing the most rapid environmental transformation in human history--from climate change to deforestation. Scientists, ethnobotanists, indigenous peoples, and collectives of all kinds are closely studying trees and their biology to understand how and why trees function individually and collectively in the ways they do. In Twelve Trees, Daniel Lewis, curator and historian at one of the world's most renowned research libraries, travels the world to learn about these trees in their habitats. Lewis takes us on a sweeping journey to plant breeding labs, botanical gardens, research facilities, deep inside museum collections, to the tops of tall trees, underwater, and around the Earth, journeying into the deserts of the American west and the deep jungles of Peru, to offer a globe-spanning perspective on the crucial impact trees have on our entire planet. When a once-common tree goes extinct in the wild but survives in a botanical garden, what happens next? How can scientists reconstruct lost genomes and habitats? How does a tree store thousands of gallons of water, or offer up perfectly preserved insects from millions of years ago, or root itself in muddy swamps and remain standing? How does a 5,000-year-old tree manage to live, and what can we learn from it? And how can science account for the survival of one species at the expense of others? To study the science of trees is to study not just the present, but the story of the world, its past, and its future."--
Subjects: Trees; Trees;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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