Biomembranes: Molecular Structure and Function (Springer Advanced Texts in Chemistry)

Book Description

This book is a broad survey covering the fundamental concepts and current state of research in biomembranes. It is intended as a text suitable for graduate level courses or as a reference work for individuals who are either already involved in membrane research or are interested in entering the field. Portions of the text in addition contain information which is particularly valuable to students engaged in laboratory research on biomembranes, e.g., discussions of experimental techniques, chemical structures, tabulated data, and numerous references to facilitate using the literature. Those parts of the text relating to transport proteins and receptors are unique in their perspective and breadth of coverage. In addition, the chapters on membrane enzymology and on small molecule interactions contain information difficult to find elsewhere. A conscious attempt has been made to tie together numerous areas into an overall perspective on the current state of affairs.

Biomembrane Structure and Function (Topics in Molecular & Structural Biology)

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Biomembrane Structure and Function (Topics in Molecular & Structural Biology)

Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Biomembranes: Molecular Structure and Function (Springer Advanced Texts in Chemistry)

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Biomembranes: Molecular Structure and Function (Springer Advanced Texts in Chemistry)
Robert B. Gennis
Manufacturer: Springer-Verlag
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Here is a fascinating, detailed look at the life of Charles Darwin: naturalist, geologist, and independent thinker. In his author's note, Caldecott Honor illustrator Peter Sis (Starry Messenger, Tibet: Through the Red Box) writes that Darwin always regretted not learning how to draw. However, he could and did take "dense and vivid" written notes, from which Sis drew his inspiration. Readers will spend hours poring over the gorgeous, intricately crafted pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations depicting layer upon layer of Darwin's life as he developed his theories about the origins of life and natural selection. Tidbits from Darwin's extensive and legendary voyage on the Beagle, notes on Galapagos tortoises, bloodsucking benchuca bugs, and Toxodon skeletons, and particulars from his family life intermingle with each other--just as in real life. Crammed with a veritable muddle of diary entries, cameo portraits, diagrams, natural illustrations, maps, timelines, a gatefold spread, and narrative divided into "Public Life," "Private Life," and "Secret Life" blocks of text, The Tree of Life will certainly be overwhelming to some readers; for other, less linear thinkers, it will be sheer, chaotic delight. (Ages 9 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Book Description

In this brilliant presentation of a revolutionary thinker's life, the picture book becomes an art form

As far as I can judge, I am not apt to follow blindly the lead of other men . . .

Charles Darwin was, above all else, an independent thinker who continues even now to influence the way we look at the natural world. His endless curiosity and passion for detail resulted in a wealth of notebooks, diaries, correspondence, and published writings that Peter Sís transforms into a visual treasure trove. A multilayered journey through Darwin’s world, The Tree of Life begins with his childhood and traces the arc of his life through university and career, following him around the globe on the voyage of the Beagle, and home to a quiet but momentous life devoted to science and family. Sís uses his own singular vision to create a gloriously detailed panorama of a genius’s trajectory through investigating and understanding the mysteries of nature. In pictures executed in fine pen and ink and lush watercolors – cameo portraits, illustrated pages of diary, cutaway views of the Beagle, as well as charts, maps, and a gatefold spread – Peter Sís has shaped a wondrous introduction to Charles Darwin.

Customer Reviews:

It's seldom noted, but..........2007-08-29

You know the REALLY funny thing about Darwin?
His own children didn't even survive him.
Which made him a failure in the sense he gave his name to.

The Tree of Life: Charles Darwin.......2007-03-16

Though I liked the book very much and enjoyed reading all of the facts about Charles Darwin, I think that the format was BUSY. All over each page there were illustrations and little facts of interest. I wanted to read them all... and did! But, I prefer a more straight forward format.

beautiful book.......2005-10-12

This is a beautiful book! It gives you a vivid picture of Charles Darwin's life. Very enjoyable -- my son and I both got to know Darwin well from this book! I'm inspired to read all those books Darwin wrote.

A Gem.......2004-08-01

This is a wonderful book. Great illustrations with much detail about Darwin's life (all of it, family, career, adventures) including "pages" from his diary. I bought it for my son who really liked it. We read it together the first time, then he explored it on his own. He used it for a 4th grade school project and got an A. I enjoyed it, too.

To life!.......2004-05-28

If you are at all familiar with Peter Sis, then you linger under the incorrect impression that you know what to expect from him. Carefully researched subjects. Illustrations containing infinitesimally small people, places, and things. Engaging and entertaining plots. I tell you now, ladies and gents, "Tree of Life" takes all of this and multiplies it. Quadruples it. You have never seen a picture book like this before. When you are dealing with a book that cares to discuss the origins of life itself, you need an author/illustrator comfortable with details. In this, Sis is your man.

This is a summarization and encapsulation of the life of Mr. Charles Robert Darwin. The book begins like so:

"Charles Darwin opens his eyes for the first time! He has no idea that he will (a) start a revolution when he grows up, (b) sail around the world on a five-year voyage, (c) spend many years studying nature, and (d) write a book that will change the world".

From here on in we watch Darwin learn and grow. The text is separated, initially, into two parts. One portion is in bold and discusses the facts of Darwin's life. An italicized portion below this talks about Charles's passions and desires. Up above we see little images and factoids strewn about the page willy-nilly, giving us a better sense of the times and people involved in the naturalist's life. This form and style goes out the window when Darwin joins up with the Beagle. Suddenly the pages become drawings of creatures and sights. There is a magnificent two-page spread of boxes, each one carrying an interesting fact, animal, moment, or image that Darwin encountered. It's as if his very experiences have been cataloged for the reader's viewing pleasure. Eventually Darwin returns and as he does so the pages themselves return to the previous layout. Now, however, Darwin's life has been divided into three different parts. He has a public life, a private life, and a secret (read evolutionary) life. Every individual life is outlined on each page and as we read on we understand how a single person's dreams can be affected by their personal and private triumphs and catastrophies. When, "On the Origin of the Species" is published we find a full pull-out four page spread encompassing the enormity of this publication. Images on the pages become less straightforward and more dreamlike. At long last, accompanying a vision of a solitary Magritte-like Darwin surrounded by a clan of death's head hawk moths are the words, "Charles Darwin died on April 19, 1882, and was buried in Westminster Abbey".

According to the book's author/illustrator, Darwin was, himself, unable to draw. So rather than sketch the wonders he saw while on the Beagle, the naturalist would describe his visions with great detail. In this way, Sis has become Darwin's right hand. It is impossible to flip through this book and not be amazed at the intricacy of the project. Sis is almost a pointillist at times, his Seurat-like dots forming everything from the galleys of a ship to thousands of tiny houses in London. A child reading this book could pore over a single page for hours, interpreting and reinterpreting each digression and off-hand comment. Honestly, you've never seen a book like this one before. The image that stands out most prominently in my mind is that of Darwin astride a giant rock dove that is made up of a thousand domesticated descendents.

Which brings us to the idea of a children's book concerned with evolution in the first place. "The Tree of Life" is hardly alone in this respect. For example, the ambitious "Our Family Tree" by Lisa Westberg Peters is far more direct in voicing the facts of evolution than this book in many respects. Here, Sis seems to avoid controversy as much as possible. The spread that describes every chapter and thought that went into the making of "On the Origin of the Species" is accompanied by the caveat, "Darwin did not say that God had not created life on earth. What he said was that creation did not happen all at once". Take that. Some time is spent examining the Bishop Samuel Wilberforce's objections and the Great Oxford Debate of 1860, but it is given far less time or energy than the book's page on, say, the Galapagos Islands. I would have liked some explanations on why some people didn't (and still do not) like Darwin's theories. Even a cursory explanation of the opposition wouldn't have been inappropriate considering the subject matter. Alas, here Sis is lacking.

All this notwithstanding, this is a fine piece of kiddie lit. If you remain unconvinced and require just a little more information about this book's fine nature, I merely direct you to the endpapers. In most picture books, the endpapers in the front of the book match and duplicate the endpapers at the back. Yet even here, Sis has not skimped. From the evolving feet of horses to the hand of Michaelangelo's God reaching towards Adam's, these pages are all individual and unique, making them just as important as any other portion of the book. I shudder to think what will happen to them when this book comes out in paperback. Though some will argue that this book is too advanced for children, challenge this statement. Test it for yourself. Any child that likes detail, precision, and nature will at least enjoy portions of this book. In a word - fabulous.

In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial, and the Making of the Antievolution Movement (H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series)

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In the Beginning: Fundamentalism, the Scopes Trial, and the Making of the Antievolution Movement (H. Eugene and Lillian Youngs Lehman Series)
Michael Lienesch
Manufacturer: The University of North Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0807830968

Book Description

The current controversy over teaching evolution in the public schools has grabbed front-page headlines and topped news broadcasts all across the United States. In the Beginning investigates the movement that has ignited debate in state legislatures and at school board meetings. Reaching back to the origins of antievolutionism in the 1920s, and continuing to the promotion of intelligent design today, Michael Lienesch analyzes one of the most formidable political movements of the twentieth century.

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Outstanding Scientic & Personal Darwin Biography!
WELL WORTH THE READ
Darwin the hypochondriac
Evolution unknowingly affected Darwin's behavior.Masterfully
Probably the best recent single volume Darwin Biography

Charles Darwin: A New Life
John Bowlby
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist

ASIN: 0393309304

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding Scientic & Personal Darwin Biography!.......2005-09-22

This bio does a fine job in analyzing and comparing the great scientist's personal and family life, with his famous scientific research, writing, and early Beagle Explorations. Apparently, he had serious health problems, most in the digestive system, but overcame this adversity, among others, to write some of the greatest scientific documents ever. Of his ten children, three died young, including two as infants. His financial independence certainly helped matters, but the long and involved writing and research would probably have discouraged a lesser man. Truly well done thruout, and not overbearingly difficult for the scientific and biological layman, like this reviewer!

WELL WORTH THE READ.......2004-08-02

This biography gives a new slant to the study of Darwin. It is by no means a new slant, but the author has certainly presented it in a much better fashion, more through, than any previous biographicals on Darwin. The author's style is easy and interesting. I Would highly recommend the additon of this one to your collection. Well worth the read. Hope we get to see more from this author.

Darwin the hypochondriac.......2003-01-23

Most biographies are geared towards illustrating the life of a famous figure for the purpose of presenting or revisiting the accomplishments. This biography, however, does not give the central focus to the writings and finds of Charles Darwin; the thesis deals more with Darwin being a possible hypochondriac.

The preface and appendix discuss recent research regarding Darwin's being an invalid during parts of his life. Some research deals with a disease that he may have picked up in South America while on the voyage of the HMS Beagle; some research says that Darwin was merely obsessed with being sick and therefore created a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This brings us to the text. Although Darwin's life is shown to us, as well as some additional information on family and colleagues, the life is covered in regards to his worst periods of sickness. By plotting this out for us, Bowlby shows us that many of these periods are preceded by deaths of family members close to Darwin and by fierce scrutiny of his discoveries and writings.

Another idea is the family's way of dealing with intense emotion. Rather than express this emotion by crying or mourning, it was internalized. This internalization led to depression, which led to sickness.

This biography is written less as a narrative of Darwin's life, but more as a proof for the author's thoughts on Darwin's sickness. As a result, there are many points where the author becomes more noticeable.

This is still an intriguing book, and I would recommend reading it.

Evolution unknowingly affected Darwin's behavior.Masterfully.......2002-01-04

The life and times of Darwin are masterfully brought to our attention by child emotional development expert and pioneer John Bowlby. Darwin's biography and upbringing are masterfully revealed and how they relate to his lifelong behavior, health, choices, and decisions in life. A most interesting aspect of this book is how evolution unknowingly affected Darwin's behavior as he himself is formulating and writing his famous theories on evolution. Because of the voluminous and extremely revealing written personal and professional correspondence by Darwin and his acquaintances a very good record of his health can be deduced from it. A must for those interested in more details on Darwin's life and how evolution affected the emotions and behavior of the main founder of evolution himself; and written by child emotional development pioneer Bowlby. It is a very detailed and well written book. For a complete definitive traditional biography of Darwin you may want to go to a plethora of other books available on the subject.

Probably the best recent single volume Darwin Biography.......2001-07-05

My title probably says it all, but I will elaborate. I still think that janet Browne has made the best START to a biography, I just wish she would finish by giving us Vol. 2! In the meantime we have Bowlby and that isn't half bad. Full of interesting background material and written with a lively pace A NEW LIFE manages to steer through some of the perils of "psychohistory" that have damaged other authors and gives us an interesting and at times provocative look at Darwin and Darwin's time. Well worth the read.

The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex: (With a new introduction by J.T. Bonner and R.M. May)

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defies common sense
Freed our minds for relativity
Masterpiece or wonder?
Thought police
True Darwinism

The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex: (With a new introduction by J.T. Bonner and R.M. May)
Charles Darwin
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0691023697

Customer Reviews:

defies common sense.......2007-07-14

This book is totally boring and idiotic.
Only a fool would believe that our ancestors were gorillas. If you believe that we descended from gorillas and/or lizards, you probably also believe that The Earth revolves around the sun.

The Earth is stationary, just like it seems. The sun revolves around The Earth, just like the moon (except hotter). Use your noodle. It's common sense.

The Lord created The Earth (and the heavens) out of sawdust, clay, dinosaur bones, and mud. He did so in six days, and slept on the seventh day. This occurred 6000 or 7000 years ago. Evolution could not have occurred in such a short period of time.
Wake up, you've been duped.

Freed our minds for relativity.......2006-12-12

Just as "Origin of Species is misunderstood, I believe "Descent" to be also, although the latter is a more entertaining read. "Descent" fails to concentrate on man without deviating. It is a book of observations and study. It concentrates on how animal life, has, by sexual selection, brought forth the variety in the species we see today, through millions of years. Darwin covered his beloved pigeons in depth in "Origins" and continues at length on many other bird species in "Descent". I agree with him that all the different types of birds we see today probably came from one ancestor of the pigeon. This is called variation of kind. We see this in just about every living creature and flora. The problem arises when the next step is taken, the rise of one species turning into another (reptile to bird). Throughout the book Darwin does admit to this fact, but he still maintains that it must be, with much difficulty. He does hint to nature having some "power of thought", where does this come from? How does nature make these choices? Why did Darwin focus so on the black tribes: their practices, looks, sexuality, if he did not believe them a lower race? Of course he only hints at this, and his belief of evolving from apes is scant, but obvious. Does not the use of race to distinguish only separate? His theory on idiots as somehow lower is also disturbing. And what of the rudimentary parts and vestigial organs. As we progress in our scientific study we understand more on their uses, and there may be much we will never understand. In the end he gives a poor argument, and a convoluted book.

There is no doubt there is a tremendous amount of work that went into his book. It is a difficult and painful read, although there are many interesting and detailed observations. One does need to know his enemy. Darwin is not the originator of "evolution." There are many who came before him, since the dawn of time. He was influenced by numerous men of his time, some being more radical. Darwin was nothing new, he just maid it "hip." What he started has turned into the secular humanism the world has adopted. I don't think he meant for this disease to spread like it has. From his writings I understand him as an agnostic, but doubtful. I believed he struggled with the possibly of a deist. It is safe to say it was his only ambition till his dying day to prove "evolution" as proof of our existence. What of the missing fossil record?, he new they would be found. He was a confusing man.

150 years later and there still has been no intermediate fossils found to prove the case. In fact we are discovering more that validates creation.

Why don't we see a scale or a feather erupt occasionally on man? Is it because it is not in our DNA, and never was?

The theory of evolution caused Darwin to loose his faith and his experience has been repeated in countless lives. Evolution is an acid that eats away at the mind, a cancer.

One only needs to open the pages to Michael Behe's book, "Darwin's Black Box", to understand the futility of the evolutionary theory. The engines of life at the molecular level are so complex that there leaves no other possibility than a creator of the universe. There should be no excuse.

Wish you well
Scott

Masterpiece or wonder?.......2004-07-30

While Darwin's theory of natural selection was accepted in the 1930s, Darwin's theory of sexual selection remains controversial. In Ernst Mayr's recent What is Evolution? Darwin's theory of sexual selection receives about two paragraphs. By comparison, Darwin considered sexual selection important enough to receive an equal number of pages as he devoted to his theory of natural selection. 130 years later, he's still probably the only evolutionary theorist to make this judgement. Equally, one must wonder that if Darwin had not come up with the idea of sexual selection, would anyone else have done so?

This book is not merely revolutionary on a theoretical basis, but also in its thoughts on animals - including humans. 100 years before Jane Goodall `discovers' chimpanzees using tools, Darwin devotes more than a page to animals using tools. More than 110 years before vets begin to give dogs prozac, Darwin argues that dogs have a sense of humour. His views on animals raises them higher than any modern theorist: his views on humans lowers them to where they are - animals, and thus the title.

130 years later, this book is still radical. It is probably the most significant alteration to our understanding of ourselves since Copernicus. Its contents, with its stark views on human violence, continues to make aetheists uneasy. The book is very readable, and Darwin's clarity, sincerity and incisiveness places him above all modern writers. Revolutionary, thoughtful, and warm, it remains more a wonder than a masterpiece.

Thought police.......2003-10-18

Darwin operated in a thought world completely unacceptable to the "politically correct" speech/thought codes found on most college/university campuses today. If one subscribes to Darwinian or neo-Darwinian ideas, one has to wonder what new "great ideas" we are missing out on today, now that the politically correct thought police have taken over the media, education, and popular entertainment establishments--effictively suppressing the sort of thought that nurtured Darwin's "scientific" speculations.

True Darwinism.......2002-11-17

In the beginning of the book, you will find a sort of definition of Natural Selection, which is about all the space Darwin spends on formulating his hypothesis.

"Do the races or species of men, whichever term may be applied, encroach on and replace one another, so that some finally become extinct? We shall see that all these questions, as indeed is obvious in respect to most of them, must be answered in the affirmative, in the same manner as with the lower animals."

On about 15 occasions later in the book he writes about how this selective encroachment of human races occurs, most signicicantly when writing that:

"Extinction follows chiefly from the competition of tribe with tribe, and race with race. (.....) and when of two adjoining tribes one becomes less numerous and less powerful than the other, the contest is soon settled by war, slaughter, cannibalism, slavery, and absorption."

Racial and tribal genocide is the chief operator in shaping humans as they are today from an apelike progenitor, according to Darwin.

This work is not up to scratch compared to classics of biological science from the same timeperiod, such as Mendel's "Versuche". This work is more appropiately read together with Haecekel's "Natural Creation History" (Naturliche Schopfungsgeschichte), which Darwin profusely praises in the beginning of his book.

Both these works from Haeckel and Darwin carry decidedly racist and generally judgemental content. Generally judgemental in continuously talking about higher and lower in an expressely moral way. For instance Darwin finds it neccessary to assert what the highest state of morality is for a person, and elsewhere he urges people in any way "inferior" not to marry.

Book Description

Today, most colleges and universities offer evolutionary study as part of their biology curriculums. Evolution For Dummies will track a class in which evolution is taught and give an objective scientific view of the subject. This balanced guide explores the history and future of evolution, explaining the concepts and science behind it, offering case studies that support it, and comparing evolution with rival theories of creation, such as intelligent design. It also will identify the signs of evolution in the world around us and explain how this theory affects our everyday lives and the future to come.

Greg Krukonis, PhD (Portland, OR) received his doctorate from the University of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. He is a former assistant adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark College, where he taught evolution.

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Charles Darwin a New Life

Manufacturer: Norton, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000HEZTK0

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Charles Darwin a New Life
John Bowlby
Manufacturer: W W NORTON & CO @
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TXCQ5K

Charles Darwin's the Origin of Species: New Interdisciplinary Essays (Texts in Culture)

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Charles Darwin's the Origin of Species: New Interdisciplinary Essays (Texts in Culture)

Manufacturer: Manchester University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0719040256

Book Description

This volume marks a new approach to a seminal work of the new modern scientific imagination. Darwin's central theory of natural selection neither originated nor could be contained within the natural sciences, but continues to shape and challenge our most basic assumptions about human social and political life. Seven readings, crossing the fields of history, literature, sociology, anthropology and the history of science, demonstate the complex position of the text within the cultural debates past and present.

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Charles Darwin, A New Life
John Bowlby
Manufacturer: W.W. Norton & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MH0DHG

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Charles Darwin, a new life.
John. BOWLBY
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OR7MWI

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