Superlative: The Biology of Extremes
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
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 into climate change. The loudest whale is offering clues about the impact of solar storms.
For a long time, scientists ignored superlative life 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 us new ways to think about immunity. Get to know the axolotl, which has the longest-known genome and may hold the secret to cellular regeneration. Learn about Monorhaphis chuni, the oldest discovered animal, which is 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.
MATTHEW D. LAPLANTE
Matthew D. LaPlante is an associate professor of journalism at Utah State University, where he teaches news reporting, narrative non-fiction writing and crisis reporting. He has reported from more than a dozen nations, including Iraq, Cuba, Ethiopia and El Salvador, and his work has appeared in Washington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, CNN.com, and numerous other publications. He is the coauthor of two books on the intersection of scientific discovery and society, Inheritance with Sharon Moalem and Longevity Plan with John Day, and is currently working with Harvard geneticist David Sinclair on a book about anti-aging research. Superlative is his first solo book.
Related to Superlative
Related ebooks
The Flight of the Iguana: A Sidelong View of Science and Nature Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Endless Forms: The Secret World of Wasps Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Where the Wild Things Were: Life, Death, and Ecological Wreckage in a Land of Vanishing Predators Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life Changing: SHORTLISTED FOR THE WAINWRIGHT PRIZE FOR WRITING ON GLOBAL CONSERVATION Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dolphin Confidential: Confessions of a Field Biologist Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gifts of the Crow: How Perception, Emotion, and Thought Allow Smart Birds to Behave Like Humans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alien Species and Evolution: The Evolutionary Ecology of Exotic Plants, Animals, Microbes, and Interacting Native Species Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMoth Catcher: An Evolutionist'S Journey Through Canyon And Pass Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLiving with the Anthropocene: Love, Loss and Hope in the Face of Environmental Crisis Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWildlife and Habitats in Managed Landscapes Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCreatures Born of Mud and Slime: The Wonder and Complexity of Spontaneous Generation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCataclysms: An Environmental History of Humanity Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Boilerplate Rhino: Nature in the Eye of the Beholder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life on Display: Revolutionizing U.S. Museums of Science and Natural History in the Twentieth Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Natural History of Shells Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Becoming Wild: How Animal Cultures Raise Families, Create Beauty, and Achieve Peace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unnatural History of the Sea Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5At the Water's Edge: Fish with Fingers, Whales with Legs, and How Life Came Ashore but Then Went Back to Sea Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Last Butterflies: A Scientist's Quest to Save a Rare and Vanishing Creature Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Oceans: A Deep History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Eye of the Shoal: A Fishwatcher's Guide to Life, the Ocean and Everything Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Interaction and Coevolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Snake and the Salamander: Reptiles and Amphibians from Maine to Virginia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEnvironments of Empire: Networks and Agents of Ecological Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings11 Explorations into Life on Earth: Christmas Lectures from the Royal Institution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFootprints: In Search of Future Fossils Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Moral Lives of Animals Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Insect Ecology: An Ecosystem Approach Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow High Can a Kangaroo Hop? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Biology For You
Anatomy and Physiology For Dummies Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ultralearning: Master Hard Skills, Outsmart the Competition, and Accelerate Your Career Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dopamine Detox: Biohacking Your Way To Better Focus, Greater Happiness, and Peak Performance Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Anatomy 101: From Muscles and Bones to Organs and Systems, Your Guide to How the Human Body Works Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body's Most Underrated Organ (Revised Edition) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Obesity Code: the bestselling guide to unlocking the secrets of weight loss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Emotional Blackmail: When the People in Your Life Use Fear, Obligation, and Guilt to Manipulate You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sapiens: A Graphic History, Volume 2: The Pillars of Civilization Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Peptide Protocols: Volume One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs: A New History of a Lost World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Deepest Well: Healing the Long-Term Effects of Childhood Trauma and Adversity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This Will Make You Smarter: 150 New Scientific Concepts to Improve Your Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5All That Remains: A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jaws: The Story of a Hidden Epidemic Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother of God: An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Grieving Brain: The Surprising Science of How We Learn from Love and Loss Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Woman: An Intimate Geography Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Crack In Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Winner Effect: The Neuroscience of Success and Failure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fantastic Fungi: How Mushrooms Can Heal, Shift Consciousness, and Save the Planet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Suicidal: Why We Kill Ourselves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Morphic Resonance: The Nature of Formative Causation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don't Have To Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Superlative
1 rating0 reviews