The Homing Instinct - Meaning & Mystery in Animal Migration

Bernd Heinrich

Sinopsis

“A noted naturalist explores the centrality of home in the lives of humans and other animals . . . A special treat for readers of natural history” (Kirkus Reviews).   Every year, many species make the journey from one place to another, following the same paths and ending up in the same places. Every year since boyhood, the acclaimed scientist and author Bernd Heinrich has done the same, returning to a beloved patch of western Maine woods. Which led him to wonder: What is the biology in humans of this primal pull toward a particular place, and how is it related to animal homing?   In The Homing Instinct, Heinrich explores the fascinating mysteries of animal migration: how geese imprint true visual landscape memory; how scent trails are used by many creatures to locate their homes with pinpoint accuracy; and how even the tiniest of songbirds are equipped for solar and magnetic orienteering over vast distances. And he reminds us that to discount our human emotions toward home is to ignore biology itself.   “A graceful blend of science and memoir . . . [Heinrich’s] ability to linger and simply be there for the moment when, for instance, an elderly spider descends from a silken strand to take the insect he offers her is the heart of his appeal.” —Julie Zickefoose, The Wall Street Journal   “Deep and insightful writing.” —David Gessner, The Washington Post

Disponible desde: 08/04/2014.

Longitud de impresión: 300 páginas.

Otros libros que te pueden interesar

The Lady and Her Monsters - A...

Roseanne Montillo

The Lady and Her Monsters by Roseanne Motillo brings to life the fascinating times, startling science, and real-life horrors behind Mary Shelley's gothic masterpiece, Frankenstein. 
Montillo recounts how—at the intersection of the Romantic Age and the Industrial Revolution—Shelley's Victor Frankenstein was inspired by actual scientists of the period: curious and daring iconoclasts who were obsessed with the inner workings of the human body and how it might be reanimated after death. 
With true-life tales of grave robbers, ghoulish experiments, and the ultimate in macabre research—human reanimation—The Lady and Her Monsters is a brilliant exploration of the creation of Frankenstein, Mary Shelley's horror classic.

Ver libro

Game Theory Basics Explained

Can Akdeniz, IntroBooks Team

If you are someone that feels like their life is bland, unproductive and just not as good as it has the potential to be, then this is the book for you, my friend.  
This book is all about game theory and strategy! It’s like your whole life is a game—one that you can win, if you know what moves to make.  
In this book, I will teach you how you can teach yourself to make these right moves, therefore improving your life infinitely!  
What you’ll learn in this book: 
- What game theory is  
- All about the history of game theory  
- Examples of scenarios in which you can use strategy and game theory  
- Prisoner’s dilemma  
- Nash equilibrium, explained  
And lots and lots of tidbits of advice! Read on to become the successful person you’ve always wanted to be!

Ver libro

Knox-Johnston on Sailing

Robin Knox-Johnston

One of Britain's greatest living sailors shares a collection of distilled wisdom, acute observation and fascinating anecdotes. _x000D_This book is a collection of provoking, insightful and perceptive pieces of writing by Robin Knox-Johnston. His forthright and compelling views are based on a wealth of experience and expertise. The spotlight of his steely gaze falls upon the great ocean races and the brave men and women who compete in them. He considers the lessons of seamanship he learned over hundreds of thousands of miles at sea and he looks ahead, considering the future of sailing for racing and cruising yachtsmen. _x000D_This will entertain and inform in equal measure. A comprehensive index makes this a useful work of reference as well as a wonderful title which can be dipped into at leisure.

Ver libro

Chaste Mimosa - The Psychology...

Terence McMullen

Propositions about artificial intelligence are being debated seriously in the 21st Century, but machines, unlike plants, are not even living organisms.So, are plants sentient beings, like humans? Do they feel? Can they communicate?Plant sentience is a subject that has intrigued mankind over the ages - from the ancient Greeks, Plato and Aristotle, through to modern day philosophers and psychologists.In this extraordinary book, Australia's Dr Terence McMullen presents an engaging, systematic and thorough study of plant psychology.The aim of this work is to bring together and organize the contentions of serious students of plant life who argue that there are objective grounds for plant psychology.Chaste Mimosa: The Psychology of Plants is a compelling and essential book for all thinkers, students and teachers of psychology, philosophy, physiology, plus all disciplines related to the study of plants.

Ver libro

The Whale - In Search of the...

Philip Hoare

The whale is the largest, loudest, oldest animal ever to have existed. It is improbable, amazing, and-as anyone who has seen an underwater documentary or visited the display at the American Museum of Natural Historycan attest-a powerful source of wonder and delight to millions. The Whale is an extraordinary journey into the world of this fascinating and mysterious animal.Acclaimed writer Philip Hoare visits the historic whale-hunting towns of New Bedford and Nantucket, wanders the streets of London and Liverpool in searchof Melville's whaling inspiration, and swims with sperm whales in the middle of the Atlantic. Through the course of his journey he explores the troubled history of man and whale; traces the whale's cultural history from Jonah to Moby-Dick, Pinocchio to Free Willy; and seeks to discover why these strange and beautifulanimals continue to exert such a powerful grip on our imagination.A blend of the travel and nature writing in the tradition of Jonathan Raban and John McPhee, The Whale is a gripping voyage into the heart of Hoare's obsession-and ours.

Ver libro

Wild Justice - The Moral Lives...

Marc Bekoff, Jessica Pierce

Scientists have long counseled against interpreting animal behavior in terms of human emotions, warning that such anthropomorphizing limits our ability to understand animals as they really are. Yet what are we to make of a female gorilla in a German zoo who spent days mourning the death of her baby? Or a wild female elephant who cared for a younger one after she was injured by a rambunctious teenage male? Or a rat who refused to push a lever for food when he saw that doing so caused another rat to be shocked? Aren't these clear signs that animals have recognizable emotions and moral intelligence? With Wild Justice, Marc Bekoff and Jessica Pierce unequivocally answer yes.
Marrying years of behavioral and cognitive research with compelling and moving anecdotes, Bekoff and Pierce reveal that animals exhibit a broad repertoire of moral behaviors, including fairness, empathy, trust, and reciprocity. Underlying these behaviors is a complex and nuanced range of emotions, backed by a high degree of intelligence and surprising behavioral flexibility. Animals, in short, are incredibly adept social beings, relying on rules of conduct to navigate intricate social networks that are essential to their survival. Ultimately, Bekoff and Pierce draw the astonishing conclusion that there is no moral gap between humans and other species: morality is an evolved trait that we unquestionably share with other social mammals. Sure to be controversial, Wild Justice offers not just cutting-edge science, but a provocative call to rethink our relationship with - and our responsibilities toward - our fellow animals.

Ver libro