Further Details

Title: Superlative
Condition: New
Subtitle: The Biology of Extremes
Author: MATTHEW D. LAPLANTE
Format: Hardback
ISBN-10: 1946885940
EAN: 9781946885944
ISBN: 9781946885944
Publisher: BenBella Books
Genre: Science Nature & Math
Topic: Home Garden & Pets
Release Date: 30/04/2019
Description: 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.
Language: English
Country/Region of Manufacture: US
Item Height: 236mm
Item Length: 159mm
Item Width: 30mm
Item Weight: 539g
Release Year: 2019

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