Book Description
Humans are a striking anomaly in the natural world. While we are similar to other mammals in many ways, our behavior sets us apart. Our unparalleled ability to adapt has allowed us to occupy virtually every habitat on earth using an incredible variety of tools and subsistence techniques. Our societies are larger, more complex, and more cooperative than any other mammal's. In this stunning exploration of human adaptation, Peter J. Richerson and Robert Boyd argue that only a Darwinian theory of cultural evolution can explain these unique characteristics.

Not by Genes Alone offers a radical interpretation of human evolution, arguing that our ecological dominance and our singular social systems stem from a psychology uniquely adapted to create complex culture. Richerson and Boyd illustrate here that culture is neither superorganic nor the handmaiden of the genes. Rather, it is essential to human adaptation, as much a part of human biology as bipedal locomotion. Drawing on work in the fields of anthropology, political science, sociology, and economics—and building their case with such fascinating examples as kayaks, corporations, clever knots, and yams that require twelve men to carry them—Richerson and Boyd convincingly demonstrate that culture and biology are inextricably linked, and they show us how to think about their interaction in a way that yields a richer understanding of human nature.

In abandoning the nature-versus-nurture debate as fundamentally misconceived, Not by Genes Alone is a truly original and groundbreaking theory of the role of culture in evolution and a book to be reckoned with for generations to come.

“I continue to be surprised by the number of educated people (many of them biologists) who think that offering explanations for human behavior in terms of culture somehow disproves the suggestion that human behavior can be explained in Darwinian evolutionary terms. Fortunately, we now have a book to which they may be directed for enlightenment . . . . It is a book full of good sense and the kinds of intellectual rigor and clarity of writing that we have come to expect from the Boyd/Richerson stable.”—Robin Dunbar, Nature

“Not by Genes Alone is a valuable and very readable synthesis of a still embryonic but very important subject straddling the sciences and humanities.”—E. O. Wilson, Harvard University

Not by Genes Alone : How Culture Transformed Human Evolution

Review

"Traces the development of sound technology in the U.S. and Europe from the first demonstration of the phono-autograph in 1857 to the latest MP3 technology. Morton skillfully blends a basic understanding of the physical principles involved in recording sound waves with an interesting chronological account that examines the cultural and economic issues affecting the development of sound technology... Written in an engaging style for general readers and includes references to primary and scholarly resources for readers who want to learn more." -- Choice

Book Description

How did one of the great inventions of the nineteenth century -- Thomas Edison's phonograph -- eventually lead to one of the most culturally and economically significant technologies of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries? Sound Recording traces the history of the business boom and the cultural revolution that Edison's invention made possible.

Recorded sound has pervaded nearly every facet of modern life -- not just popular music, but also mundane office dictation machines, radio and television programs, and even telephone answering machines. Just as styles of music have evolved, so too have the formats through which sound has been captured -- from 78s to LPs, LPs to cassette tapes, tapes to CDs, and on to electronic formats. The quest for better sound has certainly driven technological change, but according to David L. Morton, so have business strategies, patent battles, and a host of other factors.

Sound Recording : The Life Story of a Technology

Cobb County textbook stickers aside, evolutionary natural selection offers a pretty straightforward explanation for the forward march of species through history; a mutation that better equips a given organism to survive is passed along to its heirs, becoming more common as successive generations flourish. The actual process by which mutations happen, however, was far more mysterious until scientists turned to the study of evolutionary development (known by the somewhat unfortunate moniker "Evo Devo"). One such scientist is Carroll, a genetics professor at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who guides us along the broad contours of development ("the process through which a single-celled egg gives rise to a complex, multibillion-celled animal") and the ways in which its study sheds light on the underlying mechanisms of evolution. He explains in concrete terms how small changes in a species's genetic code of a given species can lead to dramatic differences in physiology is the "missing piece" of evolutionary theory, Carroll argues. The book is as much a salvo in the continuing battles between creationists and evolutionists as it is a popularization of science, and Carroll combines clear writing with the deep knowledge gained from a lifetime of genetics research, first laying out the principles of evolutionary development and then showing us how they can explain both the progression of species in the fossil record and outliers like a six-fingered baseball pitcher.

Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo

Power Laws, Scale-free Networks and Genome Biology deals with crucial aspects of the theoretical foundations of systems biology, namely power law distributions and scale-free networks which have emerged as the hallmarks of biological organization in the post-genomic era. The chapters in the book not only describe the interesting mathematical properties of biological networks but moves beyond phenomenology, toward models of evolution capable of explaining the emergence of these features. The collection of chapters, contributed by both physicists and biologists, strives to address the problems in this field in a rigorous but not excessively mathematical manner and to represent different viewpoints, which is crucial in this emerging discipline. Each chapter includes, in addition to technical descriptions of properties of biological networks and evolutionary models, a more general and accessible introduction to the respective problems. Most chapters emphasize the potential of theoretical systems biology for discovery of new biological phenomena.

Power Laws, Scale-Free Networks and Genome Biology

Review
Will Wilson, Duke University : A great book. Self-organization in Complex Ecosystems brings a whole new set of tools from statistical physics into the realm of studying ecological systems. Most, if not all, of these tools have been floating around the ecological literature for quite some time, in great part due to these authors themselves, but this book is the best overview yet. It will soon become the foundation for many courses and a major resource sitting on ecologists' bookshelves.
Robert M. May, University of Oxford : This book is an outstandingly good summary of where we currently stand in the field of ecology. It draws together, in a clear and synoptic way, a large variety of new ideas and supporting them where possible and appropriate by data.

Book Description

Can physics be an appropriate framework for the understanding of ecological science? Most ecologists would probably agree that there is little relation between the complexity of natural ecosystems and the simplicity of any example derived from Newtonian physics. Though ecologists have long been interested in concepts originally developed by statistical physicists and later applied to explain everything from why stock markets crash to why rivers develop particular branching patterns, applying such concepts to ecosystems has remained a challenge.

Self-Organization in Complex Ecosystems is the first book to clearly synthesize what we have learned about the usefulness of tools from statistical physics in ecology. Ricard Sol� and Jordi Bascompte provide a comprehensive introduction to complex systems theory, and ask: do universal laws shape the structure of ecosystems, at least at some scales? They offer the most compelling array of theoretical evidence to date of the potential of nonlinear ecological interactions to generate nonrandom, self-organized patterns at all levels.

Tackling classic ecological questions--from population dynamics to biodiversity to macroevolution--the book's novel presentation of theories and data shows the power of statistical physics and complexity in ecology. Self-Organization in Complex Ecosystems will be a staple resource for years to come for ecologists interested in complex systems theory as well as mathematicians and physicists interested in ecology.

Self-Organization in Complex Ecosystems

Physics affects the way we live and, ultimately, how life itself functions. This fully rewritten new edition of a classic text investigates key frontiers in modern physics. Exploring our universe, from the particles within atoms to the stars making up galaxies, it reveals the vital role invisible mechanisms play in the world around us, and explains new techniques, from nano-engineering and brain research to the latest advances in high-speed data networks and custom-built materials. Written by leading international experts, each of the nineteen chapters will fascinate scientists in all disciplines, as well as anyone wanting to know more about the world of physics.

The New Physics : For the Twenty-First Century

A remarkable account of the interaction between basic research and application, taking as its example the historical development of fluid dynamics in the first half of the 20th century. The book centers on the work of Ludwig Prandtl, founder of the aerodynamic research center (AVA) in Goettingen, whose work and decisive advances in boundary layer and wing theories became the basic material of fluid dynamics.
This is definitely not a biography of Prandtl (however desirable this might be), but a history of fluid dynamics a viewed by Prandtl's impact on it, focusing on the science/technology dualism. This means that the field is not treated merely as a byproduct of aviation history, but instead this is the first publication to describe the evolution of fluid dynamics as a major field in modern science and engineering.
While certainly suitable for other readers, this book is intended for natural scientists and engineers, as well as historians of science and technology.

The Dawn of Fluid Dynamics : A Discipline between Science and Technology

Michael May had everything. Happy marriage, great family, successful business. He was even a world-class athlete. What kind of a man would upset such a perfect life by doing something as crazy as trying to get his sight back?

Into the Light | Esquire, May 2005

From a briefing by John Nagl, author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife:

"How many Americans, out of 500,000, were only defending each other, writing memos to each other, and how many were actually making a positive contribution to the future security of Vietnam? It would make an interesting Ph.D. thesis for a maverick Lieutenant Colonel who is not seeking promotion..."

– Sir Robert Thompson, Make for the Hills

An Interesting PhD thesis for a maverick Lieutenant Colonel

This is random:

Odd Indy 500 parking fact: few African-Americans, almost no Hispanics, but amazing number of Asians.

... from the weblog of the author of The Pentagon's New Map. (This post by Sean Meade, who shares posting duties with Barnett.)

Thomas P.M. Barnett :: Weblog: Perqs of living near Indy...