Restless Creatures: The Story of Life in Ten Movements
Autor Matt Wilkinsonen Limba Engleză Hardback – 4 mai 2016
A
billion-year
history
of
movement,from
bacteria
to
Olympic
athletes.
'Packed with revelations, scholarly but clear, Restless Creatures carriesyou from the kinetics of the amoeba to that of the blue whale, from theswim-cycle of spermatozoa, to why skipping works best on the moon. Apop-science treat.' Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being
Despite the overwhelming diversity of life on earth, one theme hasdominated its evolution: the apparently simple act of moving from one place toanother. Restless Creatures is the first book for a generalaudience telling the incredible story of locomotion in human and animalevolution.
Evolutionary biologist Matt Wilkinson traces this 4-billion-yearhistory, showing why our ancestors became two-legged, how movement explains whywe have opposable thumbs and a backbone, how fish fins became limbs, how eventrees are locomotion-obsessed, and how movement has shaped our minds as well asour bodies. He explains why there are no flying monkeys or biological wheels,how dinosaurs took to the air, how Mexican waves were the making of the animalkingdom, and why moving can make us feel good.
Restless Creatures opens up an astonishing new perspective –that little in evolution makes sense unless in the light of movement.
'Packed with revelations, scholarly but clear, Restless Creatures carriesyou from the kinetics of the amoeba to that of the blue whale, from theswim-cycle of spermatozoa, to why skipping works best on the moon. Apop-science treat.' Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being
Despite the overwhelming diversity of life on earth, one theme hasdominated its evolution: the apparently simple act of moving from one place toanother. Restless Creatures is the first book for a generalaudience telling the incredible story of locomotion in human and animalevolution.
Evolutionary biologist Matt Wilkinson traces this 4-billion-yearhistory, showing why our ancestors became two-legged, how movement explains whywe have opposable thumbs and a backbone, how fish fins became limbs, how eventrees are locomotion-obsessed, and how movement has shaped our minds as well asour bodies. He explains why there are no flying monkeys or biological wheels,how dinosaurs took to the air, how Mexican waves were the making of the animalkingdom, and why moving can make us feel good.
Restless Creatures opens up an astonishing new perspective –that little in evolution makes sense unless in the light of movement.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781785780455
ISBN-10: 178578045X
Pagini: 368
Dimensiuni: 153 x 234 x 35 mm
Greutate: 0.61 kg
Editura: Icon Books Ltd
Colecția Icon Books Ltd
Locul publicării:London, United Kingdom
ISBN-10: 178578045X
Pagini: 368
Dimensiuni: 153 x 234 x 35 mm
Greutate: 0.61 kg
Editura: Icon Books Ltd
Colecția Icon Books Ltd
Locul publicării:London, United Kingdom
Notă biografică
Matt
Wilkinson
is
a
zoologist
and
science
communicator
at
the
University
of
Cambridge.
His
work
has
been
covered
in
the
Telegraph,
Metro,
New
Scientist
and
Nature.
He
has
been
a
runner-up
in
the
Daily
Telegraph/BASF
science
writer
competition,
and
reached
second
place
in
the
first
Cheltenham
Science
Festival
FameLab
competition.
In
2007
he
went
to
drama
school,
and
he
wrote
a
play
about
T.H.
Huxley
that
was
premiered
at
the
2009
Darwin
Festival.
Restless
Creatures
is
his
first
book.
Recenzii
'It
would
be
hard
to
find
a
more
companionable
guide
to
the
marvels
of
locomotory
evolution
than
Matt
Wilkinson.
In
Restless
Creatures,
the
zoologist
and
writer
rehearses
twice-told
tales
of
animals
becoming
bilateral,
exiting
the
sea
for
the
land
and
evolving
flight,
but
makes
them
fresh.
These
are
wonderfully
adept
and
informed
explanations
of
locomotory
modes
—
whether
in
birds,
gliding
snakes,
eels,
sharks
or
a
host
of
fossil
vertebrates
—
and
there
is
not
a
single
vignette
that
I
failed
to
learn
something
from.'
'Packed with revelations, scholarly but clear, Restless Creatures carries you from the kinetics of the amoeba to that of the blue whale, from the swim-cycle of spermatozoa, to why skipping works best on the moon. A pop-science treat.'
'If you want to know how sponges sneeze, why all large aquatic predators have similar shapes, and how physics affects the lives of the smallest of organisms, turning water into glue, this is the book for you. Highly recommended!'
'Like the restless creatures it describes, and their tracks through evolutionary time, this book wanders; and it wanders wonderfully. Its author, Matt Wilkinson, takes us on a circular trip, starting and ending with our own species. Around the half-way marker on the journey, he explores our enigmatic ancestor nicknamed Urbi, a crucial stage in the evolution of animal mobility. And his grand tour is not restricted to animals—it takes in plants and microbes too. But animals are special in terms of movement, and Wilkinson’s conclusion is that our other special feature – the evolution of consciousness—is linked to our wanderlust. This is a bold hypothesis, and it might just be right.'
'Restless Creatures proves that the ‘60’s song was right, everybody is doing the locomotion. In his original and insightful book, Matt Wilkinson explains how from whirling bacteria to wayfaring humans, the three-billion-year journey of life has depended on the invention of many ways of moving.'
'[An] ingenious but not-dumbed-down history of life’s 4-billion-year progress in getting from one place to another.... [Readers] will come away with a deep understanding of an essential basis of life.'
'Packed with revelations, scholarly but clear, Restless Creatures carries you from the kinetics of the amoeba to that of the blue whale, from the swim-cycle of spermatozoa, to why skipping works best on the moon. A pop-science treat.'
'If you want to know how sponges sneeze, why all large aquatic predators have similar shapes, and how physics affects the lives of the smallest of organisms, turning water into glue, this is the book for you. Highly recommended!'
'Like the restless creatures it describes, and their tracks through evolutionary time, this book wanders; and it wanders wonderfully. Its author, Matt Wilkinson, takes us on a circular trip, starting and ending with our own species. Around the half-way marker on the journey, he explores our enigmatic ancestor nicknamed Urbi, a crucial stage in the evolution of animal mobility. And his grand tour is not restricted to animals—it takes in plants and microbes too. But animals are special in terms of movement, and Wilkinson’s conclusion is that our other special feature – the evolution of consciousness—is linked to our wanderlust. This is a bold hypothesis, and it might just be right.'
'Restless Creatures proves that the ‘60’s song was right, everybody is doing the locomotion. In his original and insightful book, Matt Wilkinson explains how from whirling bacteria to wayfaring humans, the three-billion-year journey of life has depended on the invention of many ways of moving.'
'[An] ingenious but not-dumbed-down history of life’s 4-billion-year progress in getting from one place to another.... [Readers] will come away with a deep understanding of an essential basis of life.'