Australopithecine, dinosaur, and trilobite fossils conjure up images of lost worlds filled with vanished organisms. But in the full history of life, ancient animals, even the trilobites, form only the half-billion-year tip of a nearly four-billion-year iceberg. Andrew Knoll (https://eps.harvard.edu/people/andrew-h-knoll) explores the deep history of life from its origins on a young planet to the […]
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There are many animal species that co-operate. One thinks of the social insects, of an ants’ nest and a termite mound. One thinks of the meerkat ‘manor’ and a pride of lions. In fact, solitary animals are rare. But why do humans, uniquely among animals, cooperate in such large numbers to advance projects for the
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You do not have a body. You are a functioning body. And that body is made up of billions of cells. These living cells are made up of an extraordinary collection of tiny molecular machines, which orchestrate the millions of tasks needed for life. Cells build these machines for a variety of purposes: to digest food,
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Michael Tomasello (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Tomasello) argues that the roots of the human capacity for symbol-based culture, and the kind of psychological development that takes place within it, are based in a cluster of uniquely human cognitive capacities that emerge early in human ontogeny. These include capacities for sharing attention with other persons; for understanding that others have
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This novel by Amitav Ghosh (https://amitavghosh.com/bio.html) charts the lives of Rajkumar Raha and his family, starting in Mandalay, where he finds himself stranded when the sampan he is working on breaks down. Rajkumar stays on as a restaurant worker, and witnesses the British depose and deport the last king of Burma, Thebaw, and his family,
A People’s History of the United States chronicles American history from the bottom up, acting as a corrective to the official version of history taught in schools (with its emphasis on great men in high places), to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace. Since first publication in 1980 this book has been
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Some works of scholarship are so monumental and have been so influential that they are worth reading 70 years after publication. Published just after the Second World War in 1948, European Literature and the Latin Middle Ages (translated from German) is a sweeping exploration of the remarkable continuity of European literature across time and place.
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Should you wish to refresh your understanding of meteorites, this guide is to be recommended. Meteorite research shows us about the origin and early history of the Solar System. Robert Hutchison considers the mechanism and timing of core formation and basaltic volcanism on asteroids, and the effects of heating water-rich bodies. Results from meteorite research are
Christopher Hitchens (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Hitchens) died at the age of 62 on 15th December 2011. The cause of death was pneumonia brought on by esophageal cancer. He had been highly productive writer, polemicist and debater. He had also been a heavy smoker and drinker. This book includes the six elegant pieces he wrote for Vanity Fair chronicling his illness
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