Glimpses Of Creatures In Their Physical Worlds

Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds offers an eye-opening look into how the characteristics of the physical world drive the designs of animals and plants. These characteristics impose limits but also create remarkable and subtle opportunities for the functional biology of organisms. In particular, Steven Vogel examines the size and scale, and trade-offs among different physical processes. He pays attention to how the forms and activities of animals and plants reflect the materials available to nature, and he explores the unique constraints and possibilities provided by fluid flow, structural design, and environmental forces. Each chapter of the book investigates a facet of the physical world, including the drag on small projectiles; the importance of diffusion and convection; the size-dependence of acceleration; the storage, conduction, and dissipation of heat; the relationship among pressure, flow, and choice in biological pumps; and how elongate structures tune their relative twistiness and bendiness. Vogel considers design-determining factors all too commonly ignored, and builds a bridge between the world described by physics books and the reality experienced by all creatures. Glimpses of Creatures in Their Physical Worlds contains a wealth of accessible information related to functional biology, and requires little more than a basic background in secondary-school science and mathematics. Drawing examples from creatures of land, air, and water, the book demonstrates the many uses of biological diversity and how physical forces impact biological organisms.

As profiled in the New York Times Magazine… Based on the author’s twenty-five years of experience as a veterinarian and veterinary behaviorist, The Soul of All Living Creatures delves into the inner lives of animals – from whales, wolves, and leopards to mice, dogs, and cats – and explores the relationships we forge with them. As an emergency room clinician four years out of veterinary school, Dr. Vint Virga had a life-changing experience: he witnessed the power of simple human contact and compassion to affect the recovery of a dog struggling to survive after being hit by a car. Observing firsthand the remarkably strong connection between humans and animals inspired him to explore the world from the viewpoint of animals and taught him to respect the kinship that connects us. With The Soul of All Living Creatures, Virga draws from his decades in veterinary practice to reveal how, by striving to perceive the world as animals do, we can enrich our own appreciation of life, enhance our character, nurture our relationships, improve our communication with others, reorder our values, and deepen our grasp of spirituality. Virga discerningly illuminates basic traits shared by both humans and animals and makes animal behavior meaningful, relevant, and easy to understand. Insightful and eloquent, The Soul of All Living Creatures offers an intimate journey into the lives of our fellow creatures and a thought-provoking promise of what we can learn from spending time with them.

The classic textbook on comparative biomechanics—revised and expanded Why do you switch from walking to running at a specific speed? Why do tall trees rarely blow over in high winds? And why does a spore ejected into air at seventy miles per hour travel only a fraction of an inch? Comparative Biomechanics is the first and only textbook that takes a comprehensive look at the mechanical aspects of life—covering animals and plants, structure and movement, and solids and fluids. An ideal entry point into the ways living creatures interact with their immediate physical world, this revised and updated edition examines how the forms and activities of animals and plants reflect the materials available to nature, considers rules for fluid flow and structural design, and explores how organisms contend with environmental forces. Drawing on physics and mechanical engineering, Steven Vogel looks at how animals swim and fly, modes of terrestrial locomotion, organism responses to winds and water currents, circulatory and suspension-feeding systems, and the relationship between size and mechanical design. He also investigates links between the properties of biological materials—such as spider silk, jellyfish jelly, and muscle—and their structural and functional roles. Early chapters and appendices introduce relevant physical variables for quantification, and problem sets are provided at the end of each chapter. Comparative Biomechanics is useful for physical scientists and engineers seeking a guide to state-of-the-art biomechanics. For a wider audience, the textbook establishes the basic biological context for applied areas—including ergonomics, orthopedics, mechanical prosthetics, kinesiology, sports medicine, and biomimetics—and provides materials for exhibit designers at science museums. Problem sets at the ends of chapters Appendices cover basic background information Updated and expanded documentation and materials Revised figures and text Increased coverage of friction, viscoelastic materials, surface tension, diverse modes of locomotion, and biomimetics

Christianity Exposed presents an overall picture of God’s work, plan, and the marrow of Christianity, supported by the Bible without religion’s interference. Perspectives of disharmony and love may touch a reader’s emotions, and they can empathize with story situations, social problems, and world problems. Perceptions about how the world operates are enhanced. This book traces mankind’s development and how God uses nature and evil for his purpose. It questions why God allows evil and pain in this world from numerous outlooks, intending to explain away confusing arguments people may hear that could hinder their understanding or belief. It doesn’t dwell on the specific problems of the world but explains why they exist, to see why the world is as it is. The author presents biblical observations and new descriptions for understanding Christianity. He discusses the spiritual world. The book describes how religion affects Christians’ lives and how they live toward their beliefs. Readers will gain a solid understanding of doctrine and have common questions answered. They will deepen their understanding of how Christianity is a relationship. This is a well-documented, fresh work for Christians that also lets outsiders see what the religion is.

The content of this book is material channeled through the author by her spirit guide. If you are not interested in having your personal belief system offended, particularly in the areas of religion and generally accepted historical accounts, please do not read this book. Much of the content herein flies in the face of traditional thinking and beliefs, most notably in the area of religion. On the other hand, some of the content supports religious concepts, even though from a non-traditional point of view. The author herself finds some of the ideas hard to accept or even give minimal credence to. Therefore, she cannot vouch for the validity of much of what the book contains. The book does, however, present a great deal of thought for the readers to ponder. It is solely up to them to espouse or to reject whatever they so choose. The author is making no attempt to promote anything. Nevertheless, the material is presented exactly as it was channeled through her by her spirit guide at the monthly meetings of the Coral Springs (FL) Metaphysical Group.

With over 43,000 species, spiders are the largest predacious arthropod group. They have developed key characteristics such as multi-purpose silk types, venoms consisting of hundreds of components, locomotion driven by muscles and hydraulic pressure, a highly evolved key-lock mechanism between the complex genital structures, and many more unique features. After 300 million years of evolutionary refinement, spiders are present in all land habitats and represent one of the most successful groups of terrestrial organisms. Ecophysiology combines functional and evolutionary aspects of morphology, physiology, biochemistry and molecular biology with ecology. Cutting-edge science in spiders focuses on the circulatory and respiratory system, locomotion and dispersal abilities, the immune system, endosymbionts and pathogens, chemical communication, gland secretions, venom components, silk structure, structure and perception of colours as well as nutritional requirements. Spiders are valuable indicator species in agroecosystems and for conservation biology. Modern transfer and application technologies research spiders and their products with respect to their value for biomimetics, material sciences, and the agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries.

The mythic creature expert and author of Phoenix takes readers through a bestiary of sea monsters featured on the famous 16th century map Carta Marina. In the sixteenth century, sea serpents, giant man-eating lobsters, and other monsters were thought to swim the waters of Norther Europe, threatening seafarers who ventured too far from shore. Thankfully, Scandinavian mariners had Olaus Magnus, who in 1539 charted these fantastic marine animals in his influential map of the Nordic countries, the Carta Marina. In Sea Monsters, mythologist Joseph Nigg brings readers face-to-face with these creatures and other magnificent components of Magnus’s map. Nearly two meters wide in total, the map’s nine wood-block panels comprise the largest and first realistic portrayal of the region. But in addition to its important geographic significance, Magnus’s map goes beyond cartography to scenes both domestic and mystic. Close to shore, Magnus shows humans interacting with common sea life—boats struggling to stay afloat, merchants trading, children swimming, and fisherman pulling lines. But from the offshore deeps rise some of the most terrifying sea creatures imaginable—like sea swine, whales as large as islands, and the Kraken. In this book, Nigg draws on Magnus’s own text to further describe and illuminate these inventive scenes and to flesh out the stories of the monsters. Sea Monsters is a stunning tour of a world that still holds many secrets for us land dwellers, who will forever be fascinated by reports of giant squid and the real-life creatures of the deep that have proven to be as bizarre and otherworldly as we have imagined for centuries. It is a gorgeous guide for enthusiasts of maps, monsters, and the mythic. “[A] beautiful new exploration of the Carta Marina.”—Wired

Animals have evolved remarkable biomechanical and physiological systems that enable their rich repertoire of motion. Animal Locomotion offers a fundamental understanding of animal movement through a broad comparative and integrative approach, including basic mathematics and physics, examination of new and enduring literature, consideration of classic and cutting-edge methods, and a strong emphasis on the core concepts that consistently ground the dizzying array of animal movements. Across scales and environments, this book integrates the biomechanics of animal movement with the physiology of animal energetics and the neural control of locomotion. This second edition has been thoroughly revised, incorporating new content on non-vertebrate animal locomotor systems, studies of animal locomotion that have inspired robotic designs, and a new chapter on the use of evolutionary approaches to locomotor mechanisms and performance.

Animal Locomotion: Physical Principles and Adaptations is a professional-level, state of the art review and reference summarizing the current understanding of macroscopic metazoan animal movement. The comparative biophysics, biomechanics and bioengineering of swimming, flying and terrestrial locomotion are placed in contemporary frameworks of biodiversity, evolutionary process, and modern research methods, including mathematical analysis. The intended primary audience is advanced-level students and researchers primarily interested in and trained in mathematics, physical sciences and engineering. Although not encyclopedic in its coverage, anyone interested in organismal biology, functional morphology, organ systems and ecological physiology, physiological ecology, molecular biology, molecular genetics and systems biology should find this book useful.