Along with reproduction, balancing energy expenditure with the limits of resource acquisition is essential for both a species and a population to survive. But energy is a limited resource, as we...
Until now the advent of Western romantic love has been seen as a liberation from--or antidote to--ten centuries of misogyny. In this major contribution to gender studies, R. Howard Bloch...
From the lazy, fiddling grasshopper to the sneaky Big Bad Wolf, children's stories and fables enchant us with their portrayals of animals who act like people. But the comparisons run both ways,...
When the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on January 28, 1986, millions of Americans became bound together in a single, historic moment. Many still vividly remember exactly where they were and...
Since its original publication in France in 1963, Pierre Hadot's lively philosophical portrait of Plotinus remains the preeminent introduction to the man and his thought. Michael Chase's...
"Thirty-five years ago few could have predicted that "The New Science of Politics" would be a best-seller żeby political theory standards. Compressed within the Draconian economy of the...
An original interpretation of the vampire legend, a distinctive gothic tale which also involves a powerful story of a father and son, from this acclaimed and popular author. Includes the additional...
We live in an age in which we are repeatedly reminded--by scientists, by the media, aby popular culture--of the looming threat of mass extinction. We're told that human activity is currently...
In this classic of science history, Shapin takes into account the culture - the variety of beliefs, practices, and influences - that in the 1600s shaped the origins of the modern scientific worldview.
An impressive and important cross-cultural study that has vast implications for history, religion, anthropology, folklore, and other fields.... Remarkably wide-ranging and extremely...
This is a behind-the-scenes look at the search for human origins, analyzing how the biases and preconceptions of paleoanthropologists shape their work. The stories of the Taung Child and...
When the ancient Greeks looked up into the heavens, they saw not just sun and moon, stars and planets, but a complete, coherent universe, a model of the Good that could serve as a guide to a better...
For all the love and attention we give dogs, much of what they do remains mysterious. Just think about different behaviors you see at a dog park: We have a good understanding of what it means when...
Few scenes capture the American experience so eloquently as that of a lonely train chugging across the vastness of the Great Plains, or snaking through tortuous high mountain passes. Although this...
Marshall Sahlins centers these essays on islands--Hawaii, Fiji, New Zealand--whose histories have intersected with European history. But he is also concerned with the insular thinking in Western...
Beards--they're all the rage these days. Take a look around: from hip urbanites to rustic outdoorsmen, well-groomed metrosexuals to post-season hockey players, facial hair is everywhere. The...
A look at the increasing political polarization of America that locates its roots in, among other things, our increasing physical isolation from those with different views.
The vast remote Tibetan steppe, the Chang Tang, is home to a unique assemblage of large mammals, including the Tibetan antelope, gazelle, argali sheep, wild ass, wild yak, wolves and snow leopards....
No film critic has ever been as influential--or as beloved-- as Roger Ebert. Over more than four decades, he built a reputation writing reviews for the Chicago Sun-Times and, later, arguing...