The fourth edition of this established text returns better than ever to provide plant science students with a fresh, colourful textbook, suitable for a variety of academic levels. New contributing authors, updates on the latest research, along with a brand new chapter on Brassinosteroids and sharper artwork keep this textbook fresh and up-to-date, making it the ideal choice for a range of Botany and Plant Science...]]>
Dusky Dolphin - Master Acrobats Off Different Shores
door Bernd Wursig, Melany Wursig

Much has been written about dolphins and whales, and excellent books exist especially on the charismatic bottlenose dolphins; and killer, humpback, and sperm whales. But detailed studies have been carried out on a handful of other species, and this book summarizes our state of knowledge of a little dolphin - the southern hemisphere 'dusky', and compares its behavioral strategies in different environs. The editors, Bernd and Mel Wursig, began studying duskies in Patagonia Argentina in 1972. Although they have been to many parts of the Earth since then - including work on Amazon and Yangtze river dolphins, Hawai'i for the delicate lovely spinner dolphin, the Arctic for bowhead and gray whale work, and bottlenose dolphins in several milieus - they have always returned to their first love of unraveling the social patterns and life...]]>
Desk Encyclopedia of Microbiology
door Moselio Schaechter

"The Desk Encyclopedia of Microbiology, Second Edition" is a single-volume comprehensive guide to microbiology for the advanced reader. Derived from the six volume e-only "Encyclopedia of Microbiology, Third Edition", it bridges the gap between introductory texts and specialized reviews. Covering topics ranging from the basic science of microbiology to the current 'hot' topics in the field, it will be invaluable for obtaining background information on a broad range of microbiological topics, preparing lectures and preparing grant applications and reports. This is the most comprehensive single-volume source providing an overview of microbiology to non-specialists. It bridges the gap between introductory texts and specialized reviews. It provides concise and general overviews of important topics within the field making it a helpful...]]>
Genetically Modified Plants - Assessing Safety and Managing Risk
door Roger Hull, George T. Tzotzos, Graham Head

A transgenic organism is a plant, animal, bacterium, or other living organism that has had a foreign gene added to it by means of genetic engineering. Transgenic plants can arise by natural movement of genes between species, by cross-pollination based hybridization between different plant species (which is a common event in flowering plant evolution), or by laboratory manipulations by artificial insertion of genes from another species. Methods used in traditional breeding that generate transgenic plants by non-recombinant methods are widely familiar to professional plant scientists, and serve important roles in securing a sustainable future for agriculture by protecting crops from pest and helping land and water to be used more efficiently. There is worldwide interest in the biosafety issues related to transgenic crops because of...]]>
Critical Transitions in Nature and Society
door Marten Scheffer

How do we explain the remarkably abrupt changes that sometimes occur in nature and society - and can we predict why and when they happen? This book offers a comprehensive introduction to critical transitions in complex systems - the radical changes that happen at tipping points when thresholds are passed. Marten Scheffer accessibly describes the dynamical systems theory behind critical transitions, covering catastrophe theory, bifurcations, chaos, and more. He gives examples of critical transitions in lakes, oceans, terrestrial ecosystems, climate, evolution, and human societies. And he demonstrates how to deal with these transitions, offering practical guidance on how to predict tipping points, how to prevent 'bad' transitions, and how to promote critical transitions that work for us and not against us. Scheffer shows the time is...]]>
Het grootste spektakel ter wereld - Bewijs voor evolutie
door Richard Dawkins

Na in de internationale millionseller God als misvatting ons godsgeloof op genadeloze wijze ter discussie te hebben gesteld, komt 'Darwins rottweiler' met een nieuwe literaire en wetenschappelijke tour de force, waarin hij voor eens en voor altijd, én voor iedereen, duidelijk maakt dat evolutie bewezen is en boven álle twijfel verheven.

Het is de simpele waarheid: wij zijn verwanten van de chimpansees, iets verdere verwanten van andere dieren, nog verdere verwanten van de planten. Dit weten we omdat er een groeiende stroom van bewijzen voor bestaat. Evolutie is een feit en dit boek zal dat laten zien. Dawkins' belangrijkste doel is om díé mensen te bereiken die de evolutie niet ontkennen, maar die in hun omgeving wel zo iemand kennen - in hun familie of kerk misschien, en zich...]]>
Assessment of the Ecological Status of European Surface Waters
door Peeter Noges, Wouter van de Bund, Ana Cristina Cardoso

The complex impact that man has on aquatic ecosystems creates a need for assessment systems that are able to adequately appraise and integrate the effects of various pressures. Chemical analysis alone can easily overlook some factors vital for life. With the adoption of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) in the year 2000 which defined the ecological status of surface water as '...an expression of the quality of the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems associated with surface waters', biological indicators were brought to the forefront for the first time and became drivers to the water management practices. Assessment of ecological status and quantification of its relationships with anthropogenic pressures critically depend on knowledge of relevant biotic and abiotic settings and processes. Needs raised by the...]]>
In Darwins woorden - Leven, werken en denken van Charles Darwin
door Buskes, C.

Charles Darwin (1809-1882) was als wetenschapper zijn tijd ver vooruit. Zijn meesterwerk Over het ontstaan van soorten, waarin hij de evolutietheorie ontvouwt, maakt tot op de dag van vandaag heftige emoties style="font-size: x-small;">Naast wetenschapper was Darwin een liefdevolle echtgenoot voor zijn nicht Emma Wedgwood en een enthousiaste vader die graag spelletjes deed met zijn kinderen. Hoewel hij onmiskenbaar een aantal Victoriaanse trekjes vertoonde, is Darwin op sociaal en politiek vlak liberaal te noemen. Hij verafschuwde slavernij en steunde sociale hervormingen als stemrecht en onderwijs voor vrouwen en – geschokt door de gewoonte om jongetjes in te zetten als schoorsteenvegers – wetgeving tegen style="font-size:...]]>
Het ontstaan van soorten
door Darwin, C.

Het ontstaan van soorten, het bekendste werk van Charles Darwin, verscheen op 24 november 1859 en heeft tot op de dag van vandaag veel opschudding veroorzaakt. Darwin beschrijft nauwkeurig de werking van de natuurlijke selectie, de basis voor het ontstaan van soorten.

De evolutietheorie die hieruit is voortgekomen, is en blijft een van de meest revolutionaire visies op mens en natuur uit de wereldgeschiedenis. Dit maakt Het ontstaan van soorten een van de belangrijkste teksten van de moderne...]]>
Insect Development - Morphogenesis, Molting and Metamorphosis
door Lawrence I. Gilbert

The publication of the extensive 7-volume work "Comprehensive Molecular Insect Science" has provided library customers and their end-users with a complete reference encompassing important developments and achievements in modern insect science including reviews on the ecdysone receptor, lipocalins, and bacterial toxins. This derivative from the major reference work, "Insect Development: Metamorphosis, Molting and Morphogenesis", presents a new opportunity for the end user who desires to purchase a comprehensive yet affordable work on these important aspects of insect development. Timeless articles by a host of respected contributors in the field cover such topics as embryonic development, hormonal control of form and function of the nervous system, programmed cell death, organization of the endocrine system, and much more. The articles...]]>