Some interesting books from the current New Book Display

 

Browse the complete list of new books on Display on Level 1 from 8 March - 14 March

Fundamentals of Geobiology - find in the RULibrary catalogue

For more than fifty years scientists have been concerned with the interrelationships of Earth and life. Over the past decade, however, geobiology, the name given to this interdisciplinary endeavour, has emerged as an exciting and rapidly expanding field, fuelled by advances in molecular phylogeny, a new microbial ecology made possible by the molecular revolution, increasingly sophisticated new techniques for imaging and determining chemical compositions of solids on nanometer scales, the development of non-traditional stable isotope analyses, Earth systems science and Earth system history, and accelerating exploration of other planets within and beyond our solar system.

This book is the first to set out a coherent set of principles that underpin geobiology, and will act as a foundational text that will speed the dissemination of those principles.
Aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduates in the Earth and biological sciences, and to the growing number of scientists worldwide who have an interest in this burgeoning new discipline.

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Whole earth discipline : an ecopragmatist manifesto - find in the RU Library catalogue

(Reader's review from Amazon M. Ferretti)   "I have long considered myself to be a pragmatist without a cause. Nonetheless, I have been fully convinced by reading this book that the time to start a major overhaul in the way we think about global issues is RIGHT NOW. Stewart Brand does a fantastic job laying the facts bare in a way that will convince anyone from the most rational pragmatist to the most ardent environmentalist that we need to start fixing our civilization RIGHT NOW. Not only that, but we must use every tool and technology that we have invented to help us achieve this goal.  

His warnings are dire, but hopeful. His advice is strongly worded, but entirely justified. If you are looking for a rational voice in the debate about climate change, genetically modified organisms, the overpopulation "problem" and other issues whose specter is now cast over the future of our species, you must read this book.  It is rare to find a book that is balanced, informative and wholly engaging -- this is one of them."  

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Handbook of the birds of the world - vols. 11-16 were purchased with funds from the Fisher Grant is 2012 and have now arrived. We now have from volume 1-16. Find these wonderful books on Level 2 in the Reference Section.

   

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 Runner's world, the runner's body : how the latest exercise science can help you run stronger, longer, and faster - find in the RU Library

  This title has mixed customer reviews on Amazon - a few people noted its lack of references, an unhappy omission, particulary from authors holding PhD degrees! Most reviews, however, were positive.        

 The authors:  ROSS TUCKER, PHD [UCT graduate], serves as scientific editor of Runner’s World South Africa, a consultant technical expert with Adidas South Africa, and editor of Health 24, South Africa’s largest fitness- and health-related Web site. Tucker, a competitive runner himself, lives in Cape Town, South Africa.
JONATHAN DUGAS, PHD, holds a post-doctoral fellowship with the University of Chicago. He is the cocreator, with his colleague Ross Tucker, of the popular Science of Sport blog. A qualified USA Cycling coach, he lives in Chicago.
MATT FITZGERALD is a prolific health and fitness journalist. He writes regularly for such national publications as Men’s Fitness, Men’s Health, Runner’s World, and Triathlete. With nine books to his credit, he also creates interactive training programs for runners and triathletes and leads clinics at triathlon and running events throughout the U.S. He lives in Northern California. 

 

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Biomapping indigenous peoples : towards an understanding of the issues - find in the RU Library

 

Where do our distant ancestors come from, and which routes did they travel around the globe as hunter-gatherers in prehistoric times? Genomics provides a fascinating insight into these questions and unlocks a mass of information carried by strands of DNA in each cell of the human body. For Indigenous peoples, scientific research of any kind evokes past - and not forgotten - suffering, racial and racist taxonomy, and, finally, dispossession. Survival of human cell lines outside the body clashes with traditional beliefs, as does the notion that DNA may tell a story different from their own creation story. Extracting and analysing DNA is a new science, barely a few decades old. In the medical field, it carries the promise of genetically adapted health-care. However, if this is to be done, genetic identity has to be defined first. While a narrow genetic definition might be usable by medical science, it does not do justice to Indigenous peoples' cultural identity and raises the question of governmental benefits where their genetic identity is not strong enough. People migrate and intermix, and have always done so. Genomics trace the genes but not the cultures. Cultural survival - or revival - and Indigenous group cohesion are unrelated to DNA, explaining why Indigenous leaders adamantly refuse genetic testing. This book deals with the issues surrounding 'biomapping' the Indigenous, seen from the viewpoints of discourse analysts, historians, lawyers, anthropologists, sociologists, museum curators, health-care specialists, and Native researchers.

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