Dinner With Darwin

Author : Jonathan Silvertown
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 022648923X
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.30/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dinner with Darwin written by Jonathan Silvertown and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-09-05 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A “delectably erudite” study of how natural selection has shaped the foods we eat: “This intricate scientific banquet is a marvelous read: bon appétit.” —Nature What do eggs, flour, and milk have in common? They form the basis of waffles, of course, but these breakfast staples also share an evolutionary function: eggs, seeds (from which we derive flour by grinding), and milk have each evolved to nourish offspring. Indeed, ponder the genesis of your breakfast, lunch, or dinner, and you’ll soon realize that everything we eat and drink has an evolutionary history. Dinner with Darwin is a multicourse meal of evolutionary gastronomy, a tantalizing tour of human taste that helps us understand the origins of our diets and the foods that have been central to them for millennia—from spices to spirits. A delectable concoction of coevolution and cookery, gut microbiomes and microherbs, and both the chicken and its egg, it reveals that our recipe cards and restaurant menus don’t just contain the ingredients for culinary delight. They also tell a fascinating story about natural selection and its influence on our plates—and palates. Digging deeper, Jonathan Silvertown’s repast includes entrées into GMOs and hybrids, and looks at the science of our sensory interactions with foods and cooking—the sights, aromas, and tastes we experience in our kitchens and dining rooms. As is the wont of any true chef, he packs his menu with eclectic components, dishing on everything from Charles Darwin’s intestinal maladies to taste bud anatomy and turducken. Our evolutionary relationship with food and drink stretches from the days of cave dwellers to contemporary crêperies and beyond, and Dinner with Darwin serves up scintillating insight into the entire awesome span. With a wit as dry as a fine pinot noir and a vast cache of evolutionary knowledge, Silvertown whets our appetites—and leaves us hungry for more. “The book left me feeling as if I had attended a dinner party, where foodies, historians, and scientists mingled, sharing vignettes on various food-related topics.” —Science

Author : Jonathan W. Silvertown
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 241 pages
Book Rating : 4.64/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Dinner with Darwin written by Jonathan W. Silvertown and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Author : Deborah Heiligman
Publisher : Henry Holt and Company (BYR)
ISBN 13 : 1429934956
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.54/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Charles and Emma written by Deborah Heiligman and published by Henry Holt and Company (BYR). This book was released on 2009-01-06 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species, his revolutionary tract on evolution and the fundamental ideas involved, in 1859. Nearly 150 years later, the theory of evolution continues to create tension between the scientific and religious communities. Challenges about teaching the theory of evolution in schools occur annually all over the country. This same debate raged within Darwin himself, and played an important part in his marriage: his wife, Emma, was quite religious, and her faith gave Charles a lot to think about as he worked on a theory that continues to spark intense debates. Deborah Heiligman's new biography of Charles Darwin is a thought-provoking account of the man behind evolutionary theory: how his personal life affected his work and vice versa. The end result is an engaging exploration of history, science, and religion for young readers. Charles and Emma is a 2009 National Book Award Finalist for Young People's Literature.

Author : Randall Fuller
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 0143130099
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.93/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Book That Changed America written by Randall Fuller and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-01-02 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A compelling portrait of a unique moment in American history when the ideas of Charles Darwin reshaped American notions about nature, religion, science and race “A lively and informative history.” – The New York Times Book Review Throughout its history America has been torn in two by debates over ideals and beliefs. Randall Fuller takes us back to one of those turning points, in 1860, with the story of the influence of Charles Darwin’s just-published On the Origin of Species on five American intellectuals, including Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, the child welfare reformer Charles Loring Brace, and the abolitionist Franklin Sanborn. Each of these figures seized on the book’s assertion of a common ancestry for all creatures as a powerful argument against slavery, one that helped provide scientific credibility to the cause of abolition. Darwin’s depiction of constant struggle and endless competition described America on the brink of civil war. But some had difficulty aligning the new theory to their religious convictions and their faith in a higher power. Thoreau, perhaps the most profoundly affected all, absorbed Darwin’s views into his mysterious final work on species migration and the interconnectedness of all living things. Creating a rich tableau of nineteenth-century American intellectual culture, as well as providing a fascinating biography of perhaps the single most important idea of that time, The Book That Changed America is also an account of issues and concerns still with us today, including racism and the enduring conflict between science and religion.

Author : Niles Eldredge
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 1596433744
Total Pages : 150 pages
Book Rating : 4.48/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Charles Darwin and the Mystery of Mysteries written by Niles Eldredge and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2010-05-11 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the life and work of the British biologist made famous by his controversial theory of natural selection.

Author : Wendy Northcutt
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101218967
Total Pages : 253 pages
Book Rating : 4.69/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Darwin Awards II written by Wendy Northcutt and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2001-12-01 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The hilarious New York Times bestselling phenomenon and the perfect funny gift! The Darwin Awards II: Unnatural Selection brings together a fresh collection of the hapless, the heedless, and the just plain foolhardy among us. Salute the owner of an equipment training school who demonstrates the dangers of driving a forklift by failing to survive the filming of his own safety video. Gawk at the couple who go to sleep on a sloping roof. Witness the shepherd who leaves his rifle unsecured—only to be accidentally shot by one of his own flock. With over one hundred Darwin Award Winners, Honorable Mentions, and debunked Urban Legends, plus science and safety tips for avoiding the scythe of natural selection, The Darwin Awards II proves once again how uncommon common sense can be.

Author : Dusha Bateson
Publisher : G Editions LLC
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 200 pages
Book Rating : 4.90/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Mrs. Charles Darwin's Recipe Book written by Dusha Bateson and published by G Editions LLC. This book was released on 2008 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Delineates a lifestyle at the top of English society and intelligentsia. This cookbook includes unlikely dishes such as Turnips Cresselly and Penally Pudding. It also features the recipe for boiling rice in Charles Darwin's own hand.

Author : Barry Werth
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
ISBN 13 : 0226893847
Total Pages : 399 pages
Book Rating : 4.46/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Banquet at Delmonico's written by Barry Werth and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2011-04 with total page 399 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Banquet at Delmonico’s, Barry Werth draws readers inside the circle of intellectuals, scientists, politicians, businessmen, and clergymen who brought Charles Darwin’s controversial ideas to post-Civil-War America. Each chapter is dedicated to a crucial intellectual encounter, culminating with an exclusive farewell dinner held in English philosopher Herbert Spencer’s honor at the venerable New York restaurant Delmonico’s in 1882. In this thought-provoking and nuanced account, Werth firmly situates social Darwinism in the context of the Gilded Age. Banquet at Delmonico’s is social history at its finest.

Author : Stephen B. Heard
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300252692
Total Pages : 256 pages
Book Rating : 4.99/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Charles Darwin’s Barnacle and David Bowie’s Spider written by Stephen B. Heard and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2020-03-17 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engaging history of the surprising, poignant, and occasionally scandalous stories behind scientific names and their cultural significance Ever since Carl Linnaeus’s binomial system of scientific names was adopted in the eighteenth century, scientists have been eponymously naming organisms in ways that both honor and vilify their namesakes. This charming, informative, and accessible history examines the fascinating stories behind taxonomic nomenclature, from Linnaeus himself naming a small and unpleasant weed after a rival botanist to the recent influx of scientific names based on pop-culture icons—including David Bowie’s spider, Frank Zappa’s jellyfish, and Beyoncé’s fly. Exploring the naming process as an opportunity for scientists to express themselves in creative ways, Stephen B. Heard’s fresh approach shows how scientific names function as a window into both the passions and foibles of the scientific community and as a more general indicator of the ways in which humans relate to, and impose order on, the natural world.

Author : David Dobbs
Publisher : Pantheon
ISBN 13 : 0307490076
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.70/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Reef Madness written by David Dobbs and published by Pantheon. This book was released on 2009-02-25 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the century-long controversy over the orgins of coral reefs, a debate that split the world of nineteenth-century science, looking at the diverse roles of Louis Agassiz, his son Alexander, and Charles Darwin and reflecting on how the search for the truth shed new light on the formation of Earth and its natural wonders.