The Beauty of the Beastly: New Views on the Nature of Life“An awe-inspiring tour of nature” from a Pulitzer Prize–winning science writer (San Francisco Examiner). Natalie Angier has taken great pains to learn her science from the molecule up. She knows all that scientists know—and sometimes more—about the power of symmetry in sexual relations, about the brutal courting habits of dolphins, about the grand deceit of orchids, and about the impact of female and male preferences on evolution. The Beauty of the Beastly takes the pulse of everything from the supple structure of DNA to the erotic ways of barn swallows, queen bees, and the endangered, otherworldly primate called the aye-aye. Few writers have ever covered so many facets of biology so evocatively in one book. Timothy Ferris, author of the acclaimed Coming of Age in the Milky Way, says Angier is “one of the strongest and wittiest science writers in the world today.” “Like Alan Lightman or Lewis Thomas,” writes Nobel laureate David Baltimore, “she draws from science a meaning that few scientists see, and her writing takes on an unusual dimension of artistry.” And Sherwin Nuland, author of How We Die, believes that “Natalie Angier is in the tradition of the great nature writers.” “A gold mine.” —The New York Times “From cockroaches to cheetahs, DNA to elephant dung, Angier gives us intimate and dramatic portraits of nature that readers will find rewarding.” —Publishers Weekly |
Contents
Tell a Tale of InLaws | |
An Eveolutionary Force | |
What Makes a Parent Put Up with It All? | |
Brutal Cunning and Complex | |
Hormones and Hyenas | |
The Worlds Most Endangered Primate | |
Plenty of Fish in the | |
Chasing Cheetahs | |
Busy as a Bee? | |
Its Only Human | |
HEALING | |
A New Theory of Menstruation | |
Skin Deep? | |
The Grand Strategy of Orchids | |
DANCING | |
The Very Pulse of the Machine | |
The Wrapping of | |
Chaperoning Proteins | |
A Clue to Longevity | |
What Happens When DNA Is Bent | |
Blueprint for an Embryo | |
DNAs Unbroken Text | |
SLITHERING | |
Admirers of the Scorpion | |
Parasites and | |
The Scarab Peerless Recycler | |
There Is Nothing Like a Roach | |
Bizarre Gallant Venomous | |
ADAPTING | |
The Plays the Thing | |
Why Vegetables Are Good for | |
The Mammals Fate | |
The Anatomy of | |
CREATING | |
The Artful Doctor | |
From Madness to Masterpiece | |
Victoria Elizabeth | |
MaryClaire King | |
At the Science Museum with Stephen Jay Gould | |
DYING | |
Cell Death as the Key to Life | |
MYC Gene Arbiter of Death or Life | |
The Other Side of Suicide | |
Another Stitch in the Quilt | |
A Granddaughters Fear | |
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Common terms and phrases
activity adult aggressive amino acids animal anthropomorphism apoptosis aye-aye baby barn swallows behavior biochemical biologists biology birds blood body body’s brain breast called cancer cell death cell’s chaperones cheetah chemical chromosomes cichlid cockroach complex creatures depression disease dolphins dung beetles eggs embryo enzyme estrogen evolution evolutionary evolved example fat cells female choice fertile fish flowers folding genetic sequences geneticists genistein genitals Gould histones hormone Hox genes human hyenas immune insects learned lemurs live look male mammals mate menstruation metabolic molecular molecule monkeys mother muscle mutations nature nematode nest offspring one’s orchid organism oxytocin pair parasites percent pit vipers plant play pollen predators primates Profet proteins rats reproduction researchers roach rodents scientists scorpions sexual signal snake social species sperm suicide survive symmetrical tail telomerase telomeres testosterone There’s thousands tissue traits turn vasopressin women worm young