Geerat Vermeij

A Natural History of Shells (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

From "one of the master naturalists of our time" (American Scientist), a fascinating exploration of what seashells reveal about biology, evolution, and the history of life

Geerat Vermeij wrote this "celebration of shells" to share his enthusiasm for these supremely elegant creations and what they can teach us about nature. Most popular books on shells emphasize the identification of species, but Vermeij uses shells as a way to explore major ideas in biology. How are shells built? How do they work? And how did they evolve? With lucidity and charm, the MacArthur-winning evolutionary biologist reveals how shells give us insights into the lives of animals today and in the distant geological past.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Princeton University Press
• Erscheinungstermin: 28. September 2021
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9780691230016
• Artikelnr.: 61386994

Autorenporträt

Geerat J. Vermeij is Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of California, Davis. He is the author of The Evolutionary World: How Adaptation Explains Everything from Seashells to Civilization; Privileged Hands: A Scientific Life; Nature: An Economic History (Princeton); and Evolution and Escalation: An Ecological History of Life (Princeton).

Inhaltsangabe

Preface
Ch. 1
Shells and the Questions of Biology
3
Pt. I
The Rules of Shell Construction
Ch. 2
Themes and Variations: The Geometry of Shells
9
Ch. 3
The Economics of Construction and Maintenance
39
Pt. II
Life in a Dangerous World: How Shells Work
Ch. 4
The Mechanics of Shells
61
Ch. 5
Predators and Their Methods
94
Ch. 6
Coping with Enemies: The Shell as Protection
113
Pt. III
The Dimension of Time
Ch. 7
A Historical Geography of Shells
153
Ch. 8
Evolutionary Economics: The Rise and Fall of Adaptive Themes
174
Index
203

Rezensionen

I was swept away by the world of molluscs and found myself fascinated and informed. . . . By the end of the book I was convinced that anyone with a passion for their subject would enjoy and be educated by Vermeij's obvious passion for his.