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Biochemistry: a Very Short Introduction by Mark Lorch
Category: Science | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring From the simplest bacteria to humans, all living things are composed of cells of one type or another, all of which have fundamentally the same chemistry. This chemistry must provide mechanisms that allow cells to interact with the external world, a ...Show more
Biogeography A Very Short Introduction by Lomolino
Category: Science | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
Biogeography is the study of geographic variation in all characteristics of life - ranging from genetic, morphological and behavioural variation among regional populations of a species, to geographic trends in diversity of entire communities across our planet's sufrace. From the ancient hunters and gath ...Show more
Byzantium: a Very Short Introduction by Peter Sarris
Category: History | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
After surviving the fifth century fall of the Western European Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire flourished as one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe for a thousand years. In this Very Short Introduction Peter Sarris introduces the reader to the unique fusion of Roma ...Show more
CRIMINOLOGY by NEWBURN TIM
Category: Philosophy | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
Crime is big news. From murder to theft to drug gangs, crime and criminal justice affect the lives of millions of people worldwide. Hardly surprisingly, crime has been pushed high up the public policy agenda across the world. But how can we measure crime, or evaluate the effectiveness ofpreventative mea ...Show more
CRITICAL THEORY A VERY SHORT INTRODUCTION by BRONNER STEPHEN ERIC
Category: Cultural Studies | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
Critical theory emerged in the 1920s from the work of the Frankfurt School, the circle of German-Jewish academics who sought to diagnose -- and, if at all possible, cure -- the ills of society, particularly fascism and capitalism. In this book, Stephen Eric Bronner provides sketches of leading represent ...Show more
Chinese Literature by Sabina Knight
Category: Philosophy | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
Perhaps nowhere else has literature been as conscious a collective endeavor as in China, and China's survival over three thousand years may owe more to its literary traditions than to its political history. This Very Short Introduction tells the story of Chinese literature from antiquity tothe present, ...Show more
Circadian Rhythms: a Very Short Introduction by Russell Foster; Leon Kreitzman
Category: Science | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
The earth's daily rotation affects just about every living creature. From dawn through to dusk, there are changes in light, temperature, humidity, and rainfall. However, these changes are regular, rhythmic and, therefore, predictable. Thus, the near 24 hour circadian rhythm is innate: a genetically prog ...Show more
Dada and Surrealism by David Hopkins
Category: Philosophy | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
The avant-garde movements of Dada and Surrealism continue to have a huge influence on cultural practice, especially in contemporary art, with its obsession with sexuality, fetishism, and shock tactics. In this new treatment of the subject, Hopkins focuses on the many debates surrounding thesemovements: ...Show more
Dinosaurs: a Very Short Introduction by David Norman
Category: History | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
Dinosaurs are fascinating creatures and their popularity seems never ending, fueled by films such as Jurassic Park and documentaries such as Walking with Dinosaurs. Yet dinosaurs (or more precisely non-avian dinosaurs) last trod the Earth 65 million years ago. All we know of them today are their fossili ...Show more
Earth System Science: a Very Short Introduction by Tim Lenton
Category: Science | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
When humanity first glimpsed planet Earth from space, the unity of the system that supports humankind entered the popular consciousness. The concept of the Earth's atmosphere, biosphere, oceans, soil, and rocks operating as a closely interacting system has rapidly gained ground in science. This new fiel ...Show more
Ecology A Very Short Introduction by Ghazoul Jaboury
Category: Animals & Nature | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
Understanding how our living environment works is essentially a study of ecological systems. Ecology is the science of how organisms interact with each other and with their environment, and how such interactions create self-organising communities and ecosystems. This science touches us all. The food we ...Show more
Elizabeth Bishop: a Very Short Introduction by Jonathan F. S. Post
Category: Art and Design | Series: Very Short Introductions Ser.
Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Elizabeth Bishop has been described as the 'best-loved' poet in English of the second half of the twentieth century. This Very Short Introduction explores the 90 or so published poems that are at the core of her remarkable canon of verse. Drawing on ...Show more