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Why size matters : from bacteria to blue whales  Cover Image E-book E-book

Why size matters : from bacteria to blue whales

Summary: (Publisher-supplied data) John Tyler Bonner, one of our most distinguished and creative biologists, here offers a completely new perspective on the role of size in biology. In his hallmark friendly style, he explores the universal impact of being the right size. By examining stories ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Gulliver's Travels, he shows that humans have always been fascinated by things big and small. Why then does size always reside on the fringes of science and never on the center stage? Why do biologists and others ponder size only when studying something else--running speed, life span, or metabolism? Why Size Matters, a pioneering book of big ideas in a compact size, gives size its due by presenting a profound yet lucid overview of what we know about its role in the living world. Bonner argues that size really matters--that it is the supreme and universal determinant of what any organism can be and can do. For example, because tiny creatures are subject primarily to forces of cohesion and larger beasts to gravity, a fly can easily walk up a wall, something we humans cannot even begin to imagine doing. Bonner introduces us to size through the giants and dwarfs of human, animal, and plant history and then explores questions including the physics of size as it affects biology, the evolution of size over geological time, and the role of size in the function and longevity of living things. As this elegantly written book shows, size affects life in its every aspect. It is a universal frame from which nothing escapes.

Record details

  • ISBN: 9780691128504
  • ISBN: 0691128502
  • ISBN: 1400837553
  • ISBN: 9781400837557
  • Physical Description: 1 online resource (xi, 161 pages) : illustrations
    remote
  • Publisher: Princeton : Princeton University Press, ©2006.

Content descriptions

General Note:
"First paperback printing 2012"--Title page verso.
Bibliography, etc. Note: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Formatted Contents Note: Preface -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The human view of size -- 3. The physics of size -- 4. The evolution of size -- 5. Size and the division of labor -- 6. Size and time -- 7. Envoi -- Notes -- Index.
Restrictions on Access Note:
NLC staff and students only.
Subject: Body size
Body Size
Genre: Electronic books.

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Showing Item 1 of 280
Preferred library: Kaslo and District Public Library?

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