Grant, P. R. 1986. Ecology and Evolution of Darwin's Finches. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J., Cloth $ 55, pbk. $ 22.50

Darwinian Agriculture: how understanding evolution can improve agriculture R. Ford Denison 2012. Princeton University Press

Agroecosystems not only comprise a significant proportion of land-use, but also involve conflicting imperatives to expand or intensify production while simultaneously reducing environmental impacts. These imperatives are underpinned by food security concerns, climate predictability and global connectivity, reinforcing the likelihood of further major changes in agricultural landscapes and associ...

A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World. By Gregory Clark. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2007. Pp. xii, 420. $29.95, cloth

See life at the extremes Extreme Life of the Sea: Stephen R. Palumbi and Anthony R. Palumbi (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ; 2014) ISBN-10: 0691149569

Extreme Life of the Sea is a wonderful book, written in an engaging style by world-renowned marine biologist Stephen Palumbi and his science writer/novelist son, Anthony Palumbi. Between the two of them, they have managed to write a book that presents information in a way that a layman without a marine science background will enjoy, but with enough science to make it a useful text for marine bi...

Ways of seeing Visual Ecology Tom Cronin, Sönke Johnsen, Justin Marshall and Eric Warrant (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ; 2014) ISBN: 978-1-400853-021

I was introduced to neurobiology, first by Don Kennedy, a great role model as a brilliant teacher-researcher, and later by Don Wilson, the genius behind the role of central rhythm generators in behavior. Kennedy and Wilson showed how much we have to learn about brains from studying the brain and behavior of invertebrate animals. Eric Kandel, Seymour Benzer, and Sydney Brenner inspired many of u...

Philosophy, who needs it? Philosophy of Biology Peter Godfrey-Smith (Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey; 2013) ISBN: 9780691140018

on what one wants those terms to mean, so disputes about them are semantic: but not merely so. Unpacking words and concepts is essential to understanding the natural phenomena to which they are meant to refer. As to Godfrey-Smith's little book, it provides an authoritative but easy starting place for readers of Current Biology who want to root out tacit philosophical commitments in their discip...