BOOK REVIEWS

Body by Darwin: How Evolution Transforms Our Health and Shapes Medicine

Jeremy Taylor

University of Chicago Press, £22.50

Why does the human body rarely dislodge established infections of helminth worms? Why are about 30% of embryos lost before implantation and a further 30% lost in the first six weeks of gestation?
As Body by Darwin explains, some apparent body malfunctions are actually vital adaptations. The aggressive immune

Hawthorn: The Tree That Has Nourished, Healed and Inspired Through the Ages

Bill Vaughn

Yale University Press, £17.99

Anatomy and Physiology: An Integrative Approach

Michael McKinley, Valerie Dean O'Loughlin, Theresa Stouter Bidle
McGraw-Hill Education, £57.99

The second edition of Anatomy and Physiology is smart in every sense of the word, incorporating multiple online resources as study tools to support this substantial textbook.

A busy and colourful book, it provides a good breadth and depth

Candid Creatures

Roland Kays

Johns Hopkins University Press, £26.00

The Origin of Higher Taxa

T S Kemp
Oxford University Press, £32.50

Tom Kemp has developed a clear synthesis of modern evolutionary theories regarding the origin of the higher taxa. His incisive reviews of the atomistic, modularity and correlation progression models, coupled with extensive up-to-date referencing, provide an excellent starting point for developing your

Molecular Insights into Development in Humans

Moyra Smith

World Scientific, £48.00

Organism & Environment: Ecological Development, Niche Construction, and Adaptation

Sonia E Sultan
Oxford University Press, £34.99

The emerald green, solar-powered, algae-eating sea slug Elysia chlorotica featured on the cover is just one of the many interesting organisms covered in Professor Sultan's book. Recent research is used throughout to discuss environmental influences on phenotypic expression of

The Meaning of Human Existence

Edward O Wilson

Liveright, £14.99