Imperfection

A Natural History


Edition: US - Paperback / softback
Price:
Sale priceHK$151.00 Regular priceHK$230.00
Stock:
Re-stocking soon
Product Info
English
176 pages 5.31 x 8.0 x 0.51 in
Approx. weight: 0.38 lb
Publication date: 06 Feb,2024
Barcode: 9780262548359 The MIT Press

More books in English for Age -
  • Evolution
  • Biodiversity
  • Ecological science the Biosphere

Description

By: Telmo Pievani     
In praise of imperfection: how life on our planet is a catalog of imperfections, errors, alternatives, and anomalies.

In the beginning, there was imperfection, which became the source of all things. Anomalies and asymmetries caused planets to take shape from the bubbling void and sent light into darkness. Life on earth is a catalog of accidents, alternatives, and errors that turned out to work quite well. In this book, Telmo Pievani shows that life on our planet has flourished and survived not because of its perfection but despite (and perhaps because of) its imperfection. He begins his story with the disruption-filled birth of the universe and proceeds through the random DNA copying errors that fuel evolution, the transformations of advantages into handicaps by natural selection, the anatomical and functional jumble that is the human brain, and our many bodily mismatches.

Along the way, Pievani tells readers about the Irish elk (incidentally, neither Irish nor elk), whose enormous antlers serve to illustrate the first two laws of imperfection; the widespread dissemination of costly or useless traits; and the neuroimperfection of the human brain—“a frozen accident of evolution that was not designed from scratch,” as Pievani calls it. He sizes up the alleged perfection of the human body, asking, for example, if everything in our bodies serves a purpose, why do we have appendixes? Why bipedalism, with the inevitable back pain that results? In this fascinating account, Pievani offers the first comprehensive explanatory theory for the ubiquity of imperfection.

You may also like

熱銷中 Top Trending

View all
Super Sleuth (David Walliams)-Children’s / Teenage fiction: Biographical/ historical fiction and true stories-買書書 BuyBookBook
Super Sleuth (David Walliams)
Sale priceHK$97.00 Regular priceHK$169.00
In stock
屁屁偵探讀本 11: 新的怪盜 (Troll)-故事: 偵探懸疑 Detective & Mystery-買書書 BuyBookBook
屁屁偵探讀本 11: 新的怪盜 (Troll)
Sale priceHK$63.00 Regular priceHK$100.00
In stock
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess (Book 19)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Hot Mess (Book 19)
Sale priceHK$85.00 Regular priceHK$210.00
In stock
InvestiGators: Class Action-Graphic novel / Comic book / Manga: genres-買書書 BuyBookBook
InvestiGators #08 Class Action
Sale priceHK$67.00 Regular priceHK$182.00
In stock
Pete the Cat #01 I Love My White Shoes Harpercollins (UK)
Pete the Cat #01 I Love My White Shoes
Sale priceFrom HK$64.00
In stock
Minecraft Advent Calendar: 24-Book Collection-Children's / Teenage general interest: Computer and video games-買書書 BuyBookBook
Minecraft Advent Calendar: 24-Book Collection
Sale priceHK$149.00 Regular priceHK$309.00
In stock
Billy and the Mini Monsters #16 Monsters at Easter
Billy and the Mini Monsters #16 Monsters at Easter
Sale priceHK$46.00 Regular priceHK$84.00
In stock
Memory Superpowers! (Paperback) - 買書書 BuyBookBook
Memory Superpowers! (Paperback)
Sale priceHK$115.00 Regular priceHK$189.00
In stock
Dexter Procter the Ten-Year-Old Doctor-Children’s / Teenage fiction: Relationship stories-買書書 BuyBookBook
Dexter Procter the Ten-Year-Old Doctor
Sale priceHK$106.00 Regular priceHK$168.00
In stock
The Very Hungry Caterpillar(Eric Carle) - 買書書 BuyBookBook
Very Hungry Caterpillar, The (Eric Carle)
Sale priceFrom HK$70.00 Regular priceHK$83.90
In stock
屁屁偵探動畫漫畫 12 天才惡人屁屁亞蒂 (Troll)-故事: 偵探懸疑 Detective & Mystery-買書書 BuyBookBook
屁屁偵探動畫漫畫 12 天才惡人屁屁亞蒂 (Troll)
Sale priceHK$87.00 Regular priceHK$133.00
In stock
Nexus
Nexus
Sale priceFrom HK$157.00 Regular priceHK$240.00
In stock
The Book of Bill
The Book of Bill
Sale priceHK$177.00 Regular priceHK$270.00
In stock
Roald Dahl (正版) Collection (16 Books) Penguin UK
Roald Dahl (正版) Collection
Sale priceFrom HK$279.00 Regular priceHK$832.00
In stock
如果歷史是一群喵 套裝
如果歷史是一群喵 套裝
Sale priceFrom HK$384.00 Regular priceHK$590.00
In stock
Mr Men and Little Miss Christmas Collection (14 Books)-Fiction: 橋樑章節 Early Readers-買書書 BuyBookBook
Mr Men and Little Miss Christmas Collection (14 Books)
Sale priceHK$159.00 Regular priceHK$728.00
In stock
Diary of a Wimpy Kid #16 Big Shot (Jeff Kinney) - 買書書 BuyBookBook
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Big Shot (Book 16)
Sale priceFrom HK$57.00 Regular priceHK$112.00
In stock
普通兄妹的搞笑對決8:鬼怪仲夏夜-故事: 劇情故事 General-買書書 BuyBookBook
普通兄妹的搞笑對決8:鬼怪仲夏夜
Sale priceHK$83.00 Regular priceHK$127.00
In stock
Dork Diaries 16 Sister Showdown
Dork Diaries 16 Sister Showdown
Sale priceHK$85.00 Regular priceHK$182.00
In stock
Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas-Children’s / Teenage fiction: General and modern fiction-買書書 BuyBookBook
Nate the Great and the Crunchy Christmas
Sale priceHK$45.00 Regular priceHK$70.00
In stock
Dragon #05 Dragon's Merry Christmas (Acorn) (Dav Pilkey) Scholastic
Dragon #05 Dragon's Merry Christmas (Acorn) (Dav Pilkey)
Sale priceHK$33.00 Regular priceHK$45.00
In stock
屁屁偵探繪本 噗噗!#1找回消失的人氣點心 (Troll)-故事: 兒童繪本 Picture Books-買書書 BuyBookBook
屁屁偵探繪本 噗噗!#1找回消失的人氣點心 (Troll)
Sale priceHK$61.00 Regular priceHK$93.00
In stock
如果歷史是一群喵 (01) 夏商周-非故事: 歷史戰爭 History & War-買書書 BuyBookBook
如果歷史是一群喵 (01) 夏商周
Sale priceHK$91.00 Regular priceHK$140.00
In stock
Megamonster (Paperback) (David Walliams)(Tony Ross) Harpercollins (UK)
Megamonster (David Walliams)(Tony Ross)
Sale priceFrom HK$64.00 Regular priceHK$104.00
In stock
Inheritance Games, The #1 (Jennifer Lynn Barnes)-Fiction: 劇情故事 General-買書書 BuyBookBook
Inheritance Games, The #1 (Jennifer Lynn Barnes)
Sale priceHK$79.00 Regular priceHK$117.00
In stock

Recently viewed