A riveting explanation of epigenetics, offering startling insights into our inheritable traits.In the 1700s, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck first described epigenetics to explain the inheritance of acquired characteristics; however, his theory was supplanted in the 1800s by Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection through heritable genetic mutations. But natural selection could not adequately explain how rapidly species re-diversified and repopula...

This book tells the fascinating story of the war between England and China that delivered Hong Kong to the English, forced the imperial Chinese government to add four ports to Canton as places in which foreigners could live and trade, and rendered irreversible the process that for almost a century thereafter distinguished western relations with this quarter of the globe—the process that is loosely termed the "opening of China." Originally published by UNC Press in 1975, Pe...

An engrossing and revelatory first look at the search for alien life-on Earth and beyondFor the past twenty years, Peter Ward has been at the forefront of popular science writing, with books such as the influential and controversial Rare Earth. In Life as We Do Not Know It, Ward, with his signature blend of eloquence, humor, and learned insight, vividly details the latest scientific findings, cutting-edge research, and intrepid new theories on the...

This book tells the fascinating story of the war between England and China that delivered Hong Kong to the English, forced the imperial Chinese government to add four ports to Canton as places in which foreigners could live and trade, and rendered irreversible the process that for almost a century thereafter distinguished western relations with this quarter of the globe — the process that is loosely termed the “opening of China.”Originally published by UNC Press in 1975, Peter Ward ...

How often did our ancestors bathe? How often did they wash their clothes and change them? What did they understand cleanliness to be? Why have our hygienic habits changed so dramatically over time? In short, how have we come to be so clean?The Clean Body explores one of the most fundamental and pervasive cultural changes in Western history since the seventeenth century: the personal hygiene revolution. In the age of Louis XIV bathing was rare and hygiene was mainly a matte...

An estimated 4.6 billion years ago, the Earth and Moon were formed in a violent impact. On this, many agree, and even more that a long time after that, life began. However, few know that the first life on the Earth may not have emerged on this planet, but could, in fact, have begun on Mars, brought here by meteorites.In this revolutionary book, leading scientists Peter Ward and Joe Kirschvink rewrite the principal account of the history of life on Earth. They show not only how the ...

Key FeaturesBook Description“Microsoft SharePoint for Business Executives: Q&A Handbook” is a quick, non-technical reference for business executives who need to get up to speed with SharePoint and understand how to make the right decision about implementations. With an easy to absorb Q&A approach and short bite size chapters focused on defined SharePoint subjects, the book follows specific SharePoint situations drawn from real world experience, enablin...

Officially, North Korea is a state-socialist command economy that does not recognize private property and does not permit private enterprise beyond the household. Beneath the façade, however, markets are widespread, affecting the lives of almost every person in the country.This book offers a pioneering look inside North Korea’s shadow economy, examining the social groups and government policies that shape the country’s market order. Andrei Lankov and Peter Ward trace how North Kore...

In the tradition of Jon Ronson and Tim Wu, an absorbing and revelatory journey into the American Way of Defying Death . . .As longevity medicine revolutionizes the lives of many older people, the quest to take the next step—to live as long as we choose—has spurred a scientific arms race in search of the elixir of life, funded by Big Tech and Silicon Valley.Once the stuff of Mesopotamian mythology and episodes of Star Trek, the effort to make humans immortal...

An essential hands-on guide, this book describes functionality, ideas and terminology related to SharePoint and applies the knowledge to enhance your business. This is not a heavy technical book for the professional IT department power user, weighed down with technical jargon and techniques, but a tutorial full of great advice and short cuts to SharePoint's functionality, where the authors remember all the tough stuff so you don't have too. While other books will tell you what SharePoint c...

The last days of the Raj bring to mind Gandhi's nonviolence and Nehru's diplomacy. These associations obscure another reality: that an army of Indian men and women who tried to throw the British off the subcontinent. The Forgotten Army brings to life for the first time the story of how Subhas Chandra Bose, a charismatic Bengali, attempted to liberate India with an army of former British Indian soldiers -- the Indian National Army (INA). The story begins with the British Indian Army fightin...

Authoritarian Survival and Leadership Succession in North Korea and Beyond examines how dictators manage elites to facilitate succession. Theoretically, it argues that personalistic incumbents facilitate the construction of a power base of elites from outside of their inner circle to help the successor govern once he comes to power. Then, once in office, successors consolidate power by initially relying on this power base to govern while marginalizing elites from their predecessor's inner ...