Amphibians: A Very Short Introduction
T. S. Kemp
Amphibians: A Very Short Introduction discusses amphibian evolution, adaptations, and biology. From frogs, toads, newts, and salamanders, to the lesser-known caecilians, there ...
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Animal Behaviour: A Very Short Introduction
Tristram D. Wyatt
How animals behave is crucial to their survival and reproduction. Animal Behaviour: A Very Short Introduction discusses how animal behaviour has evolved, how behaviours develop in each ...
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The Animal Kingdom: A Very Short Introduction
Peter Holland
The Animal Kingdom: A Very Short Introduction presents a modern tour of the animal kingdom. Beginning with the definition of animals, this VSI goes on to show the high-level ...
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Bacteria: A Very Short Introduction (2 ed.)
Sebastian G. B. Amyes
Bacteria: A Very Short Introduction explores the nature of bacteria, which are the most abundant form of life on the planet. The first organisms to evolve, they include forms that can ...
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Biochemistry: A Very Short Introduction
Mark Lorch
Biochemistry: A Very Short Introduction discusses the key concepts of biochemistry, as well as the historical figures in the field and the molecules they studied. From bacteria ...
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Biogeography: A Very Short Introduction
Mark V. Lomolino
Biogeography: A Very Short Introduction explains how our ability to place life in an explicit geographic context is key to understanding our natural world. The geological ...
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Biometrics: A Very Short Introduction
Michael Fairhurst
Biometrics is the scientific discipline of identifying individuals by means of the measurement of unique personal attributes, such as facial appearance, fingerprints, iris patterning, the ...
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Blood: A Very Short Introduction
Chris Cooper
Blood is vital to most animals. In mammals it transports oxygen and food, carries away waste, and contains the white cells that attack invading microbes. Playing a central role in life, ...
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The Cell: A Very Short Introduction
Terence Allen and Graham Cowling
The Cell: A Very Short Introduction describes the nature of cells — their basic structure, their varying forms, their division, their differentiation from initially highly ...
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Circadian Rhythms: A Very Short Introduction
Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman
The Earth’s daily rotation affects almost every living creature. From dawn through to dusk, there are changes in light, temperature, humidity, and rainfall. However, these changes are ...
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Coral Reefs: A Very Short Introduction (2 ed.)
Charles Sheppard
Reefs and the coral life that builds them were for centuries a source of mystery to naturalists and hazard to seafarers. Many ideas were developed of what built them and why they all ...
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Darwin: A Very Short Introduction
Jonathan Howard
Darwin: A Very Short Introduction explores how Charles Darwin's theory of evolution has revolutionized biology since it was first presented to a wide readership in 1859. At ...
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Developmental Biology: A Very Short Introduction
Lewis Wolpert
Developmental Biology: A Very Short Introduction provides a concise account of what we now know about development, discussing the first vital steps of growth, the patterning ...
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Ecology: A Very Short Introduction
Jaboury Ghazoul
Ecology is the science of how organisms interact with each other and their environment to form communities and ecosystems. Ecology: A Very Short Introduction explains the history of ...
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Enzymes: A Very Short Introduction
Paul Engel
Enzymes: A Very Short Introduction explores enzymes, the tiny molecular machines that make life possible. These proteins speed up chemical reactions inside a living organism ...
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Evolution: A Very Short Introduction
Brian Charlesworth and Deborah Charlesworth
Less than 150 years ago, the view that living species were the result of special creation by God was still dominant. The recognition by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace of the ...
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Extinction: A Very Short Introduction
Paul B. Wignall
Extinction has occurred throughout the history of life, with the result that nearly all the species that have ever existed are now extinct. Extinction: A Very Short Introduction looks at ...
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The Eye: A Very Short Introduction
Michael F. Land
The eye is one of the most remarkable achievements of evolution. In humans, vision is the most important sense, and much of the brain is given over to the processing of visual information. ...
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Forests: A Very Short Introduction
Jaboury Ghazoul
Since the dawn of human civilization, forests have provided us with food, resources, and energy. The history of human development is also one of forest loss and transformation, and yet ...
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Fungi: A Very Short Introduction
Nicholas P. Money
The diversity of the mycological world is far greater than most people imagine. Tens of thousands of fungal species have been described and many more are known only from the abundance of ...
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