Search -
The Extended Organism : The Physiology of Animal-Built Structures
The Extended Organism The Physiology of AnimalBuilt Structures Author:J. Scott Turner Can the structures that animals build—from the humble burrows of earthworms to towering termite mounds to the Great Barrier Reef—be said to live? However counterintuitive the idea might first seem, physiological ecologist Scott Turner demonstrates in this book that many animals construct and use structures to harness and ... more »control the flow of energy from their environment to their own advantage. Building on Richard Dawkins's classic The Extended Phenotype, Turner shows why drawing the boundary of an organism's physiology at the skin of the animal is arbitrary. "[Turner] brings to bear scientific incisiveness, humor, and a prose style that makes scientific minutiae fun to read … [The Extended Organism] stands apart as a remarkably synthetic piece of scholarship." —Kurt Schwenk, New York Times Book Review "Turner's tales of the subtle ways organisms capitalize on the opportunities afforded them by their physical and chemical surroundings provide more than ample reason to read the book." —Steven Vogel, Nature "[A] clever dissection of environmental physiology from a persistent and clever teacher. Like most good teachers, Turner manages to slip a huge range of new information into your head along the way—information that helps change your view of organisms in their world." —Stephen R. Palumbi, American Scientist« less