This book shows that Holocene human ecosystems are complex adaptive systems in which humans interacted with their environment in a nested series of spatial and temporal scales. Using panarchy theory, it integrates paleoecological and archaeological research from the Eastern Woodlands of North America providing a paradigm to help resolve long-standing disagreements between ecologists and archaeologists about the importance of prehistoric Native Americans as agents for ecological change. The authors present the concept of a panarchy of complex adaptive cycles as applied to the development of increasingly complex human ecosystems through time. They explore examples of ecological interactions at the level of gene, population, community, landscape and regional hierarchical scales, emphasizing the ecological pattern and process involving the development of human ecosystems. Finally, they offer a perspective on the implications of the legacy of Native Americans as agents of change for conserv
This 2006 book explores how people's subjective, felt experiences of their bodies in action provide part of the fundamental grounding for human cognition and language. Cognition is what occurs when the body engages the physical and cultural world and must be studied in terms of the dynamical interactions between people and the environment. Human language and thought emerge from recurring patterns of embodied activity that constrain ongoing intelligent behavior. We must not assume cognition to be purely internal, symbolic, computational, and disembodied, but seek out the gross and detailed ways that language and thought are inextricably shaped by embodied action. Embodiment and Cognitive Science describes the abundance of empirical evidence from many disciplines, including work on perception, concepts, imagery and reasoning, language and communication, cognitive development, and emotions and consciousness, that support the idea that the mind is embodied.
Feeding Ecology in Apes and Other Primates focuses on evolutionary perspectives of the complex interactions between the environment, food sources, physiology and behaviour in primates. This highly interdisciplinary volume provides a benchmark to assess dietary alterations that affected human evolution by putting the focus on the diet of hominid primates. It also offers a fresh perspective on the behavioural ecology of the last common ancestor by integrating corresponding information from both human and non-human primates. The potential of innovations of applied biotechnology are also explored to set new standards for future research on feeding ecology, and new information on feeding ecology in humans, apes and other primates is synthesized to help refine or modify current models of socioecology. By taking a comparative view, this book will be interesting to primatologists, anthropologists, behavioural ecologists and evolutionary biologists who want to understand better non-human primat
In an era where humans affect virtually all of the earth's processes, questions arise about whether we have sufficient knowledge of human-environment interactions. How can we sustain the Earth's ecosystems to prevent collapses and what roles should practitioners and scientists play in this process? These are the issues central to the concept of environmental literacy. This unique book provides a comprehensive review and analysis of environmental literacy within the context of environmental science and sustainable development. Approaching the topic from multiple perspectives, it explores the development of human understanding of the environment and human-environment interactions in the fields of biology, psychology, sociology, economics and industrial ecology. The discussion emphasises the importance of knowledge integration and transdisciplinary processes as key strategies for understanding complex human-environment systems (HES). In addition, the author defines the HES framework as a
In an era where humans affect virtually all of the earth's processes, questions arise about whether we have sufficient knowledge of human-environment interactions. How can we sustain the Earth's ecosystems to prevent collapses and what roles should practitioners and scientists play in this process? These are the issues central to the concept of environmental literacy. This unique book provides a comprehensive review and analysis of environmental literacy within the context of environmental science and sustainable development. Approaching the topic from multiple perspectives, it explores the development of human understanding of the environment and human-environment interactions in the fields of biology, psychology, sociology, economics and industrial ecology. The discussion emphasises the importance of knowledge integration and transdisciplinary processes as key strategies for understanding complex human-environment systems (HES). In addition, the author defines the HES framework as a
The re-emerging field of ethnoecology offers a promising way to document and analyze human-environment interactions. This collection brings the discipline into sharp focus, conveying local understand
Bringing together recent scholarship on religion and the spatial imagination, Kristen Poole examines how changing religious beliefs and transforming conceptions of space were mutually informative in the decades around 1600. Supernatural Environments in Shakespeare's England explores a series of cultural spaces that focused attention on interactions between the human and the demonic or divine: the deathbed, purgatory, demonic contracts and their spatial surround, Reformation cosmologies and a landscape newly subject to cartographic surveying. It examines the seemingly incongruous coexistence of traditional religious beliefs and new mathematical, geometrical ways of perceiving the environment. Arguing that the late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century stage dramatized the phenomenological tension that resulted from this uneasy confluence, this groundbreaking study considers the complex nature of supernatural environments in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare's Othello, Hamlet,
Electronic skins are critical for many applications in human-machine-environment interactions. Tactile sensitivity over large areas can be especially applied to prosthetics. Moreover, the potential for wearables, interactive surfaces, and human robotics have propelled research in this area. In this Element, we provide an account and directional atlas of the progress in materials and devices for electronic skins, in the context of sensing principles and skin-like features. Additionally, we give an overview of essential electronic circuits and systems used in large-area tactile sensor arrays. Finally, we present the challenges and provide perspectives on future developments.
Quaternary of the Levant presents up-to-date research achievements from a region that displays unique interactions between the climate, the environment and human evolution. Focusing on southeast Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel, it brings together over eighty contributions from leading researchers to review 2.5 million years of environmental change and human cultural evolution. Information from prehistoric sites and palaeoanthropological studies contributing to our understanding of 'out of Africa' migrations, Neanderthals, cultures of modern humans, and the origins of agriculture are assessed within the context of glacial-interglacial cycles, marine isotope cycles, plate tectonics, geochronology, geomorphology, palaeoecology and genetics. Complemented by overview summaries that draw together the findings of each chapter, the resulting coverage is wide-ranging and cohesive. The cross-disciplinary nature of the volume makes it an invaluable resource for academics and advanced st
Bringing together recent scholarship on religion and the spatial imagination, Kristen Poole examines how changing religious beliefs and transforming conceptions of space were mutually informative in the decades around 1600. Supernatural Environments in Shakespeare's England explores a series of cultural spaces that focused attention on interactions between the human and the demonic or divine: the deathbed, purgatory, demonic contracts and their spatial surround, Reformation cosmologies and a landscape newly subject to cartographic surveying. It examines the seemingly incongruous coexistence of traditional religious beliefs and new mathematical, geometrical ways of perceiving the environment. Arguing that the late sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century stage dramatized the phenomenological tension that resulted from this uneasy confluence, this groundbreaking study considers the complex nature of supernatural environments in Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and Shakespeare's Othello, Hamlet,
Feeding Ecology in Apes and Other Primates focuses on evolutionary perspectives of the complex interactions between the environment, food sources, physiology and behaviour in primates. This highly interdisciplinary volume provides a benchmark to assess dietary alterations that affected human evolution by putting the focus on the diet of hominid primates. It also offers a fresh perspective on the behavioural ecology of the last common ancestor by integrating corresponding information from both human and non-human primates. The potential of innovations of applied biotechnology are also explored to set new standards for future research on feeding ecology, and new information on feeding ecology in humans, apes and other primates is synthesized to help refine or modify current models of socioecology. By taking a comparative view, this book will be interesting to primatologists, anthropologists, behavioural ecologists and evolutionary biologists who want to understand better non-human primat
Volume I of The Cambridge History of the Pacific Ocean provides a wide-ranging survey of Pacific history to 1800. It focuses on varied concepts of the Pacific environment and its impact on human history, as well as tracing the early exploration and colonization of the Pacific, the evolution of Indigenous maritime cultures after colonization, and the disruptive arrival of Europeans. Bringing together a diversity of subjects and viewpoints, this volume introduces a broad variety of topics, engaging fully with emerging environmental and political conflicts over Pacific Ocean spaces. These essays emphasize the impact of the deep history of interactions on and across the Pacific to the present day.
Longitudinal research is an essential element in the investigation of human development over time, with considerable advantages over more widely used cross-sectional research designs. This book examines the scope for longitudinal studies in a range of developmental fields, emphasizing the advantages of this approach for the investigation of causal mechanisms and processes and the dynamics of development over the lifespan. It also discusses methodological issues and some of the practical and ethical problems that longitudinal research may present. The distinguished contributors review normal and disordered development in the emotional, cognitive and social domains, including valuable discussions of gene-environment interactions, the maturation of the human brain, and issues relating to ageing.
Microbes play an important role in our everyday lives. As agents of infectious disease they cause untold human misery, yet their beneficial activities are manifold, ranging from the natural cycling of chemical elements through to the production of food, beverages and pharmaceuticals. In this introductory level text the authors provide a clear and accessible account of the interactions between microbes, their environment and other organisms, using examples of both beneficial and adverse activities. The book begins by considering beneficial activities, focusing on environmental microbiology and manufacturing, and then moves on to consider some of the more adverse aspects, particularly the myriad of diseases to which we are susceptible and the treatments currently in use. This book is the companion to Introductory Microbiology, also published in this series, and is essential reading for biological science and medical undergraduates, as well as being of interest to sixth form students and
"A series of illuminating essays on the brown, black, and polar bears of Alaska, and their behavior across a wide range of interactions with each other, their environment, and especially human society
This book shows that Holocene human ecosystems are complex adaptive systems in which humans interacted with their environment in a nested series of spatial and temporal scales. Using panarchy theory, it integrates paleoecological and archaeological research from the Eastern Woodlands of North America providing a paradigm to help resolve long-standing disagreements between ecologists and archaeologists about the importance of prehistoric Native Americans as agents for ecological change. The authors present the concept of a panarchy of complex adaptive cycles as applied to the development of increasingly complex human ecosystems through time. They explore examples of ecological interactions at the level of gene, population, community, landscape and regional hierarchical scales, emphasizing the ecological pattern and process involving the development of human ecosystems. Finally, they offer a perspective on the implications of the legacy of Native Americans as agents of change for conserv
The idea of the region has been a central concept in the understanding of the natural environment, of human society and culture, and of their interactions, from the ancient Greeks to the present. In t
This book covers the relevant aspects of agricultural production related to the interactions between natural processes, human activities and the environment. It examines the functions of various agroe
Studies show that institutions play a role both in causing and in addressing problemsarising from human-environment interactions. But the nature of this role is complex and not easilydescribed. This b
The first volume of The Cambridge History of America and the World examines how the United States emerged out of a series of colonial interactions, some involving indigenous empires and communities that were already present when the first Europeans reached the Americas, others the adventurers and settlers dispatched by Europe's imperial powers to secure their American claims, and still others men and women brought as slaves or indentured servants to the colonies that European settlers founded. Collecting the thoughts of dynamic scholars working in the fields of early American, Atlantic, and global history, the volume presents an unrivalled portrait of the human richness and global connectedness of early modern America. Essay topics include exploration and environment, conquest and commerce, enslavement and emigration, dispossession and endurance, empire and independence, new forms of law and new forms of worship, and the creation and destruction when the peoples of four continents met
