Creatures of Accident

Creatures of Accident
Author: Wallace Arthur
Publisher: Hill and Wang
Total Pages: 268
Release: 2007-09-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1466801794

The most important aspect of evolution, from a philosophical viewpoint, is the rise of complex, advanced creatures from simple, primitive ones. This "vertical" dimension of evolution has been downplayed in both the specialist and popular literature on evolution, in large part because it was in the past associated with unsavory political views. The avoidance of evolution's vertical dimension has, however, left evolutionary biology open to the perception, from outside, that it deals merely with the diversification of rather similar creatures, all at the same level of "advancedness" from a common ancestor—for example, the classic case studies of finches with different beaks or moths of different colors. The latest incarnation of creationism, dubbed intelligent design (or ID), has taken advantage of this situation. It portrays an evolutionary process that is constantly guided—especially in its upward direction—by the hand of an unseen Creator, who is able to ensure that it ends up producing humans. Creatures of Accident attacks the antiscience ID worldview, mainly by building a persuasive picture of how "unaided" evolution produces advanced creatures from simple ones by an essentially accidental process. Having built this picture, in the final chapter the book reflects on its religious implications.

Accident!

Accident!
Author: Andrea Tsurumi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Total Pages: 48
Release: 2017-10-03
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 1328466523

When a clumsy armadillo named Lola knocks over a glass pitcher, she sets off a silly chain of events, encountering chaos wherever she goes. But accidents happen—just ask the stoat snarled in spaghetti, the airborne sheep, and the bull who has broken a whole shop’s worth of china. In the tradition of beloved books like The Dot and Beautiful Oops, this charming, hilarious debut from author-illustrator Andrea Tsurumi shows that mistakes don’t have to be the end of the world.

On Accident

On Accident
Author: Edward Eigen
Publisher: MIT Press
Total Pages: 407
Release: 2018-02-02
Genre: Architecture
ISBN: 0262534843

Engaging essays that roam across uncertain territory, in search of sunken forests, unclassifiable islands, inflammable skies, plagiarized tabernacles, and other phenomena missing from architectural history. This collection by “architectural history's most beguiling essayist” (as Reinhold Martin calls the author in the book's foreword) illuminates the unfamiliar, the arcane, the obscure—phenomena largely missing from architectural and landscape history. These essays by Edward Eigen do not walk in a straight line, but roam across uncertain territory, discovering sunken forests, unclassifiable islands, inflammable skies, unvisited shores, plagiarized tabernacles. Taken together, these texts offer a group portrait of how certain things fall apart. We read about the statistical investigation of lightning strikes in France by the author-astronomer Camille Flammarion, which leads Eigen to reflect also on Foucault, Hamlet, and the role of the anecdote in architectural history. We learn about, among other things, Olmsted's role in transforming landscape gardening into landscape architecture; the connections among hedging, hedge funds, the High Line, and GPS bandwidth; timber-frame roofs and (spider) web-based learning; the archives of the Houses of Parliament through flood and fire; and what the 1898 disappearance and reappearance of the Trenton, New Jersey architect William W. Slack might tell us about the conflict between “the migratory impulse” and “love of home.” Eigen compares his essays to the “gathering up of seeds that fell by the wayside.” The seedlings that result create in the reader's imagination a dazzling display of the particular, the contingent, the incidental, and the singular, all in search of a narrative.

Creaturepedia

Creaturepedia
Author: Adrienne Barman
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2024-08-08
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 0711295808

Meet the animal kingdom's greatest talents in this illustrated encyclopedia of curious creatures! Drawn in a fun and vibrant style, this book groups animals by their special skills. Flick through these amazing animals that think, look, sound, and act in incredible ways! Introducing: 'the architects' Super-skilled animals that build objects using their legs, beaks, and mouths! the 'noisy neighbors' What’s all that racket?! Meet the loudest big mouths on the planet. the 'homebodies' These territorial creatures keep watch of the land around them. the 'forever faithfuls' Some animals mate for life! Discover which animals pair up. the ‘night owls’ These fascinating animals only come out at night. Filled with fascinating facts, curious creatures, and characterful cartoons, this book will keep young explorers busy for hours. The perfect gift for any young animal lover!

All the Creatures that Breathe

All the Creatures that Breathe
Author: D. R Dauphinee
Publisher:
Total Pages: 422
Release: 2021-11-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9780986308925

"From Harvard Yard to the Andes, a story of discovery, love, and loss." In 1985, three Harvard archaeology and anthropology graduate students travel to Peru to seek beauty, culture, and ancient ruins. While exploring the remote, snow-capped eastern slopes of the Andes, they witness an unspeakable tragedy - one they can do little about.Suddenly, their enchanting trip becomes a fight for survival.The three friends must come to terms with their experiences. Each student's healing process becomes intensely personal and offers different results.

The Lost Time Accidents

The Lost Time Accidents
Author: John Wray
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2016-02-09
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0374281130

Exiled from time after a failed love affair, Waldemar "Waldy" Tolliver is forced to confront a difficult betrayal and his ancestral legacy against a backdrop of historical events in the first half of the twentieth century.

Not by Accident

Not by Accident
Author: Samantha Dunn
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 221
Release: 2015-08-11
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1631528335

Samantha Dunn used to live for the feeling of wind blowing in her hair and the powerful intoxication of her horse's steady gallop. A tug of Harley's leathery reins could instantly eradicate mounting bills, unfinished work, and the reality of a troubled marriage from her mind. But one day, as she was leading Harley across a stream in a picturesque California canyon, he panicked, knocked her to the ground, and trampled her—nearly severing her leg in the process. Dunn had always been “accident prone”—but in the aftermath of this incident, she began to analyze the details of her life and her propensity for accidents. Was she really just a klutz? Or could there be some underlying emotional reason she was always putting her life in danger? A blend of personal narrative and of research about what drives some people to have more accidents than others, Not by Accident is an insightful, incisive memoir that helps bridge the gap in understanding that exists on the concept of accident proneness.

Gorgeous Beasts

Gorgeous Beasts
Author: Joan B. Landes
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 259
Release: 2012-09-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0271061421

Gorgeous Beasts takes a fresh look at the place of animals in history and art. Refusing the traditional subordination of animals to humans, the essays gathered here examine a rich variety of ways animals contribute to culture: as living things, as scientific specimens, as food, weapons, tropes, and occasions for thought and creativity. History and culture set the terms for this inquiry. As history changes, so do the ways animals participate in culture. Gorgeous Beasts offers a series of discontinuous but probing studies of the forms their participation takes. This collection presents the work of a wide range of scholars, critics, and thinkers from diverse disciplines: philosophy, literature, history, geography, economics, art history, cultural studies, and the visual arts. By approaching animals from such different perspectives, these essays broaden the scope of animal studies to include specialists and nonspecialists alike, inviting readers from all backgrounds to consider the place of animals in history and art. Combining provocative critical insights with arresting visual imagery, Gorgeous Beasts advances a challenging new appreciation of animals as co-inhabitants and co-creators of culture. Aside from the editors, the contributors are Dean Bavington, Ron Broglio, Mark Dion, Erica Fudge, Cecilia Novero, Harriet Ritvo, Nigel Rothfels, Sajay Samuel, and Pierre Serna.

The Accidental Apprentice

The Accidental Apprentice
Author: Amanda Foody
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2021-03-30
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 153447756X

Eleven-year-old Barclay Thorne yearns for the quiet life of a mushroom farmer, but after unwittingly bonding with a beast in the forbidden Woods, he must seek Lore Keepers to break the bond and return home.