A Taste For The Beautiful

"In A Taste for the Beautiful, Michael Ryan, one of the world's leading authorities on animal behavior, tells the remarkable story of how he and other scientists have taken up where Darwin left off, transforming our understanding of sexual selection and shedding new light on animal and human behavior. Drawing on cutting-edge science, Ryan explores the key questions: Why do animals perceive certain traits as beautiful and others not? Do animals have an inherent sexual aesthetic and, if so, where is it rooted? Ryan argues that the answers lie in the brain--particularly of females, who act as biological puppeteers, spurring the development of beautiful traits in males."--Back cover

A FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW, SMITHSONIAN, AND WALL STREET JOURNAL A major reimagining of how evolutionary forces work, revealing how mating preferences—what Darwin termed "the taste for the beautiful"—create the extraordinary range of ornament in the animal world. In the great halls of science, dogma holds that Darwin's theory of natural selection explains every branch on the tree of life: which species thrive, which wither away to extinction, and what features each evolves. But can adaptation by natural selection really account for everything we see in nature? Yale University ornithologist Richard Prum—reviving Darwin's own views—thinks not. Deep in tropical jungles around the world are birds with a dizzying array of appearances and mating displays: Club-winged Manakins who sing with their wings, Great Argus Pheasants who dazzle prospective mates with a four-foot-wide cone of feathers covered in golden 3D spheres, Red-capped Manakins who moonwalk. In thirty years of fieldwork, Prum has seen numerous display traits that seem disconnected from, if not outright contrary to, selection for individual survival. To explain this, he dusts off Darwin's long-neglected theory of sexual selection in which the act of choosing a mate for purely aesthetic reasons—for the mere pleasure of it—is an independent engine of evolutionary change. Mate choice can drive ornamental traits from the constraints of adaptive evolution, allowing them to grow ever more elaborate. It also sets the stakes for sexual conflict, in which the sexual autonomy of the female evolves in response to male sexual control. Most crucially, this framework provides important insights into the evolution of human sexuality, particularly the ways in which female preferences have changed male bodies, and even maleness itself, through evolutionary time. The Evolution of Beauty presents a unique scientific vision for how nature's splendor contributes to a more complete understanding of evolution and of ourselves.

From one of the world's leading authorities on animal behavior, the astonishing story of how the female brain drives the evolution of beauty in animals and humans Darwin developed the theory of sexual selection to explain why the animal world abounds in stunning beauty, from the brilliant colors of butterflies and fishes to the songs of birds and frogs. He argued that animals have “a taste for the beautiful” that drives their potential mates to evolve features that make them more sexually attractive and reproductively successful. But if Darwin explained why sexual beauty evolved in animals, he struggled to understand how. In A Taste for the Beautiful, Michael Ryan, one of the world’s leading authorities on animal behavior, tells the remarkable story of how he and other scientists have taken up where Darwin left off and transformed our understanding of sexual selection, shedding new light on human behavior in the process. Drawing on cutting-edge work in neuroscience and evolutionary biology, as well as his own important studies of the tiny Túngara frog deep in the jungles of Panama, Ryan explores the key questions: Why do animals perceive certain traits as beautiful and others not? Do animals have an inherent sexual aesthetic and, if so, where is it rooted? Ryan argues that the answers to these questions lie in the brain—particularly of females, who act as biological puppeteers, spurring the development of beautiful traits in males. This theory of how sexual beauty evolves explains its astonishing diversity and provides new insights about the degree to which our own perception of beauty resembles that of other animals. Vividly written and filled with fascinating stories, A Taste for the Beautiful will change how you think about beauty and attraction.

Who doesn't dream of leaving everyday life behind and really experiencing nature with an adventure in the wilderness... and a delicious campfire supper to round off a perfect day? Enjoy the beauty and stillness of breathtaking shots, taken on location in the National Parks of Vancouver and Banff, of the lakes, cascading waterfalls, rivers, canyons, mountains and deep, green, tranquil forests for which Canada is renowned. This is the stunning natural backdrop for recipes and short extracts from Charles Dickens, Margaret Atwood, Chris Czajkowski and Anne Michaels inspired by Canada's incredible landscapes. Whether it's fluffy blueberry pancakes with maple syrup, or tender salmon fillet on a cedarwood board, hearty campfire stew with craft beer or the unique national dish of Canada, poutine, these ingredients and recipes evoke bounty, simplicity, campfires and wilderness.

Have you ever been enchanted by the spoken cadence of an Urdu couplet but wished you could fully understand its nuances? Have you wanted to engage with a ghazal more deeply but were daunted by its mystifying conventions? Are you confused between a qataa and a rubaai, or a musadda and a marsiya? In Urdu Poetry, Raza Mir offers a fresh, quirky and accessible entry point for neophytes seeking to enhance their enjoyment of this vibrant canon—from the poems of legends like Mir Taqi Mir and Mirza Ghalib to the lyrics of contemporary game changers like Javed Akhtar and Gulzar. Raza Mir’s translation not only draws out the zest and pathos of these timeless verses, but also provides pithy insights and colourful trivia that will enable readers to fully embrace this world.

A teenage boy suffering from curvature of the spine begins swimming every week at the local pool, at the repeated request of his chiropractor. In the interior and echoing world of the swimming pool, surrounded by anonymous bodies and in between lengths, he becomes acquainted with a girl who agrees to give him pointers on his technique.The French original won the Essentiel Revelation prize at the Festival d'Angouleme in January 2009. The author was 25 years old at the time."

Food sustains life. Since the beginning of time, it has underpinned our existence. Every day, in every country around the world, it continues to do so. While once food comprised the humble gatherings of hunters in caves, today it has been elevated to an obsession, loathed and adored, craved and crammed in equal measure. Some people eat to live, others live to eat. In an age where we consume up to 285 pieces of content just via social media on a daily basis, information needs to be easily accessible, quick to the point and captivating. This is the age of the infographic, where statistics, facts and knowledge are made easily available and understandable. Taste will explore the complex, colourful and at times controversial world of food, through a collection of thought-provoking, stimulating and beautifully-crafted infographics. Accessible and authoritative, it will cover everything you need to know about food – from its origins to its consumption, weird and wonderful traditions, mealtimes and trends – as well as startling, challenging and unusual facts. Our content will have authority and wit, chart history and predict trends, and will be complemented by beautiful naturally styled imagery and fact-packed illustrations. From Christmas lunch to curry, pizza to Pavlova, and bagels to burgers, Taste will inform and inspire. Our readers will be information hungry but time poor. They want to eat good food, they want to know good food, but they want it quickly and they want it now. They want to feel travelled without leaving home. It took love, care and attention to create but will ultimately be consumed in a matter of minutes by an eager foodie. Food is the one global language that always translates.

Subtitle in pre-publication: The evolution of attraction in animals and humans.