Of Marsupials And Men

A rollicking history of Australia's amateur naturalists, from settlement to the present ‘A fascinating history of Australia’s wildlife and the wilder men and women who shot, studied and saved it … Compelling and entertaining.’ —David Hunt Of Marsupials and Men recounts the fascinating and often hilarious history of the men and women who dedicated their lives to understanding Australia’s native animals. To the first European colonists, Australian wildlife was bewildering. Marsupials and gum trees seemed strange and hostile; rabbits, sheep and oak trees were familiar and safe. A bustling animal trade soon developed in both directions: foxes, starlings and other reminders of ‘home’ were unleashed on the Australian landscape, while countless Australian animals found themselves in Europe as stuffed specimens or living curiosities in zoos and private collections. Into this picture stepped a remarkable band of enthusiastic amateurs who were determined to get to know the fauna of the new colony. Equal parts inspiring and outlandish, over the next 150 years they would advance scientific understanding and transform public attitudes to Australian wildlife. From the ‘snake men’ who fearlessly thrust their arms into hollow logs just to see what might happen, to the top-secret plan to smuggle a platypus to Winston Churchill at the height of World War II, these are their stories.

A rollicking history of Australia's amateur scientists, from settlement to the present To the first European colonists, Australian wildlife was bewildering. Marsupials and gum trees seemed strange and hostile; rabbits, sheep and oak trees were familiar and safe. A bustling animal trade soon developed in both directions: foxes, starlings and other reminders of 'home' were unleashed on the Australian landscape, while countless Australian animals found themselves in Europe as stuffed specimens or living curiosities in zoos and private collections. Into this picture stepped a remarkable band of enthusiastic amateurs who were determined to get to know the fauna of the new colony. Equal parts inspiring and outlandish, over the next 150 years they would advance scientific understanding and transform public attitudes to Australian wildlife. From the 'snake men' who fearlessly thrust their arms into hollow logs just to see what might happen, to the top-secret plan to smuggle a platypus to Winston Churchill at the height of World War II, these are their stories.

In this, the only up-to-date accessible and scientifically based book on Australia's principal icon, internationally known kangaroo researcher Terry Dawson gets to the heart of what makes these animals special. He shows how many features of their biology, such as their reproductive patterns, social structure and locomotor characteristics, confer great advantages in their adaptations to Australia's harsh climate and demanding environment. Besides covering widely the biology, ecology and behaviour of the ten different types of kangaroos, Professor Dawson compares European and Aboriginal cultural attitudes towards them. He explores such issues as hunting habits, conservation, kangaroos as agricultural pests, the economics of kangaroo ranching and the use of their products.

In Life of Marsupials, one of the world's leading experts explores the biology and evolution of this unusual group - with their extraordinary diversity of forms around the world - in Australia, New Guinea and South America. -back cover.

A two-volume collection of folktales that were published in Papua New Guinea's Wantok newspaper. The two-volume collection presents the complete set of 1047 folktales that were originally published from 1972 through 1997 in Tok Pisin.

No Aboriginal content.

The body of knowledge in most medical specialties is rapidly expanding, making it virtually impossible to follow all advances in clinical and basic sciences that are relevant to a given field. This is particularly true in pediatric endocrinology, at the cross-road of pediatrics, endocrinology, development and genetics. Providing abstracts of articles that report the year’s breakthrough developments in the basic sciences and evidence-based new knowledge in clinical research and clinical practice that are relevant to the field, the ‘Yearbook of Pediatric Endocrinology 2013’ keeps busy clinicians and scientists, pediatric endocrinologists, and also pediatricians and endocrinologists informed on new advances. Twelve Associate Editors and their co-authors selected from several thousand papers those that brought the most meaningful new information, summarized them and provided comments to put them into perspective. The papers are classified into those that identify new genes involved in diseases, new hormones, concepts revised or re-centered, important observations for clinical practice, large-scale clinical trials, new mechanisms, new paradigms, important review articles, new fears and new hopes. Because the Yearbook is endorsed by the European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology (ESPE), its publication is linked to the annual meeting of the ESPE. The ‘Yearbook of Pediatric Endocrinology 2013’ covers the medical and scientific literature from June 2012 through May 2013.

When journalists, developers, surf tourists, and conservation NGOs cast Papua New Guineans as living in a prior nature and prior culture, they devalue their knowledge and practice, facilitating their dispossession. Paige West's searing study reveals how a range of actors produce and reinforce inequalities in today's globalized world. She shows how racist rhetorics of representation underlie all uneven patterns of development and seeks a more robust understanding of the ideological work that capital requires for constant regeneration.