To see accurate pricing, please choose your delivery country.
 
 
United States
£ GBP
All Shops

British Wildlife

8 issues per year 84 pages per issue Subscription only

British Wildlife is the leading natural history magazine in the UK, providing essential reading for both enthusiast and professional naturalists and wildlife conservationists. Published eight times a year, British Wildlife bridges the gap between popular writing and scientific literature through a combination of long-form articles, regular columns and reports, book reviews and letters.

Subscriptions from £33 per year

Conservation Land Management

4 issues per year 44 pages per issue Subscription only

Conservation Land Management (CLM) is a quarterly magazine that is widely regarded as essential reading for all who are involved in land management for nature conservation, across the British Isles. CLM includes long-form articles, events listings, publication reviews, new product information and updates, reports of conferences and letters.

Subscriptions from £26 per year
Academic & Professional Books  Organismal to Molecular Biology  Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

Bioluminescence Living Lights, Lights for Living

By: Thérèse Wilson(Author), J Woodland Hastings(Author)
185 pages, colour & b/w photos, colour & b/w illustrations
Bioluminescence
Click to have a closer look
  • Bioluminescence ISBN: 9780674067165 Hardback Mar 2013 Not in stock: Usually dispatched within 6 days
    £68.95
    #199463
Price: £68.95
About this book Customer reviews Biography Related titles
Images Additional images
BioluminescenceBioluminescenceBioluminescenceBioluminescenceBioluminescenceBioluminescenceBioluminescence

About this book

Bioluminescence is everywhere on earth – most of all in the ocean, from angler fish in the depths to the flashing of dinoflagellates at the surface. In Bioluminescence: Living Lights, Lights for Living, Thérèse Wilson and Woody Hastings explore the natural history, evolution, and biochemistry of the diverse array of organisms that emit light.

While some bacteria, mushrooms, and invertebrates, as well as fish, are bioluminescent, other vertebrates and plants are not. The sporadic distribution and paucity of luminous forms calls for explanation, as does the fact that unrelated groups evolved completely different biochemical pathways to luminescence. The authors explore the hypothesis that many different luciferase systems arose in the early evolution of life because of their ability to remove oxygen, which was toxic to life when it first appeared on earth. As oxygen became abundant and bioluminescence was no longer adequate for oxygen removal, other antioxidant mechanisms evolved and most luminous species became extinct. Those light-emitting species that avoided extinction evolved uses with survival value for the light itself. Today’s luminous organisms use bioluminescence for defense from predators, for their own predatory purposes, or for communication in sexual courtship.

Bioluminescence was earlier viewed as a fascinating feature of the living world, but one whose study seemed unlikely to contribute in any practical way. Today, bioluminescence is no longer an esoteric area of research. Applications are numerous, ranging from the rapid detection of microbial contamination in beef and water, to finding the location of cancer cells, to working out circuitry in the brain.

Customer Reviews

Biography

Thérèse Wilson is Senior Research Associate Emerita in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University. J. Woodland Hastings is Paul C. Mangelsdorf Research Professor of Natural Sciences in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology at Harvard University.

By: Thérèse Wilson(Author), J Woodland Hastings(Author)
185 pages, colour & b/w photos, colour & b/w illustrations
Current promotions
New and Forthcoming BooksNHBS Moth TrapBritish Wildlife MagazineBuyers Guides