Metamorphosis Unmasking the Mystery of How Life Transforms

By: Frank Ryan

335 pages

Publisher: Oneworld Publications

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ISBN: 9781851689132 Paperback Apr 2012 In stock
£9.99
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About this book

In this enchanting work of scientific exploration, acclaimed science author Frank Ryan explains how metamorphosis - the intricate trick of nature by which caterpillars transform into butterflies - reveals secrets that are shaking the scientific world. Ryan brings to life the work of pioneering naturalists who have traced metamorphosis in myriad species, from amphibians to marine creatures, even human puberty, to rewrite some of our longest-held beliefs about evolution. Lyrical and provocative, The Mystery of Metamorphosis offers a new understanding of some of the most ancient miracles of the nature.

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Biography

A scientist and consultant physician, Frank Ryan is the author of the critically acclaimed Virolution, Darwin's Blind Spot, and Virus X, among others. He is currently an Honorary Research Fellow in Evolutionary Biology at the University of Sheffield and lectures frequently on evolution and the role of viruses in life.

By: Frank Ryan

335 pages

Publisher: Oneworld Publications

Media reviews

"A well-researched piece of popular science [...] Ryan successfully shows that a deeper knowledge of metamorphosis could have far-reaching consequences."
– The Big Issue

"A brilliant book [...] a superb story, some excellent scientific insights, and a fascinating theory. Recommended."
– Brian Clegg, PopularScience.co.uk

"Ryan makes the beauty of metamorphosis palpable, and lays down the work of those variant personalities – by turns taciturn and gregarious, methodical and intuitive – who've attempted to wrest from nature the secrets of this transformation [...] . He presents both an ethnography and a history, not only of science as it is believed and accepted to have happened after the fact, but also of science in medias res – science right now, before our eyes, forming."
– Lynn Margulis, University Professor of Geosciences at the University of Massachusetts

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