Human Paleobiology explores the adaptability and variation in past and present human populations under a range of changing environmental conditions. Using a historical approach emphasising phenotypic features instead of complex taxonomy, it will be a stimulating and challenging read for all those interested in human paleobiology, evolutionary biology and anthropology.

When scientists found the remains of a tiny hominid on an Indonesian in 2004, they claimed they found a totally new species of human ancestor (homo floresiensis), and called it a Hobbit. Film crews rolled in and the little creature took the world by storm, but a group of prominent scientists, including Maciej Henneberg and Robert Eckhardt, smelled a rat. They refuted the data—the size and shape of bones, the inferences about height—and they raised fundamental questions about scientific method, revealing cultural and political pressures that lead to the wide acceptance of unsupported theories. The Hobbit Trap describes how the case against the “new species” theory developed and offers an important critique of the species concept in evolution. In this thoroughly updated second edition, the authors include new data and analysis of the Flores fossils, and expand their important analysis of scientific practice, calling for a new movement to reverse the decline in scientific standards and the rise in scientific politics. This lively and important challenge to conventional wisdom is accessible to the general reader and makes a stimulating addition to courses on the history and philosophy of science, evolution and physical anthropology.

This treatise had its origins in the authors' strong opinion that the discovery of new drugs, especially of innovative therapeutic agents, really does not happen as a spontaneous sequel to investiga tive research, no matter how penetrating such research may be. Rather, it seemed to us that the discovery of innovative therapeutic agents was a very active process, existing in and of itself, and demanding full attention-it was not simply a passive, dependent by-process of investigative research. And yet, many researchers some close confreres of the authors, others more distant-believed otherwise. We felt that their view reflected unrealistic thinking and that reality probably lay closer to what Beyer" maintained: We are taught to believe that if we can understand a disease it should be easy enough to figure out, say, the molecular configuration of a definitive receptor mechanism somewhere along the line and to design a specific drug . . . . And so we start out to understand the disease but never get around to doing much about therapy. The authors very soon realized that there was essentially no quantitive information available on just where and how innovative therapeutic agents were discovered. There were only anecdotal accounts, and these were able to be selected and presented in ways that could be used to defend any point of view.

The endurance athlete faces a paradox—you’re going farther and faster, you’re feeling stronger, but your bones are getting weaker. New, compelling evidence shows that the very activities that expand our mental and physical abilities may be reducing the durability of our skeletons. In this book, Thomas Whipple, a leading orthopaedic clinical specialist, and Robert Eckhardt, a scientist specializing in the musculoskeletal system, team up to explain how athletes at any level can maintain the delicate balance between endurance exercise and optimum bone health over a lifetime. Translating important scientific advances into accessible language, they explain the muscle-bone connection, and cover training strategies and exercises, nutrition, calcium, stress fractures, rehabilitation, running mechanics, footwear, posture, and pharmaceuticals. An essential guide and ideal text for exercise physiologists, endurance athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and coaches.

In der letzten Auflage des Handbuchs der inneren Medizin aus dem Jahre 1953 wurden im Rahmen der Abhandlung der Verdauungskrankheiten dem Dünn- und Dickdarm von NORBERT HENNING und W. BAUMANN insgesamt 270 Seiten gewidmet. Nach 30 Jahren haben unsere Kenntnisse über Funktion, Pathophysiologie, Ätiologie, Pathogenese, Diagnostik und Therapie von Er krankungen des Dünndarmes so erheblich zugenommen, daß den Erkrankungen des Dünndarmes ein eigener Doppelband gewidmet werden mußte. Der Dünndarm hat eine zentrale Stellung nicht nur in der Assimilation von Nahrungsstoffen, sondern spielt auch eine wichtige Rolle als Immunorgan, ist inzwischen zu einem der größten hormonproduzierenden Organ geworden, Sekretionsmechanismen sind von eminenter Bedeutung bei Diarrhöen, der Dünndarm spielt eine wichtige Rolle im Lipidstoffwechsel. Die Gliederung und Zusammenstellung des Bandes basiert auf zwei Prinzi pien, die vom Herausgeber als wesentlich erachtet werden: 1. Die Qualität der praktischen Medizin ist abhängig vom Verständnis medi zinisch-wissenschaftlicher Grundlagen, denn Fortschritte in der klinischen Medi zin basieren fast immer auf wissenschaftlicher Grundlage. 2. Krankheiten oder Störungen physiologischer Zustände sollten kritisch betrachtet werden, bevor über sie einer professionellen Leser- oder Zuhö rerschaft berichtet wird. Langerwiesene Konzepte der Pathogenese und Therapie müssen immer wie der neu und kritisch auf ihre Gültigkeit geprüft werden. Besonderer Wert wurde deshalb vom Herausgeber auf die profunde Erarbei tung pathophysiologischer Grundlagen gelegt, die Voraussetzung sind für eine rationale Diagnostik und Therapie.

Human Paleobiology explores the adaptability and variation in past and present human populations under a range of changing environmental conditions. Using a historical approach emphasizing phenotypic features instead of complex taxonomy, it will be a stimulating and challenging read for all those interested in human paleobiology, evolutionary biology and anthropology.