Science: Biology Books

AND THE WATERS TURNED TO BLOOD (With Update)
by Rodney Barker. Condition: UNREAD 1998 Touchstone Trade Paperback, reprint. Includes "an update on the 'Cell From Hell'." Very light & small diagonal crease bottom front cover corner tip. Interior perfect. Content: Want a real horror to keep you up at night? Well, this is the book for you. "Don't drink the water. Don't swim in it, fish in it, or even bathe in it. Rodney Barker's book details the latest plague to visit our shores: Pfiesteria piscicida, the "cell from hell," an aquatic microorganism that causes sufferers to exhibit symptoms similar to Alzheimers or multiple sclerosis. As it follows the fortunes of Dr. JoAnn Burkholder, one of the first scientists to recognize the danger of Pfiesteria, Barker's book reads like a cross between science fiction and conspiracy theory: Dr. Burkholder discovers that excessive pollution in the rivers and coastal waters of the Southeastern United States causes a deadly microorganism to breed like crazy; state and federal government attempts to suppress the report. An investigative reporter by training, Mr. Barker presents this book like a thriller, revealing pieces of the puzzle judiciously as he builds tension. Unlike in a literary thriller, however, there is no tidy ending to this story. Readers will be left with the disturbing knowledge that fish are still dying, fishermen are still getting sick, and the potential for disaster in this latest scourge is still unmeasured." [1 copy available]
$ 7.49 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

THE BUG BOOK: Harmless Insect Controls
by Helen and John Philbrick. B&W illustrations by Cathy Baker. Condition: Gently pre-rad, if at all, 1991 Storey Communications Trade Paperback, 21st printing. Interior clean & tight, but there is a name on the top Title Page. Content: This book, first published in 1971, is already a classic among dedicated gardeners. It tells and shows how to identify both the helpful and the destructive insects that inhabit your gardens. Learn how to take advantage of the "good" bugs and how to eliminate the bad ones safely. [1 copy available]
$ 4.49 + $ 3.09 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

THE HOT ZONE: A Terrifying True Story
by Richard Preston. Condition: Good only 1995 Anchor Books paperback, 5th printing. Spine & hinge crease with edgewear. Interior clean & tight with tanning to interior page edges. Content: The dramatic and chilling story of an Ebola virus outbreak in a surburban Washington, D.C. laboratory, with descriptions of frightening historical epidemics of rare and lethal viruses. More hair-raising than anything Hollywood could think of, because it's all true. [1 copy available]
$ 1.25 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

THE HOT ZONE: A Terrifying True Story
by Richard Preston. B&W photos. Condition: Gently pre-read, IF at all, 1995 Random House hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), 5th priting. Content: Far more infectious than AIDS, filoviruses (thread viruses) are relentless killer machines that consume a human body in days, causing a gruesome death. Symptoms include liquefying flesh, spurts of blood, black vomit and brain sludge. Outbreaks of the Ebola filovirus devasted Sudan and Zaire in 1976. And in 1989 Philippine monkeys in a Reston, Va., research lab, found to be infected with Ebola, were the target of a U.S. Army-led biohazard task force that decontaminated the lab, exterminating hundreds of monkeys to prevent the possible airborne spread of the disease to humans. In a horrifying and riveting report, portions of which appeared in the New Yorker , Preston exposes a real-life nightmare potentially as lethal as the fictive runaway germs in Michael Crichton's The Andromeda Strain. Preston plausibly argues that the emergence of AIDS, Ebola and other highly adaptable rain-forest viruses is a consequence of ecological ruin of the tropics. Questions welcome. [3 copies available]
$ 2.49 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK OF INSECTS (Revised & Expanded Edition)
edited by Nicholas Wade. B&W insect "portraits." Condition: NEW 2003 Lyons Press large soft cover, revised & expanded edition, first printing. Content: "I am delighted with this collection. The writing is crystal-clear and entertaining, the detail accurate, and the selection of topics wide enough to compose a virtual entomological textbook. Read it, and an insect will never be a bug to you again." - Edward Wilson. [2 copies available]
$ 3.49 + $ 3.39 media shipping.

PHANTASTICA: A Classic Survey on the Use and Abuse of Mind-Altering Plants
by Louis Lewin, M.D. B&W charts. Condition: NEW 1998 Park Street Press Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: "Phantastica has weathered the test of time quite well, and it continues to bear testimony to the scientific dedication and keen wisdom of one of the world's great psychopharmacologists. [An] open-minded, scientific approach to the study of psychoactives." "This book gives the reader a worldwide tour of inebriation, addiction, and devotional ecstasy along with his insightful perspective of human nature." Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 8.89 + $ 3.19 media shipping. International shipping available - please use the drop-down menu.

SCIENCE ON TRIAL: The Case for Evolution
by Douglas J. Futuyma. B&W charts, drawings, & photos illustrate. Condition: UNREAD 1983 Pantheon Trade Paperback, 4th printing. Light foxing to edges. Content: The author strikes a telling blow for biology in the ongoing war of words with the 'creationists'. He provides a convincing explanation of the evolutionary process and at the same time an insight into the nature of scientific inquiry. "...can be read for pleasure and profit by people at all levels of biological sophistication ...a first-class book." The Quarterly Review of Biology [1 copy available]
$ 10.79 + $ 3.19 media shipping.