Killers in the Brain: Essays in Science and Technology from the Royal InstitutionPeter Day, Royal Institution of Great Britain Oxford University Press, 1999 - 172 pages Killers in the Brain presents a selection of wide-ranging essays from the Royal Institution, offering fascinating and authoritative accounts of current thinking in many areas of science and technology. The subjects are as wide-ranging as ever, from Simon Conway Morris (author of thebest-selling Crucible of creation) discussing the fossils of the Burgess Shale, and whether there can ever really be a chance of finding other life in the Universe, to Robert Matthews' highly entertaining scientific analysis of Murphy's Law. Also in this volume are essays on neurodegenerativediseases or 'brain killers', such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, a scientific exploration of the human singing voice, and Russell Stannard writing on the Big Bang, and whether, given our current knowledge of this event, a place can ever be found within such a theory for a Creator. Thebook finishes with a look at the worrying increase in asthma and allergies world-wide, and an account of the phenomenon called El Nino, an event which has a significant effect on the weather conditions throughout the world and causes death and destruction in many countries. |
From inside the book
Results 11-15 of 26
Page 54
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 57
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 63
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 65
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Page 72
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Sorry, this page's content is restricted.
Contents
List of contributors xi | 1 |
understanding degenerative diseases | 63 |
God time and cosmology 95 | 95 |
The human singing voice | 113 |
Asthma and allergydisorders of civilization | 135 |
El Niño and its significance | 157 |
Common terms and phrases
acoustic allergens allergic diseases allergic response Alzheimer's disease animals annelids antibody areas aria asthma Big Bang bodyplans brachiopods brain Burgess Shale Cambrian explosion carbon cause Chengjiang climate Conway Morris cytokines damage Earth Ediacaran effect energy eosinophils evolution evolutionary example factors Faraday Faraday's faunas forecast formants fossil record frequency galaxies genes genetic gravity halkieriids head injury house dust mite human IFN-y increase infections interleukin-1 knots known larynx levels lungs lymphocytes magnetic manifestation of Murphy's mast cell mechanisms metazoans million molecular molecules Murphy's law nature neurones Niño odd socks organisms origin oxygen phyla phylum pitch range planets Precambrian probability produce protein quantum queues rain receptor result Royal Institution sclerites singers singing Sirius Passet soprano sound modifiers sound source species stars stroke stromatolites Symbion tion tissue toast Universe vocal folds vocal instrument vocal tract voice vowels Wiwaxia