We all know about the birds and the bees, but what about the ancient placoderm fishes and the dinosaurs? The history of sex is as old as life itself-and as complicated and mysterious. And despite centuries of study there is always more to know. In 2008, paleontologist John A. Long and a team of researchers revealed their discovery of a placoderm fish fossil, known as "the mother fish," which at 380 million years old revealed the oldest vertebrate embryo-the earliest known example of internal fertilization. As Long explains, this find led to the reexamination of countless fish fossils and the discovery of previously undetected embryos. As a result, placoderms are now considered to be the first species to have had intimate sexual reproduction or sex as we know it-sort of. Inspired by this incredible find, Long began a quest to uncover the paleontological and evolutionary history of copulation and insemination. In Hung Like An Argentine Duck, he takes readers on an entertaining and lively tour through the sex lives of ancient fish and exposes the unusual mating habits of arthropods, tortoises, and even a well-endowed (16.5 inches!) Argentine Duck. Long discusses these significant discoveries alongside what we know about reproductive biology and evolutionary theory, using the fossil record to provide a provocative account of prehistoric sex. Hung Like An Argentine Duck also explores fascinating revelations about animal reproduction, from homosexual penguins to monogamous seahorses to the difficulties of dinosaur romance and how sexual organs in ancient shark-like fishes actually relate to our own sexual anatomy. Hung Like An Argentine Duck is Long's own story of what it's like to be a part of a discovery that rewrites evolutionary history as well as an absolutely rollicking guide to sex throughout the ages. "John Long is renowned as the discoverer of the earliest evidence for internal fertilisation. In a book encompassing 380 million years of sexual evolution, he lays the full significance of his discoveries in fascinating context." - tim Flannery "You are now holding a compromise between a book that you should carry hidden inside an opaque bag, and a sober respectable scientific treatise. It's a deliciously written account of the evolution of sex, in all of its bizarre manifestations. Read, blush, and enjoy!" - Jared Diamond, Professor of Geography at UCLA, Pulitzer-Prize-winning author of Guns, Germs, and Steel "I shall never feel the same about ducks again. Or fish. this is first class science told with brilliance and flair. Read and be astounded." - Robyn Williams 'John Long breaks new ground in our understanding of the origins of sex as it is written in the fossil record. Using well-preserved specimens he has worked on for more than two decades, he reconstructs a detailed 400 million year history in which survival of not only the best, but sexiest, continues to dominate all species, including humans' - Carmelo Amalfi, science writer.
The seasons of my life have passed by so quickly, and now as I reach the autumn of my life, I refl ect on what has been and what might have been. I have been lucky and am somewhat surprised that I have made it this far on my journey of life. Now I look back and remember, on these pages, those that I knew and those whose lives were never fulfi lled. I am only one of a quarter of a million people who were brought up in the child welfare system in the 1950s and 60s in Australia, and who are now referred to as the Forgotten Australians.
From his boyhood in Tipperary, Kildare, and Donegal to the pinnacle of biblical scholarship, John Dominic Crossan’s adventurous spirit has led him to seek out the truth no matter where it leads. In this delightful memoir, the former monk and controversial biblical scholar tells how his work as a pioneering historical Jesus expert has led him from the traditional Catholicism of his youth to a more complex, sophisticated faith. With characteristic wit and candor, he describes the joys and challenges of growing up in Ireland and reveals how his life experiences—from Ireland to America, Rome, and Israel, from monastery to university, from priesthood to marriage—have shaped his understanding of God, Jesus, the Church, and what it means to be a true Christian.
If my life and experience is of some interest, it is chiefly so because I have lived through interesting times, in an interesting country, traveled to many interesting places, and been accompanied along the way by interesting folk." John de Gruchy is a renowned South African theologian and an inspiration to many. An expert on the work of the anti-Nazi theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, De Gruchy is also a local struggle icon in his own right. In this book, we trace his story from his Viking ancestry, via a seafaring grandfather and illegitimate grandmother, to where he became an ecumenical activist for the South African Council of Churches and up to the present. We journey through a South Africa in transition and a rapidly changing global society. Along the way we meet varied, often controversial people, like Albert Luthuli, Jaap Durand, P.W. Botha and Constand Viljoen. With a foreword by his friend Desmond Tutu, this is the tale of an extraordinary life lived to the full.
John Mahon records interesting parts of his life and thinking in this collecting of more than 50 short essays about his career in the Navy, flying, investing, and growing up in Kansas.
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