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Life at the extremes / Frances Ashcroft.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Ashcroft, Frances M.
- Language:
- English
- Subjects (All):
- Adaptation (Physiology).
- Extreme environments.
- Physical Description:
- xxi, 326 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm
- Place of Publication:
- Berkeley : University of California Press, [2000]
- Summary:
- Ashcroft, a professor of physiology at Oxford University, weaves stories of extraordinary feats of endurance with historical material and the latest scientific findings as she investigates the limits of human survival and the remarkable adaptations that enable people to withstand extreme conditions. 70 photos. 10 line drawings.
- Contents:
- Climbing Kilimanjaro 1
- 1. Life at the Top 5
- Early Accounts of Mountain Sickness
- The Ascent of Everest
- A Digression on Barometric Pressure
- The Perils of Sudden Depressurization
- Acute Mountain Sickness
- Into Thin Air
- Flying High
- Acclimatization
- Haemoglobin
- Lessons from High Altitude Studies
- High Life
- Taking The Plunge 43
- 2. Life under Pressure 47
- The Physics of Pressure
- The Earliest Divers
- Bubbles in the Blood
- Why Don't Sperm Whales Get the Bends?
- The Importance of a Slow Ascent
- Skin-diving and the Bends
- On Entering the Water
- Ama: the Fisherwomen of Japan
- Imploding and Exploding Organs
- Holding Your Breath
- Buoyancy
- Scuba-diving
- The Rapture of the Deep
- Too Much of a Good Thing
- Blackouts and Bravery
- How Far Can You Go?
- Living at Depth
- Underwater Challenges
- Long-term Dangers
- Into the Abyss
- The World's First Submarine
- Life Under Pressure
- Getting into Hot Water 99
- 3. Life in the Hot Zone 103
- Body Heat
- Feeling the Heat
- The Development of the Thermometer
- Firewalking and All That
- Creatures of Fire
- Hot Stuff
- Chilling Out
- Sweating it Out
- The Physics of Heat Transfer
- Keeping a Cool Head
- The Importance of Size and Shape
- Heatstroke
- Quivering Pigs and Shivering Humans
- Fever!
- Life without Water
- Salt of the Earth
- A Hot Cradle for Mankind
- Cold Water Blues 143
- 4. Life in the Cold 147
- Fighting Cold
- How Cold Can You Go? Coping with Cold
- Frozen to Death
- In Arctic Waters
- Losing the Balance
- Life After 'Death'
- On Chapped Hands and Cold Feet
- Frostbite
- Eskimos and Explorers
- The Benefits of Cold
- On Penguins and Polar Bears
- Life at the Poles
- 5. Life in the Fast Lane 185
- A Question of Energy
- Oxygen Demands
- You Are What You Eat
- Speed versus Stamina
- How Muscle Contracts
- Fast Forward
- Staying the Distance
- Running Down
- Working Out
- The Ultimate Limits
- Gender Issues
- Making a Splash
- Enhancing Performance
- The Olympic Ideal
- Animal Magic
- Size Matters
- Beyond the Limits
- Taking the Strain
- 6. The Final Frontier 229
- A Brief History of Space Flight
- Eyeballs in and Eyeballs Out
- The Human Yo-yo
- Taking Off
- Life Support
- Free Fall
- Weightlessness
- Sleep
- Infection
- Living in Microgravity
- Space Sickness
- Paying the Price
- Balance Points
- Cosmic Radiation
- Venturing into the Void
- Re-entry
- Coming Down to Earth
- Whither Next?
- 7. The Outer Limits 271
- The Tree of Life
- Some Like It Hot
- Acid Heads
- Helicobacter pylorii, the Bacterium that Causes Stomach Ulcers
- Basic Needs
- A Salty Tale
- Life in the Rocks
- Troglodytes
- Life Without Oxygen
- Cool Characters
- Life in the Freezer
- Suspended Animation
- Making Millions from Microbes
- Life Beyond Earth?.
- Notes:
- Includes bibliographical references (pages [315]-317) and index.
- Local Notes:
- Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1971 Memorial Book Fund.
- ISBN:
- 0520222342
- OCLC:
- 43657034
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