Promotions - Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles 2020 -

In this work, Almeling extends her exploration of the gendered understandings of reproduction, continuing a decade of contributions that began with her 2008 dissertation on the medical market in genetic material. While gynecology has long been an established field, its corollary, andrology, failed to develop after a first attempt and remains a niche area of medicine today, despite research showing that men's behaviors and exposures impact the health of their sperm, and in turn the health of the babies they father. In addition to addressing a long-neglected topic, Almeling's study is rich in its attention to non-knowledge. Just as social movement scholars have begun to note the absence of movements as well as those that occur, as in Auyero and Swistun's Flammable (CH, Sep'09, 47-0580), sociologists should also attend to the absence of knowledge surrounding gender issues. Guynecology is methodologically rich, including analysis of historical documents, investigating how scientific knowledge is (or is not) disseminated and engaged by the media, and presenting Almeling's qualitative interviews about subjects' impressions of men's reproductive health. Together with her previous work (Sex Cells, CH, Apr'12, 49-4520) on the gendered rhetoric used in the reproductive industry, Guynecology offers the sociologist a robust understanding of the gendered cultural discourses that inform people's approaches to reproductive health.Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers.

Bats are probably the most misunderstood mammals, especially around Halloween. They are also arguably the most exceptional of mammals because they are able to fly and use echolocation. Furthermore, they are incredibly diverse. Chiroptera is the second most speciose mammalian order after Rodentia, comprising about one quarter of all living mammalian species, and bats live on every continent except Antarctica. Wilson (Smithsonian Institution) and Mittermeier (Global Wildlife Conservation) have produced yet another spectacularly illustrated book, the ninth and last volume in this series, which began in 2009 with the volume on Carnivora (CH, Apr'10, 47-4168). For this volume, 52 authors reviewed 21 families, 230 genera, and 1,401 species. The book begins with Wilson's introduction. The subsequent chapters include family and species accounts, with sections on systematics, morphology, habitat, habits, communication, feeding, breeding, home range, social organization, relationship with humans, and conservation. Species accounts also include sections on distribution, description, and activity patterns. The book includes fantastic color photos and drawings as well as range maps. Unfortunately, the volume is so long that the references could not be included in the book, so they are provided instead on an accompanying CD-ROM.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty and professionals

About 48,000 species of spiders (order: Araneae) belonging to about 115 families and 4,000 genera have been identified so far. Ubiquitous in terrestrial habitats on all continents except Antarctica, spiders are important carnivores, especially of insects, a characteristic that helps maintain the balance of nature, often forestalling incipient epidemics. Despite spiders' crucial role in natural and managed systems, scientific investigation of the group has been limited. This is likely due to failure to link new knowledge with actions that would improve access to human-valued resources (food, fiber, and medical products). This taxonomically arranged text by Platnik (emer., American Museum of Natural History, recently deceased) emphasizes the distribution, habitat, and distinguishing characteristics of spiders and discusses the morphology, evolution, biology, and behavior of select taxa. Excellent color photographic illustrations of individuals occur throughout, and scanning electron microscope imagery and informative line drawings depict differentiating features of higher taxa. Photographic clarity of even tiny adults (less than 1mm) reveals a level of ecological interest that has not been vigorously explored. The scientific rigor used to convey morphological distinctions among spiders and the taxonomic arrangement of the materials renders this an excellent introductory text for upper-level biology majors to bolster their knowledge of this order. A useful glossary is provided.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students and professionals. Students enrolled in two-year technical programs. General readers.

Biological anthropologists and anatomists have long been interested in the form of the human pelvis (hip bones) because it was uniquely shaped during human evolutionary history by specialized bipedal locomotion, the requirement that large-headed infants pass through the female birth canal, and global variation in body proportions in response to thermoregulatory demands. This volume presents a comprehensive review of the anatomy, functional morphology, evolution, growth and development, and variation of the human pelvis. The individual chapters and extensive up-to-date bibliography provide an excellent resource and reference for students interested in forensic anthropology, human evolution, and comparative anatomy. The contents may be familiar to seasoned experts in human skeleton biology, but it is always welcome to have a synthesis of the latest research on this topic in a single volume.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. Graduate students, faculty, and professionals.

Books on parasitology are not for the squeamish, and this book is no exception. Stock (MacEwan Univ., Edmonton) provides a fascinating glimpse into birds, their parasites, their mutual impact on one another, and the role of environmental characteristics on the relationship. Chapters cover primary types of avian parasites: lice, fleas, ticks, mites, flies, worms, and "oddities," such as moths, leeches, and bedbugs. What makes this book rich is the author's use of his examples illustrating types of birds and their parasites to explore larger issues such as coevolution, the role of ecology in the bird-parasite relationship, how birds as hosts have an influence on parasite morphology and behavior, the impact parasites have on bird behavior and reproductive fitness, and birds' use of antiparasitic chemicals obtained from plants or ants. The final chapter addresses the role and impact that environmental changes--both naturally occurring and anthropogenic--have on bird-parasite relationships. Illustrations, references, a list for further reading, and an index add to the impact. Libraries supporting programs in parasitology, ornithology, evolution, and ecology especially must acquire this, and libraries with strong general biology collections should as well.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates. General readers.

McDonald (McMaster Univ., Ontario) and Vandersommers (Ball State Univ.) provide a provocative collection of contributed essays that connect the zoo as place and institution to historical events and social meaning. Organized chronologically, the volume begins with essays looking at historical situations and institutions: menageries, mental hospitals, and scientific experimentation. Next are discussions of representation and valuing of animals based on cuteness (anthropomorphism) or political symbolism. Lastly, the very structures of zoos--the ways we hold animals as captives in confinement--are questioned and challenged in forward-looking chapters speculating on the future of human-animal relationships. In addition to historical and current case studies, some chapters explore a novel concept of "animal biography" by focusing on the agency and perspectives of the captive animals themselves. This text is flexible in application: it can provide a series of introductory case studies or can engage advanced philosophical, historical, or sociological concepts in an upper-division or graduate curriculum. A great supplementary text whether for a class or research project, the book would be a central asset in courses on animal rights or ethics; animals in history; institutions and animals; international conventions on animals; multispecies ethnography; or philosophical approaches to animals.Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty.