Kooperativer Bibliotheksverbund

UID:

Format: 1 online resource

Edition: revised edition

ISBN: 9781501705861

Content: Thinking whimsically makes serious science accessible. That's a message that should be taken to heart by all readers who want to learn about evolution. Do Elephants Have Knees? invites readers into serious appreciation of Darwinian histories by deploying the playful thinking found in children’s books. Charles R. Ault Jr. weds children’s literature to recent research in paleontology and evolutionary biology. Inquiring into the origin of origins stories, Ault presents three portraits of Charles Darwin—curious child, twentysomething adventurer, and elderly worm scientist. Essays focusing on the origins of tetrapods, elephants, whales, and birds explain fundamental Darwinian concepts (natural selection, for example) with examples of fossil history and comparative anatomy.The imagery of the children’s story offers a way to remember and recreate scientific discoveries. By juxtaposing Darwin’s science with tales for children, Do Elephants Have Knees? underscores the importance of whimsical storytelling to the accomplishment of serious thinking. Charles Darwin mused about duck beaks and swimming bears as he imagined a pathway for the origin of baleen. A "bearduck" chimera may be a stretch, but the science linking not just cows but also whales to moose through shared ancestry has great merit. Teaching about shared ancestry may begin with attention to Bernard Wiseman’s Morris the Moose. Morris believes that cows and deer are fine examples of moose because they all have four legs and things on their heads. No whale antlers are known, but fossils of four-legged whales are. By calling attention to surprising and serendipitous echoes between children’s stories and challenging science, Ault demonstrates how playful thinking opens the doors to an understanding of evolutionary thought.

Note: Frontmatter -- , Contents -- , Acknowledgments -- , Introduction. Wonderful Relationships -- , 1. “Curtiosity’s” Child -- , 2. Darwin and the Pampas Pirates -- , 3. Fossils, Folly & Faults -- , 4. Irritating Worms -- , 5. A Lungfish Walked into the Zoo -- , 6. Out on a Limb -- , 7. Nosey Elephants -- , 8. The Bearduck of Baleen -- , 9. The Saga of Mooshmael -- , 10. The Higgledy-Piggledy Whale -- , 11. Archaic Chickengators -- , 12. Coral Pigs and Tide Pool Sheep -- , Epilogue. Femurs and Footprints -- , Notes -- , Index , In English.

Language: English

DOI: 10.7591/9781501705861

URL: https://doi.org/10.7591/9781501705861

UID:

Format: 1 online resource : , illustrations (black and white)

ISBN: 9781501705861 (ebook) :

Content: Thinking whimsically makes serious science accessible. That's a message that should be taken to heart by all readers who want to learn about evolution. This work invites readers into serious appreciation of Darwinian histories by deploying the playful thinking found in children's books. The text weds children's literature to recent research in paleontology and evolutionary biology. Inquiring into the origins of origins stories, the author presents three portraits of Charles Darwin - curious child, twentysomething adventurer, and elderly worm scientist.

Note: Previously issued in print: 2016.

Additional Edition: Print version : ISBN 9781501704673

Language: English

URL: Cornell scholarship online

UID:

Format: 1 online resource (239 pages)

ISBN: 9781501705861 (e-book)

Note: Includes index.

Additional Edition: Print version: Ault, Charles R. Jr., 1950- Do elephants have knees? : and other stories of Dawinian origins. Ithaca, New York : Cornell University, c2016 ISBN 9781501704673

Language: English

Keywords: Electronic books.

URL: Click to View

UID:

Format: 1 online resource : , illustrations (black and white)

Edition: revised edition

ISBN: 1-5017-0641-1 , 1-5017-0586-5

Content: Thinking whimsically makes serious science accessible. That's a message that should be taken to heart by all readers who want to learn about evolution. Do Elephants Have Knees? invites readers into serious appreciation of Darwinian histories by deploying the playful thinking found in children's books. Charles R. Ault Jr. weds children's literature to recent research in paleontology and evolutionary biology. Inquiring into the origin of origins stories, Ault presents three portraits of Charles Darwin-curious child, twentysomething adventurer, and elderly worm scientist. Essays focusing on the origins of tetrapods, elephants, whales, and birds explain fundamental Darwinian concepts (natural selection, for example) with examples of fossil history and comparative anatomy.The imagery of the children's story offers a way to remember and recreate scientific discoveries. By juxtaposing Darwin's science with tales for children, Do Elephants Have Knees? underscores the importance of whimsical storytelling to the accomplishment of serious thinking. Charles Darwin mused about duck beaks and swimming bears as he imagined a pathway for the origin of baleen. A "bearduck" chimera may be a stretch, but the science linking not just cows but also whales to moose through shared ancestry has great merit. Teaching about shared ancestry may begin with attention to Bernard Wiseman's Morris the Moose. Morris believes that cows and deer are fine examples of moose because they all have four legs and things on their heads. No whale antlers are known, but fossils of four-legged whales are. By calling attention to surprising and serendipitous echoes between children's stories and challenging science, Ault demonstrates how playful thinking opens the doors to an understanding of evolutionary thought.

Note: Includes index. , Frontmatter -- , Contents -- , Acknowledgments -- , Introduction. Wonderful Relationships -- , 1. "Curtiosity's" Child -- , 2. Darwin and the Pampas Pirates -- , 3. Fossils, Folly & Faults -- , 4. Irritating Worms -- , 5. A Lungfish Walked into the Zoo -- , 6. Out on a Limb -- , 7. Nosey Elephants -- , 8. The Bearduck of Baleen -- , 9. The Saga of Mooshmael -- , 10. The Higgledy-Piggledy Whale -- , 11. Archaic Chickengators -- , 12. Coral Pigs and Tide Pool Sheep -- , Epilogue. Femurs and Footprints -- , Notes -- , Index , Issued also in print. , In English.

Additional Edition: ISBN 1-5017-0269-6

Additional Edition: ISBN 1-5017-0467-2

Language: English

DOI: 10.7591/9781501705861