The earth's daily rotation affects just about every living creature. From dawn through to dusk, there are changes in light, temperature, humidity, and rainfall. However, these changes are regular, rhythmic and, therefore, predictable. Thus, the near 24 hour circadian rhythm is innate: a genetically programmed clock that essentially ticks of its own accord. This Very Short Introduction explains how organisms can "know" the time and reveals what we now understand of the nature and operation of chronobiological processes. Covering variables such as light, the metabolism, human health, and the seasons, Foster and Kreitzman illustrate how jet lag and shift work can impact on human well-being, and consider circadian rhythms alongside a wide range of disorders, from schizophrenia to obesity. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Circadian Rhythms: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions)

Science & Math

Foster, Russell

Kreitzman, Leon

Biological Sciences

Oxford University Press

Rhythms of Life: The Biological Clocks that Control the Daily Lives of Every Living Thing

Yale University Press

An eye-opening discussion of how biological clocks affect the lives of all living organisms Why can’t teenagers get out of bed in the morning? How do bees tell the time? Why do some plants open and close their flowers at the same time each day? Why do so many people suffer the misery of jet lag? In this fascinating book, Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman explain the significance of the biological clock, showing how it has played an essential role in evolution and why it continues to play a vitally important role in all living organisms.
 The authors tell us that biological clocks are embedded in our genes and reset at sunrise and sunset each day to link astronomical time with an organism’s internal time. They discuss how scientists are working out the clockwork mechanisms and what governs them, and they describe how organisms measure different intervals of time, how they are adapted to various cycles, and how light coordinates the time within to the external world. They review problems that can be caused by malfunctioning biological clocks—including jet lag, seasonal affective disorder, and depression. And they warn that although new drugs are being promoted to allow us to stay awake for longer periods, a 24/7 lifestyle can have a harmful impact on our health, both as individuals and as a society.

How do plants and animals “know” that the seasons will change? How do seasonal changes affect humans? What happens when the timing of seasonal events is altered? Just as daily events are timed by living creatures through circadian rhythms, so seasonal events are timed through an internal calendar that signals birds to return to nesting grounds, salmon to spawn, plants to flower, squirrels to hibernate, kelp to stop growing.
In this fascinating book, Russell G. Foster and Leon Kreitzman draw on remarkable recent scientific advances to explain how seasonal change affects organisms, and how plants and animals over countless generations have evolved exquisite sensitivities and adaptations to the seasons. The authors also highlight the impact of seasonal change on human health and well-being. They conclude with a discussion of the dangers posed when climate changes disrupt the seasonal rhythms on which so much life depends.
Surprising facts from Seasons of Life: –The timing of human birth has a small but significant effect on various later life attributes, such as handedness and the susceptibility to many illnesses, including multiple sclerosis and schizophrenia. –Plants have the ability to measure the length of a period of light, and they germinate, flower, and successfully reproduce by using this information. –Birds migrate not in response to weather changes but by using an internal calendar. –Until recently, human birth was tightly coupled to the seasons, peaking in many societies in the spring. –Just as internal 24-hour circadian clocks predict daily change, many animals have a circannual clock in their brains that predicts the seasons.

Seasons of Life: The Biological Rhythms That Enable Living Things to Thrive and Survive

Life Time: Your Body Clock and Its Essential Roles in Good Health and Sleep

A guide to using the science of the body clock to promote better sleep, better health, and better thinking\n“Full of surprising and useful facts. . . . Unlike many science books with similar subtitles, it really might ‘revolutionise’ your life.”—James McConnachie, The Times (London)\n“A comprehensive manifesto for living in harmony with our body clocks, penned by someone who has devoted his career to studying them.”—Financial Times\nBiological clocks are embedded in every aspect of human biology, guiding us toward the prime times of day to sleep, eat, think, and work. Award-winning scientist Russell Foster brings decades of study to this journey through the circadian rhythms that dominate our days and nights. He shows how the realities of 24/7 life—including night-shift work, overbooked calendars, and caring for newborns—disrupt the body clock, taking a toll on sleep and on mental and physical health.\nBy dismantling long-standing myths and citing cutting-edge science, Foster empowers readers to get back into rhythm and live healthier, sharper lives: scheduling meals to prevent obesity and diabetes; timing medications to increase their effectiveness; getting better sleep through exposure to natural light; and much more. “If you want to embrace life,” Foster writes, “then embracing biological time will help you do this.”

Politics UK

Product Description 
This revised and updated tenth edition of the bestselling textbook Politics UK is an indispensable introduction to British politics. It provides a thorough and accessible overview of the institutions and processes of British government, an excellent grounding in British political history and an incisive introduction to the issues and challenges facing Britain today. 
This edition welcomes three brand new chapters - ‘Elites in the United Kingdom’, 'Gender and British politics' and 'UK Immigration policy in hostile environment' - alongside rigorously updated revised chapters. It delivers excellent coverage of contemporary events, with significant new material covering: the Johnson premiership and the national challenge of Covid-19, the end of the May premiership and the implementation of Brexit, the Labour Party’s transition from Corbyn to Starmer, infrastructure and innovation, 'fake news', populism and nationalism, the UK’s place in a post-Brexit world, climate change, social mobility and elite recruitment, devolution and regionalism, constitutional strain, the role of political advisers, abuse and incivility in politics and much more. 
Other features of the new edition include:\nA wide range of illustrative material, boxes and case studies providing illuminating examples alongside the analysis.\nA comprehensive ‘who’s who’ of politics in the form of Profile boxes featuring key political figures.\nAnd another thing . . . pieces containing short articles on salient and pressing topics, written by distinguished commentators including Sir John Curtice, Sir Simon Jenkins, Andrew Rawnsley, Baroness Julie Smith of Newnham, and Philip Collins.\nOnline interviews on the book’s website see notable figures from British political life discussing the pressing issues of today.\nWith chapters written by highly respected scholars in the field and contemporary articles on real-world politics from well-known political commentators, this textbook is an essential guide for all students of British politics. 
 Review 
"A truly comprehensive and authoritative guide on British politics written by some of the most astute commentators and political scientists on the subject. Up to date, well written, great for students starting out and useful for old hands wanting to check their facts."\nKeith Dowding, Australian National University, Australia 
"Politics UK provides a solid foundation on the key concepts and themes of British politics for undergraduate students at an American university. My students often begin their course with a cursory knowledge of British politics and thus I need a textbook that immerses them without overwhelming them― and Politics UK delivers exactly that. The material within each chapter of this edited volume provides the most substantial overview of British politics available while remaining accessible to students new to the subject. Of particular note are the inclusion of numerous charts, tables, figures and photographs that let my students 'see' British politics. In terms of comprehensive coverage, appropriate level of writing, helpful supplemental material and timely coverage of contemporary events, there is no better textbook on the market."\nNeal Glen Jesse, Bowling Green State University, USA\n"Politics UK provides a thorough introduction to the main topics in political science and guides the reader through these topics in a way that is critical, clear and approachable."\nNora Siklodi, University of Portsmouth, UK 
"It’s great to see the new edition of Politics UK. It is an excellent textbook and a super entry point to understanding more about British Politics. I love the way that the ‘and another thing’ sections bring stories that make the more academic material come alive. The updates are well addressed and it’s great to see the new material in the Representative process, updating the textbook with regards to contemporary concerns."\nJoanie Willet, University of Exeter, U

Politics & Social Sciences

WILLIAMS, BEN

Dodds, Anneliese

Smith, Julie

Collins, Philip

GRANT, Wyn

Daddow, Oliver

Deacon, Russell

Denver, David

Galpin, Charlotte

Game, Chris

Hickson, Kevin

Jones, Hannah

Rye, Danny

Curtice, John

Rawnsley, Andrew

CLARKE, Michael

Jenkins, Simon

Politics & Government

Routledge

A precise, practical handbook, Clinical Laboratory Investigation and Psychiatry is an invaluable tool that explores day-to-day psychiatric practices and various situations that arise in the field of mental health. This unique and resourceful textbook is a must-have aid for front-line clinicians, psychiatrists, and other professionals working in the field of adult mental health.  This complete guide to clinical psychiatry:   examines methods for improving patient care and clinical outcomes extensively investigates which blood samples and tests to consider when dealing with mental health patients illustrates the possible clinical outcomes and interprets them in an easy-to-access format deals with the complexities of patients under difficult circumstances guides clinicians through the proper use of the clinical laboratory

Clinical Laboratory Investigation and Psychiatry: A Practical Handbook

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Mental Health

CRC-Press

Mapping European Empire: Tabulae imperii Europaei (Critical European Studies)

Empire and maps are mutually reliant phenomena and traceable to the dawn of civilisation. Furthermore, maps retain a supremely authoritative status as unquestioned reflections of reality. In today’s image-saturated world, their influence is more powerful now than at any other time in history. This book argues that in the 21st century we are seeing an imperial renaissance in the European Union (EU), a political organisation which defies categorisation, but whose power and influence grows by the year. It examines the past, present, and future of the EU to demonstrate that empire is not a category of state but rather a collective imagination which reshapes history and appropriates an artificial past to validate the policies of the present and the ambitions of the future. In doing so, this book illuminates the imperial discourse that permeates the mass maps of the modern EU. This text will be of key interest to students and scholars of political science, EU Studies, Human Geography, European political history, cartography and visual methodologies and international relations.

Foreign & International Law

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