Popular account of what is known as the 'aquatic ape' thesis.

Why do humans differ from other primates? What do those differences tell us about human evolution? Elaine Morgan gives a revolutionary hypothesis that explains our anatomic anomalies: why we walk on two legs, why we are covered in fat, why we can control our rate of breathing? The answers point to one conclusion: millions of years ago our ancestors were trapped in a semi-aquatic environment. In presenting her case Elaine Morgan forces scientists to question accepted theories of human evolution.

This thought-provoking text presents the Aquatic Ape Theory, with new information, new questions and a wealth of documentary evidence. It is the most persuasive, closely argued case yet offered to explain the mystery of human origins.'

A doctor’s personal and unsparing account of how modern medicine’s failure to understand pain has made care less effective In The Song of Our Scars, physician Haider Warraich offers a bold reexamination of the nature of pain, not as a simple physical sensation, but as a cultural experience. Warraich, himself a sufferer of chronic pain, considers the ways our notions of pain have been shaped not just by science but by politics and power, by whose suffering mattered and whose didn’t. He weaves a provocative history from the Renaissance, when pain transformed into a medical issue, through the racial legacy of pain tolerance, to the opiate epidemics of both the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries, to the cutting edge of present-day pain science. The conclusion is clear: only by reckoning with both pain’s complicated history and its biology can today’s doctors adequately treat their patients’ suffering. Trenchant and deeply felt, The Song of Our Scars is an indictment of a broken system and a plea for a more holistic understanding of the human body.

Achilles is a legendary hero and commander of the Myrmidon army, but a leader is defined by those who follow him. What manner of men fought beside Achilles in the crucible of war? Stelios, lifelong friend of Achilles, is summoned upon his death to Mount Olympus to share with the gods what fire guides the hearts of mortals. Stelios recounts his past—his liberation as a boy at the hands of the Myrmidons, his induction into their ranks, and the life-changing lessons they instilled within him. He trains and grows alongside Achilles, and watches as the meek boy he knew in his youth transforms into a relentless warrior. They become brothers, these men in black armor, defined by their decision to carry the most brutal burdens. In time, as violence scars their shields and bodies, they learn that the morals and creeds they were raised upon have begun to fracture. As Stelios grapples with the futility of a life lived only for war, he seeks solace in his wife and a young boy he rescues and takes in as his own—a boy who will one day face his own mysterious destiny. As the darkness in the Myrmidons deepens, Stelios battles to protect those he loves, even if they stand against him. In the pursuit of peace, Stelios must sacrifice everything.

In this lively and controversial book Elaine Morgan presents a challenging interpretation to the question of human evolution. With brilliant logic she argues that our hominid ancestors began to evolve in response to an aquatic environment. Millions of years ago something happened that caused our ancestors to walk on two legs, to lose their fur, to develop larger brains and learn how to speak. Elaine Morgan discovers what this event was by studying the many incongruous flaws in the physiological make-up of humans. The human body is liable to suffer from obesity, lower back pain and acne. In support of her aquatic ape hypothesis she points out the flaws in our physiological make-up: the difficulties of erect bipedalism, our hairlessness and fat-layers, our preference for face to face sex and the way we breathe. Are these flaws a record of the history of the species, the 'scars' of evolution that are clues to earlier stages of evolution? Morgan establishes the origins of the evolutionary path that separated humans from other animals and questions the theories currently accepted by science. Did our ancestors adapt to an aquatic environment that subsequently dried out? Elaine Morgan has made the Aquatic Ape Hypothesis a plausible alternative to conventional theories of evolution and in The Scars of Evolution she brings a real understanding of who humans are and where they came from.

This text book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. Written by a group of international experts in the field and the result of over ten years of collaboration, it allows students and readers to gain to gain a detailed understanding of scar and wound treatment – a topic still dispersed among various disciplines. The content is divided into three parts for easy reference. The first part focuses on the fundamentals of scar management, including assessment and evaluation procedures, classification, tools for accurate measurement of all scar-related elements (volume density, color, vascularization), descriptions of the different evaluation scales. It also features chapters on the best practices in electronic-file storage for clinical reevaluation and telemedicine procedures for safe remote evaluation. The second section offers a comprehensive review of treatment and evidence-based technologies, presenting a consensus of the various available guidelines (silicone, surgery, chemical injections, mechanical tools for scar stabilization, lasers). The third part evaluates the full range of emerging technologies offered to physicians as alternative or complementary solutions for wound healing (mechanical, chemical, anti-proliferation). Textbook on Scar Management will appeal to trainees, fellows, residents and physicians dealing with scar management in plastic surgery, dermatology, surgery and oncology, as well as to nurses and general practitioners