{"title":"Lixing Sun","description":"\u003cp\u003eLixing Sun offers a compelling exploration of the natural world, delving into the intricate relationships between biology, behaviour, and evolution. Readers can expect insightful narratives that challenge common perceptions and reveal the subtle complexities underlying natural phenomena.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith works such as \u003cem\u003eOn the Origin of Sex\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars\u003c\/em\u003e, Sun invites a thoughtful examination of the strategies life employs to survive and thrive, blending scientific rigour with engaging storytelling.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-liars-of-nature-and-the-nature-of-liars-by-lixing-sun-9780691198606","title":"The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNature is rife with cheating. Possums play possum, feigning death to cheat predators. Crows cry wolf to scare off rivals. Amphibians and reptiles are inveterate impostors. Even genes and cells cheat. \u003ci\u003eThe Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars\u003c\/i\u003e explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlending cutting-edge science with a wealth of illuminating examples—from microscopic organisms to highly intelligent birds and mammals—Lixing Sun shows how cheating in nature relies on two basic rules. One is lying, by which cheaters exploit honest messages in communication signals and use them to serve their own interests. The other is deceiving, by which cheaters exploit the biases and loopholes in the sensory systems of other creatures. Sun demonstrates that cheating serves as a potent catalyst in the evolutionary arms race between the cheating and the cheated, resulting in a biological world teeming with complexity and beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrimming with insight and humour, \u003ci\u003eThe Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars\u003c\/i\u003e also looks at the prevalence of cheating in human society, identifying the kinds of cheating that spur innovation and cultural vitality and laying down a blueprint for combating malicious cheating such as fake news and disinformation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe world is full of liars, a fact brilliantly depicted in Lixing Sun's slender but important book about cheating and deception among animals and plants, as well as that hairless bipedal species that is the biggest deceiver of them all. . . . A tour de force of evolutionary biology... Fascinating.\u003c\/b\u003e — David P. Barash, \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe accessible prose offers an eye-opening take on lying in the natural world and how evolutionary pressures to deceive impact human behaviour. The smart parallels between humans and animals make for an insightful outing.\u003c\/b\u003e — \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e[An] intriguing introduction to the domain of dishonesty.\u003c\/b\u003e — Tony Miksanek, \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eBuckle up for a riveting journey into the wide world of deception.\u003c\/b\u003e — Marc Bekoff, \u003ci\u003ePsychology Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46855015563500,"sku":"9780691198606","price":57.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780691198606.jpg?v=1759261024"},{"product_id":"the-liars-of-nature-and-the-nature-of-liars-by-lixing-sun-9780691256849","title":"The Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNature is rife with cheating. Possums play possum, feigning death to cheat predators. Crows cry wolf to scare off rivals. Amphibians and reptiles are inveterate impostors. Even genes and cells cheat. \u003ci\u003eThe Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars\u003c\/i\u003e explores the evolution of cheating in the natural world, revealing how dishonesty has given rise to wondrous diversity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlending cutting-edge science with a wealth of illuminating examples—from microscopic organisms to highly intelligent birds and mammals—Lixing Sun shows how cheating in nature relies on two basic rules. One is lying, by which cheaters exploit honest messages in communication signals and use them to serve their own interests. The other is deceiving, by which cheaters exploit the biases and loopholes in the sensory systems of other creatures. Sun demonstrates that cheating serves as a potent catalyst in the evolutionary arms race between the cheating and the cheated, resulting in a biological world teeming with complexity and beauty.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBrimming with insight and humour, \u003ci\u003eThe Liars of Nature and the Nature of Liars\u003c\/i\u003e also looks at the prevalence of cheating in human society, identifying the kinds of cheating that spur innovation and cultural vitality, and laying down a blueprint for combating malicious cheating such as fake news and disinformation.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'The world is full of liars, a fact brilliantly depicted in Lixing Sun's slender but important book about cheating and deception among animals and plants, as well as that hairless bipedal species that is the biggest deceiver of them all. . . . A tour de force of evolutionary biology...Fascinating.' — David P. Barash, \u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'The accessible prose offers an eye-opening take on lying in the natural world and how evolutionary pressures to deceive impact human behaviour. The smart parallels between humans and animals make for an insightful outing.' — \u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'[An] intriguing introduction to the domain of dishonesty.' — Tony Miksanek, \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Buckle up for a riveting journey into the wide world of deception.' — Marc Bekoff, \u003ci\u003ePsychology Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47072376553708,"sku":"9780691256849","price":39.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/2555633482434.jpg?v=1765099753"},{"product_id":"on-the-origin-of-sex-by-lixing-sun-9781805223283","title":"On the Origin of Sex","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA thrilling biological detective story. Brilliantly told and relentlessly entertaining.\u003c\/em\u003e CHARLES FOSTER\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExplore the spectacular science of reproduction — from frogs and fungi to seahorses, sparrows, and everything in between.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLet's talk about sex. Not boring, human sex, but the endlessly fascinating, varied, and complex forms of reproduction that can be found in the rest of the natural world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhiptail lizards and California condors are capable of immaculate conception, while strawberries are reproductive flip-floppers. Clownfish can permanently change sex, while bearded dragons undergo temperature-dependent sex reversal. For the humble slime mould, sex can involve hundreds of mating types — a veritable bonanza.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eLixing Sun has spent decades expanding the bounds of what we know about reproduction, in all its many flavours. And as it turns out, sex is far more complex and eye-opening than we ever could have imagined.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Allen \u0026 Unwin Aotearoa New Zealand","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47496454111468,"sku":"9781805223283","price":55.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9781805223283-on-the-origin-of-sex.jpg?v=1775797383"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.pro\/collections\/lixing-sun.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}