DID YOU KNOW THAT • we have more hair follicles than a chimpanzee • a male boxer in top condition can punch with the force of a thirteen-pound mallet swung at twenty miles an hour • the best human endurance runners can outlast a horse • one odor above all is sexually stimulating to the human male: cinnamon buns • our home-building skills compare nicely with those of the bagworm With dry wit and penetrating insight, science journalist Hannah Holmes casts the eye of a trained researcher and reporter on . . . herself. And on our whole species. She compares the biology and behavior of humans with that of other creatures, exploring how the human animal fits into the natural world. Holmes also reveals the ways in which Homo sapiens stands apart from other mammals (and all other animals) in ways that are alternately admirable and devastating. Deftly mixing personal stories with the latest scientific research, Hannah Holmes has fashioned an engaging field guide to that oddest and most fascinating of primates: ourselves.

Who are you? It’s the most fundamental of human questions. Are you the type of person who tilts at windmills, or the one who prefers to view them from the comfort of an air-conditioned motorcoach? Our personalities are endlessly fascinating—not just to ourselves but also to our spouses, our parents, our children, our co-workers, our neighbors. As a highly social species, humans have to navigate among an astonishing variety of personalities. But how did all these different permutations come about? And what purpose do they serve? With her trademark wit and sly humor, Hannah Holmes takes readers into the amazing world of personality and modern brain science. Using the Five Factor Model, which slices temperaments into the major factors (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness) and minor facets (such as impulsive, artistic, or cautious), Holmes demonstrates how our genes and brains dictate which factors and facets each of us displays. Are you a Nervous Nelly? Your amygdala is probably calling the shots. Hyperactive Hal? It’s all about the dopamine. Each facet took root deep in the evolution of life on Earth, with Nature allowing enough personal variation to see a species through good times and bad. Just as there are introverted and extroverted people, there are introverted and extroverted mice, and even starfish. In fact, the personality genes we share with mice make them invaluable models for the study of disorders like depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. Thus it is deep and ancient biases that guide your dealings with a very modern world. Your personality helps to determine the political party you support, the car you drive, the way you eat M&Ms, and the likelihood that you’ll cheat on your spouse. Drawing on data from top research laboratories, the lives of her eccentric friends, the conflicts that plague her own household, and even the habits of her two pet mice, Hannah Holmes summarizes the factors that shape you. And what she proves is that it does take all kinds. Even the most irksome and trying personality you’ve ever encountered contributes to the diversity of our species. And diversity is the key to our survival.

Apes—to look at them is to see a mirror of ourselves. Our close genetic relatives fascinate and unnerve us with their similar behavior and social personality. Here, John Sorenson delves into our conflicted relationship to the great apes, which often reveals as much about us as humans as it does about the apes themselves. From bonobos and chimpanzees to gibbons, gorillas, and orangutans, Ape examines the many ways these remarkable animals often serve as models for humans. Anthropologists use their behavior to help explain our fundamental human nature; scientists utilize them as subjects in biomedical research; and behavioral researchers experiment with ways apes emulate us. Sorenson explores the challenges to the complex division between apes and ourselves, describing language experiments, efforts to cross-foster apes by raising them as human children, and the ethical challenges posed by the Great Ape Project. As well, Ape investigates representations of apes in popular culture, particularly films and advertising in which apes are often portrayed as human caricatures, monsters, and clowns. Containing nearly one hundred illustrations of apes in nature and culture, Ape will appeal to readers interested in animal-human relationships and anyone curious to know more about our closest animal cousins, many of whom teeter on the brink of extinction.

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh's work on the language capabilities of the bonobo Kanzi has intrigued the world because of its far-reaching implications for understanding the evolution of the human language. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of the filmed language tests. It argues that while the tests prove that Kanzi has language, the even more remarkable manner in which he originally acquired it - spontaneously, in a culture shared with humans - calls for a re-thinking of language, emphasizing its primal cultural dimensions.

Who are you? It’s the most fundamental of human questions. Are you the type of person who tilts at windmills, or the one who prefers to view them from the comfort of an air-conditioned motorcoach? Our personalities are endlessly fascinating—not just to ourselves but also to our spouses, our parents, our children, our co-workers, our neighbors. As a highly social species, humans have to navigate among an astonishing variety of personalities. But how did all these different permutations come about? And what purpose do they serve? With her trademark wit and sly humor, Hannah Holmes takes readers into the amazing world of personality and modern brain science. Using the Five Factor Model, which slices temperaments into the major factors (Extraversion, Neuroticism, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, and Openness) and minor facets (such as impulsive, artistic, or cautious), Holmes demonstrates how our genes and brains dictate which factors and facets each of us displays. Are you a Nervous Nelly? Your amygdala is probably calling the shots. Hyperactive Hal? It’s all about the dopamine. Each facet took root deep in the evolution of life on Earth, with Nature allowing enough personal variation to see a species through good times and bad. Just as there are introverted and extroverted people, there are introverted and extroverted mice, and even starfish. In fact, the personality genes we share with mice make them invaluable models for the study of disorders like depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety. Thus it is deep and ancient biases that guide your dealings with a very modern world. Your personality helps to determine the political party you support, the car you drive, the way you eat M&Ms, and the likelihood that you’ll cheat on your spouse. Drawing on data from top research laboratories, the lives of her eccentric friends, the conflicts that plague her own household, and even the habits of her two pet mice, Hannah Holmes summarizes the factors that shape you. And what she proves is that it does take all kinds. Even the most irksome and trying personality you’ve ever encountered contributes to the diversity of our species. And diversity is the key to our survival.

Charley Chase began his film career in early 1913 working as a comedian, writer, and director at the Al Christie studios under his real name, Charles Parrott. Chase then joined Mack Sennett's Keystone studio in 1914, costarring in early films of Charlie Chaplin and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, as well as directing the frenetic Keystone Cops. By 1924 he was starring in a series of one-reel comedies at Hal Roach studios, graduating to two-reel films the following year. In 1929, he made the transition to sound films. Along with the continuing popularity of his own short comedies, Chase often directed the films of others, including several popular Three Stooges efforts. In The Charley Chase Talkies: 1929-1940, James L. Neibaur examines, film-by-film, the comedian's seventy-nine short subjects at Roach and Columbia studios. The first book to examine any portion of Chase’s filmography, this volume discusses the various methods Chase employed in his earliest sound films, his variations on common themes, his use of music, and the modification of his character as he reached the age of forty. Neibaur also acknowledges the handful of feature film appearances Chase made during this period. A filmmaker whom Time magazine once declared was receiving the most fan mail of any comedian in movies, Charley Chase remains quite popular among classic film buffs, as well as historians and scholars. A detailed look into the work of an artist whose career straddled the silent and sound eras, The Charley Chase Talkies will be appreciated by those interested in film comedy of the 1920s and 30s.

First there was Sinbad the sailor, famous for his seven voyages, and for the lavish dinner parties he would hold upon his return, such feasts often lasting a month or more. Then there was Sinbad the porter, a man of humbler origins, with ambitions beyond his means and a yearning to be an accountant. But Sinbad the sailor had financial problems which explains why he had to keep putting out to sea even though each experience was worse than the last. And he was never completely honest in his accounts of his adventures, omitting embarrassing incidents and ever-so-slightly exaggerating the importance of others. All of which, of course, would return to haunt him in later years. Sinbad the porter's ambitions served him in good stead when he set out on an eight and final voyage, attempting to correct the errors his namesake had caused in earlier journeys, not to mention restoring the sailor to his original size. He would have thought twice if he had known he would encounter the dangerously greedy two-headed cyclops, the lecherous pirate queen of the apes, the valley of the talking figs, Sam Ifrit and his All-Genie Orchestra, not to mention the dread Izzat, the fabled form from which even the giant Rukh flies in fear, and the perplexing problem of He-Who-Must-Be-Ignored...

Eight handpicked people chosen for their individual skills and beliefs are snatched from their everyday lives and blackmailed into serving their country. The team is trained to be the finest fighters on land, sea and air, just as the government intended, but then the unexpected occurs. With sheer daring and determination, they steal a highly advanced super ship belonging to the Royal Navy and rename it the Intruder. With the British Government denying all knowledge of their very existence, the group transform themselves into Public Enemy Number 1, the invincible, enigmatic Eight of Spades. But when the team undertakes the challenge of clearing the Icelandic waters of the fearful gunboats that harass British trawlers during the 1976 Cod War, they find themselves nose-to-nose with the Navy they had just humiliated. The Navy wants their ship back—preferably in one piece—but if all else fails, a million pieces will suffice. No one knows who they are, where they came from or indeed where they disappear to. A sequel is currently in progress, The Eight of Spades: The end is just the beginning.

Welcome to the ultimate guide for immigrant men looking to conquer the dating scene! In the final installment of the Attract with Accent series, we delve into the art of crafting unforgettable dates without breaking the bank. I'm revealing a secret “perfect date” recipe. We'll also discuss the best strategies for choosing locations to reside in for your success with women. You will learn how many dates you should have before you can have sex and, where to go, what to say, what to do to fulfill the goals of each date. I'll take you on virtual dates to show how it is done. To make you even more successful with women, I will arm you with Neuro-Linguistic Programming called "scientific magic." This tool will allow you to cast a "love spell" on a girl, to help people change their point of view, and even bring a girl home on a first date. In a bonus part, Life After Sex, I have listed mistakes men make after sex and ways to avoid them. Following my instructions and using my materials as intended throughout the dating process would create an unforgettable experience for you and your girls. You also have this book and other books in this series as your faithful and loyal friends; if you can apply only 15% of what you've learned, you will double your dating.