Corals are among the most varied lifeforms on Earth, ranging from mushroom corals and leather corals to button polyps, sea fans, anemones, and pulse corals. Bridging the gap between plant and animal, these marine invertebrates serve as homes to reef fish and share symbiotic relationships with photosynthesizing algae, which provide corals with their nourishment. This stunningly illustrated book profiles the astonishing diversity of the world’s coral groups, describing key aspects of their natural history and explaining why coral reefs are critical to the health of our oceans.
Representative examples of corals have been selected to illustrate the broad range of species, and the book’s lively and informative commentary covers everything from identification to conservation, making it an essential resource for marine biologists, divers, and anyone who is fascinated by these remarkable sea creatures.
What We Are Reading Today: Coral Reefs: A Natural History by Charles Sheppard
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What We Are Reading Today: Coral Reefs: A Natural History by Charles Sheppard
What We Are Reading Today: The Power of Hope by Carol Graham
In a society marked by extreme inequality of income and opportunity, why should economists care about how people feel? The truth is that feelings of well-being are critical metrics that predict future life outcomes.
In this timely and innovative account, economist Carol Graham argues for the importance of hope—little studied in economics at present—as an independent dimension of well-being.
Given America’s current mental health crisis, thrown into stark relief by COVID, hope may be the most important measure of well-being, and researchers are tracking trends in hope as a key factor in understanding the rising numbers of “deaths of despair” and premature mortality.
Graham, an authority on the study of well-being, points to empirical evidence demonstrating that hope can improve people’s life outcomes and that despair can destroy them. These findings, she argues, merit deeper exploration.
