1st Edition

Human Variation From the Laboratory to the Field

    318 Pages 107 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    318 Pages 107 B/W Illustrations
    by CRC Press

    The transition in anthropological and biomedical research methods over the past 50 years, from anthropometric and craniometric measurements to large-scale microarray genetic studies has resulted in continued revision of opinions and ideas relating to the factors and forces that drive human variation.

    Human Variation:From the Laboratory to the Field brings together the contributions of 22 scientists working in four continents to identify and address challenges imposed by variability. It reviews the way we examine and analyze human variation, paying specific attention to genetics, growth and development, and physiology. In presenting new evidence and findings, it also discusses current developments in methodology and analytical techniques, detailing both field and laboratory approaches, and looking at how the two perspectives complement each other.

    In bridging that gap between laboratory trials and studies of the human in context, this book covers a number of interesting research areas including —

    • Human adaptation to natural and artificial light, including variations in circadian photosensitivity and effects of light on GI activity
    • Cold tolerance and lifestyle in modern society
    • Genetics of body weight and obesity
    • Human adaptability to emotional and intellectual mental stresses
    • Geography, migration, climate, and environmental plasticity as contributors to human variation
    • Impact of natural environmental stressors including pollution on physiological and morphological processes

    This book is the latest volume in a series of works from the Society for the Study of Human Biology (SSHB), which for half a century has advanced and promoted research in the biology of human populations in all of its branches including human viability, genetics, human adaptability, and ecology, and evolution. It holds two scientific meetings a year. This volume represents work presented during its most recent gathering.

    Factors and Forces Influencing Human Variation; Alan H. Bittles and Michael L. Black
    Genetics of Body Weight and Obesity; Paul Higgins, V. Saroja Voruganti, and Anthony G. Comuzzie
    Diversity of Human Adaptability to Environments: A Physiological Anthropology Perspective; Akira Yasukouchi
    Tissue and Cell Adaptability to Physical and Chemical Factors; Susumu Kudo and Kazuo Tanishita
    Human Adaptation to Natural and Artificial Light: Variation in Circadian Photosensitivity; Shigekazu Higuchi
    Effect of Environmental Light on Human Gastrointestinal Activity: From Laboratory Study to Fieldwork; Yoshiaki Sone
    Cold Tolerance and Lifestyle in Modern Society; Takafumi Maeda
    Human Adaptability to Emotional and Intellectual Mental Stresses; Koichi Iwanaga
    Impact of Pollution on Physiological Systems: Taking Science from the Laboratory to the Field; Lawrence M. Schell
    Bridging the Gap between Laboratory Trials and the Reality of the Human in Context; Neil J. Mansfield
    Geography, Migration, Climate, and Environmental Plasticity as Contributors to Human Variation; Michael A. Little
    From a History of Anthropometry to Anthropometric History; Stanley Ulijaszek and John Komlos
    Growth and Maturation: Interactions and Sources of Variation; Robert M. Malina
    Bone Health and Body Composition Measurement in Older People: Challenges Imposed by Variability; Katherine Brooke-Wavell
    Research Designs and Statistical Methods in Both Laboratory and Field Settings; C.G. Nicholas Mascie-Taylor
    Impact of Natural Environmental Stressors on Physiological and Morphological Processes: Methodological Approaches in the Field and Laboratory; Ralph M. Garruto and Charles A. Weitz

    Biography

    C.G. Nicholas Mascie-Taylor, Akira Yasukouchi, Stanley Ulijaszek

    ...the volume contains many useful summary chapters that would be valuable in a graduate level course and many chapters that would be of interest to those interested in the history of human biology or in learning more about different approaches to the study of human variation.
    --Sara Stinson, Queens College, CUNY, USA, American Journal of Human Biology, 2011