{"title":"Jim Endersby","description":"\u003cp\u003eJim Endersby’s books delve into the fascinating intersections of science and history, bringing to life the stories behind major scientific discoveries. Through works like \u003cem\u003eOrchid\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eThe Arrival of the Fittest\u003c\/em\u003e, readers explore the evolution of ideas and the dramatic moments that have shaped natural science.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWith a clear and engaging narrative style, Endersby’s writing appeals to those curious about nature’s complexities and the thinkers who have unlocked its secrets. His work offers a richly detailed journey through the science of life, inviting reflection on both the past and future of the natural world.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"the-arrival-of-the-fittest-by-jim-endersby-9780226837567","title":"The Arrival of the Fittest","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eIn the early twentieth century, varied audiences took biology out of the hands of specialists and transformed it into mass culture, transforming our understanding of heredity in the process.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the early twentieth century, communities made creative use of the new theories of heredity in circulation at the time, including the now largely forgotten mutation theory of Hugo de Vries. Science fiction writers, socialists, feminists, and utopians are among those who seized on the amazing possibilities of rapid and potentially controllable evolution.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDe Vries's highly respected scientific theory only briefly captured the attention of the scientific community, but its many fans appropriated it for their own wildly imaginative ends. Writers from H.G. Wells and Edith Wharton to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, J.B.S. Haldane, and Aldous Huxley created a new kind of imaginary future, which Jim Endersby calls the biotopia. It took the ambiguous possibilities of biology—utopian and dystopian—and reimagined them in ways that still influence the public's understanding of the life sciences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Arrival of the Fittest\u003c\/em\u003e recovers the fascinating, long-forgotten origins of ideas that have informed works of fiction from \u003cem\u003eBrave New World\u003c\/em\u003e to the \u003cem\u003eX-Men\u003c\/em\u003e movies, all while reflecting on the lessons—positive and negative—that this period might offer us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46854903202028,"sku":"9780226837567","price":71.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/aa43adcc658f82cf4e560a7863602454.jpg?v=1759263430"},{"product_id":"orchid-by-jim-endersby-9780226376325","title":"Orchid","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt once delicate, exotic, and elegant, orchids are beloved for their singular, instantly recognisable beauty. Found in nearly every climate, the many species of orchid have carried symbolic weight in countless cultures over time. The ancient Greeks associated them with fertility and thought that parents who ingested orchid root tubers could control the sex of their child. During the Victorian era, orchids became deeply associated with romance and seduction. And in twentieth-century hard-boiled detective stories, they transformed into symbols of decadence, secrecy, and cunning. What is it about the orchid that has enthralled the imagination for so many centuries? And why do they still provoke so much wonder?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFollowing the stories of orchids throughout history, Jim Endersby divides our attraction to them into four key themes: science, empire, sex, and death. When it comes to empire, for instance, orchids are a prime example of the exotic riches sought by Europeans as they shaped their plans for colonisation. He also reveals how Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution became intimately entangled with the story of the orchid as he investigated their methods of cross-pollination. As he shows, orchids—perhaps because of their extraordinarily diverse colours, shapes, and sizes—have also bloomed repeatedly in films, novels, plays, and poems, from Shakespeare to science fiction, from thrillers to elaborate modernist novels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFeaturing many gorgeous illustrations from the collection of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, \u003ci\u003eOrchid: A Cultural History\u003c\/i\u003e tells, for the first time, the extraordinary story of orchids and our prolific interest in them. It is an enchanting tale not only for gardeners and plant collectors, but anyone curious about the flower’s obsessive hold on the imagination in history, cinema, literature, and more.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47471319548140,"sku":"9780226376325","price":60.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780226376325-orchid.jpg?v=1775239223"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/jim-endersby.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}