{"product_id":"sleeping-beauties-the-mystery-of-dormant-innovations-in-nature-and-culture","title":"Sleeping Beauties: The Mystery of Dormant Innovations in Nature and Culture","description":"Why do some of nature’s marvels have to wait millions of years for their time in the sun?\n\nLife innovates constantly, producing perfectly adapted species – but there’s a catch.\n\nA TIMES AND TELEGRAPH BEST BOOK OF 2023\n\n'Hopeful and fascinating.' THE TIMES\n\nMany animals and plants eke out seemingly unremarkable lives. Passive, constrained, modest, threatened. Then, in a blink of evolutionary time, they flourish spectacularly. Once we start to look, these ‘sleeping beauties’ crop up everywhere. But why?\n\nLooking at the book of life, from apex predators to keystone crops, and informed by his own cutting-edge experiments, renowned scientist Andreas Wagner demonstrates that innovations can come frequently and cheaply to nature, well before they are needed. We have found prehistoric bacteria that harbour the remarkable ability to fight off 21st-century antibiotics. And human history fits the pattern too, as life-changing technologies are invented only to be forgotten, languishing in the shadows before they finally take off.\n\nIn probing the mysteries of these sleeping beauties, Wagner reveals a crucial part of nature’s rich and strange tapestry.\u003cbr\u003eASIN: 0861545273\u003cbr\u003eVSKU: DBV.0861545273.G\u003cbr\u003eCondition: Good\u003cbr\u003eAuthor\/Artist:Wagner, Andreas\u003cbr\u003eBinding: Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNote:\u003c\/b\u003e Any images shown are stock photographs and product may differ from what is shown.  \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eCondition Notes\u003c\/b\u003e: Gently used with minimal wear on the corners and cover. A few pages may contain light highlighting or writing, but the text remains fully legible. Dust jacket may be missing, and supplemental materials like CDs or codes may not be included. May be ex-library with library markings. Ships promptly!  \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Dream Books Co.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":41570637185082,"sku":"DBV.0861545273.G","price":13.46,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0555\/6011\/0138\/files\/0861545273-0.jpg?v=1785464932","url":"https:\/\/shop.dreambooksco.com\/products\/sleeping-beauties-the-mystery-of-dormant-innovations-in-nature-and-culture","provider":"Dream Books Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}