Insects and other arthropods found at a death scene can provide corroborating evidence regarding both the time and place of death as well as possible antimortem and postmortem treatment of the victim. Nevertheless, most forensic investigators are not specially trained in entomology, and until now, no entomology reference has fully explored these subjects.

It is always night in the city of Ember. But there is no moon, no stars. The only light during the regular twelve hours of "day" comes from floodlamps that cast a yellowish glow over the streets of the city. Beyond are the pitch-black Unknown Regions, which no one has ever explored because an understanding of fire and electricity has been lost, and with it the idea of a Moveable Light...

Revealed in fantastic computer-enhanced, three-dimensional pictures, the complex internal world of the human body is explored in DK Guide to the Human Body. In different sections of the book, the ingenious processes involved in moving, breathing, digesting food, producing babies, growing, and fighting off disease are explained in clear, lively text. The elaborate network of nerves that reach to the body's furthest extremities and carry data back to the brain is explored in fascinating detail. With page after page of groundbreaking imaging techniques in DK Guide to the Human Body, the layers of skin, flesh, bones, and other organs can be explored as they never have been before. Unravel 22 feet of small intestine and find out what happens to the good that travels through it at different stages of its journey. Be amazed by the power of the human eye and its ability to relay to the brain the difference between 10,000 different colors. Discover how the kidneys, at only 4 inches long, process the body's entire blood volume approximately 15 times each hour, 24 hours a day. Fantastic close-up photography shows the very cells that give our bodies substance and together make it run like a well-oiled and highly sophisticated machine. Front cover: A colored X-ray of the chest of an adult woman shows healthy lungs and heart. The two lungs -- in blue and orange -- can be seen through the ribs on each side of the central breastbone. The lungs supply the body with oxygen and carry away carbon dioxide. The heart -- in deep red -- occupies the space at lower center right. It pumps blood to and fro the lungs and throughout the body.

What were the circumstances that led to the development of our cognitive abilities from a primitive hominid to an essentially modern human? The answer to this question is of profound importance to understanding our present nature. Since the steep path of our cognitive development is the attribute that most distinguishes humans from other mammals, this is also a quest to determine human origins. This collection of outstanding scientific problems and the revelation of the many ways they can be addressed indicates the scope of the field to be explored and reveals some avenues along which research is advancing.

HOT TOPICS is guaranteed to engage readers, stimulate thinking, and provoke conversation while developing vocabulary and reading skills. The controversial topics explored in the text all have more than one side to them, thus encouraging debate and classroom discussion.