The Nature of Nutrition : a Unifying Framework from Animal Adaptation to Human Obesity /

The geometric framework (GF), introduced into scientific literature a decade ago, brings a new degree of clarity to the discipline of nutrition. Simpson (Univ. of Sydney, Australia) and Raubenheimer (Univ. of New Zealand) highlight species-, habitat-, and trophic-level examples to truly demonstrate the universality of the concepts GF encompasses, providing coherent explanations of numerous interactions and variables--physical, biochemical, chemical, physiological, anatomical--that must be considered when discussing nutrition. Case studies are heavy on invertebrates. Although the limited vertebrate example results were not particularly illuminating, GF provides a very useful technique for evaluating (or predicting) animal responses to complex mixed diets. The pet, livestock, and wildlife applications chapter would have benefitted by additional references to strengthen the authors' points/correlations. Nonetheless, GF clearly links behavioral/feeding ecology with environmental changes/constraints on nutrient resources to meet variable, continually changing physiologic requirements. The authors delightfully take the concepts beyond these most obvious uses, delving into numerous other scientific applications of the technique. Impacts of nutrition on human health and disease--at the population level--are of broad interest, and GF may provide a tool for more rapid discovery in various fields. The authors successfully demonstrate that nutrition serves as a foundation that integrates the biological sciences. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals. E. S. Dierenfeld independent scholar