The Bird Giants

Frailty: joining the giants.

Since Isaacs made that statement, further giants of geriatric medicine, such as iatrogenesis, have been added to the list. The concept of geriatric syndromes has been universally accepted with internationally agreed-upon definitions and numerous guidelines for assessment and treatment. The last decade has seen a burgeoning interest in yet another giant: the frailty syndrome. Frailty can be thou...

The Cardboard Giants

This is a record of the experiences in a mental hospital of a patient suffering (apparently) from paranoid schizophrenia. As it is stated on the cover that the patient has recovered from his illness and that he has written the book under his own name, it is very difficult to make any comment from the clinical point of view without running the risk of doing harm. He himself has recorded and disc...

the shoulders of Giants

On showy dwarfs and sober giants: body size as a constraint for the evolution of bird plumage colouration

The evolution of bird plumage colouration may be explained by a wide range of selective pressures, including both defensive and advertising needs. However, the relationship between plumage colouration and body size has never been investigated in detail. Here we hypothesize that body size represents a constraint for the evolution of plumage colour heterogeneity because the relative number of bod...

Giants of the British Isles

[email protected] Most countries and civilizations have stories about giants in their culture. In Greek and Roman times, Giants were an integral part of history. Ovid documents the story of Giants who once piled mountains up to the stars and were destroyed when Zeus hurled his thunderbolts at them. Homer, in his Odyssey, describes many Giants, often the Cyclops, including ...