How Animals Work

It's a fun read. I bought a cheap used copy following Andrew Gelman's recommendation on five books (Google it). It's a better endorsement than I could write.

I picked up this book in college in 1978. This is one of those rare books that is both simple and technical. I was fascinated by how, for instance, bird lungs and human kidneys use similar mechanisms to do their work. This would be a great book of encouragement for any HS or college student who has been bit by the bio bug.

One of the best introductions to the thoughtful analysis of physiological adaptations of animals. Extremely well-written for a general audience as well as rigorously grounded in fundamental chemistry and physics with surprising tales for those new to this discipline. It is an extremely small paperback; buy it used for one-tenth the price.

There are many people in the world who don't realize that Animal Physiology is the most intensely interesting thing that anybody could ever study. This book will make sure that you are not one of those people.