How do some birds, turtles, and insects possess navigational abilities that rival the best manmade navigational technologies? Who or what taught the honey bee its dance, or its hive mates how to read the complex message of the dance? How do blind mound-building termites master passive heating and cooling strategies that dazzle skilled human architects? In The Origin of Species Charles Darwin conceded that such instincts are "so wonderful" that the mystery of their origin would str...

Clearing the Path is a collection of clinical stories that illustrate practical, applicable communication tools for professionals in work with end-of-life patients and families. These vignettes from practice demonstrate how impending death, death itself, and the loss of a relationship affect the lives and grief of both patients and survivors. Written 13 years after its companion volume The Weeping Willow, the book brings even more complex encounters and nuanced emotions f...

The renewal of medical curricula generally arises from emerging pedagogies (e.g. problem-based learning), new technologies (e.g. high fidelity simulation), or prevailing sociocultural forces (e.g. complexity of health care delivery and team-based care). Approximately 15 years ago, a team of physicians and administrators sought to take this further: by considering the very nature of medical practice and the patient-physician relationship that is the context and conduit of caring and care, t...