Difference between revisions of "Newest Popular Science Reviews"

From TheBookbag
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(87 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
[[Category:Popular Science|*]]
 
[[Category:Popular Science|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Popular Science]] __NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
+
[[Category:New Reviews|Popular Science]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Colin Brown
+
|isbn=1787333175
|title=Operation Big: The Race to Stop Hitler's A-Bomb
+
|title=You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here
|rating=3.5
+
|author=Benji Waterhouse
|genre=History
+
|rating=5
|summary=What, do you think, was more feared in 1941 and 1942 than the Nazi Party?  Well, a Nazi Party with nuclear arms would be pretty high on the list.  It seems the stuff of pure fantasy, but I'm not so sure.  A lot of the people to be at the forefront of the nuclear physics of the age were German, and the first nuclear fission was on their soil.  Two things seemed to be needed for nuclear arms – uranium, which they procured by capturing Czechoslovakia, the location of one its greatest source mines; and heavy water.  That so nearly fell into Nazi hands when they invaded Norway, but what seems to have been the great majority of the world's supply had only just been smuggled out.  [[Fatherland by Robert Harris|Some fiction]] takes great strides to suggest in a fantasy way that if Hitler hadn't concentrated on exterminating Jews, he would have had the energy to win the war – and it must only be a short step to see his imperial expansionism as having an ulterior motive in nuclear materiel.  But make no mistake, this is not fiction – these are the pure facts behind the issue.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1445664674</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Ian Stewart
 
|title= Calculating the Cosmos
 
|rating= 3
 
|genre= Popular Science
 
|summary= In ''Calculating the Cosmos'' Ian Stewart attempts to explain how mathematics, a subject which strikes fear into the hearts of many, can be used to explain the wonders of the universe in a way which is accessible and understandable in a concise 352 pages. According to Stewart, Calculating the Cosmos takes us from the surface of the Earth to the outer reaches of the cosmos and from the beginning of time to the end of the universe. Does he achieve this? As the author himself states, the fun is in finding out so if you have any interest in mathematics, the universe and the complexities of space and time this may just be the book for you.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1781254311</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Jack Challoner
 
|title= The Cell: A Visual Tour of the Building Block of Life
 
|rating= 4.5
 
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=I've always been mesmerised by micro-worlds and the fact that the tiniest things are made up of even smaller intricate parts. The first time I saw a picture of a human cell, I was fascinated by its complexity. ''The Cell'' is a visual marvel, filled with full-colour cell images taken by optical and electron microscopes, using phase contrast, fluorescence and dark-field illumination to colour and differentiate the individual components. The detailed text that accompanies each image explains how cells begin, reproduce, protect themselves and come together in extraordinary ways to create complex life.
+
|summary=I was tempted to read ''You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here'' after enjoying Adam Kay's first book {{amazonurl|isbn=1509858636|title=This is Going to Hurt}}, a glorious mixture of insight into the workings of the NHS, humour and autobiography. ''You Don't Have to be Mad...'' promised the same elements but moved from physical problems to mental illness and the work of a psychiatrist. I did wonder whether it was acceptable to be looking for humour in this setting but the laughter is directed at a situation rather than a person and it is always delivered with empathy and understanding.  
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782402071</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Katie Scott and Kathy Willis
+
|isbn=1788360702
|title=Botanicum (Welcome To The Museum)
+
|title=Charles, The Alternative Prince: An Unauthorised Biography
|rating=3.5
+
|author=Edzard Ernst
|genre=Popular Science
+
|rating=4
|summary=''Welcome to the Museum'' it says on the front cover and I'll admit that for the moment I was confused as I've never associated museums with living plants, but as soon as I stepped inside the covers, I knew where I was.  One of the authors, Professor Kathy Willis is the Director of Science at Kew Gardens: she's undoubtedly based her thoughts on Kew, but for me I was back in the glasshouses at the [http://www.rbge.org.uk/ Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh] - the glorious 'Botanics'I'm not certain why we're supposed to be in a museum, unless it's that it allows us to refer to author Kathy Willis and illustrator Katie Scott as curators.  Still it's a contrivance which doesn't affect the content.
+
|genre=Biography
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1783703946</amazonuk>
+
|summary=For over forty years, Prince Charles has been an ardent supporter of alternative medicine and complementary therapies.  ''Charles, The Alternative Prince'' critically assesses the Prince's opinions, beliefs and aims against the background of the scientific evidenceThere are few instances of his beliefs being vindicated and his relentless promotion of treatments which have no scientific support has done considerable damage to the reputation of a man who is proud of his refusal to apply evidence-based, logical reasoning to his ambitions.
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author= Clive Gifford
 
|title=This is Not a Science Book: A Smart Art Activity Book
 
|rating= 5
 
|genre= Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=''This is Not a Science Book'' explores the often-overlooked link between science and creativity. This interactive book encourages readers to get cutting, glueing, twisting, colouring and shading in order to create a variety of at-home experiments that are as entertaining as they are educational. The activities are also perfect for a rainy day; making this book a welcome resource during the long (and often wet) school holidays.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782403973</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=CoderDojo
+
|isbn=0192779230
|title=Build Your Own Website: Create with Code
+
|title=Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs
 +
|author=Isabel Thomas
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=The Nanonauts want a website for their band, and who better to build it for them than the CoderDojo network of free computing clubs for young people? In this handbook, created in conjunction with the CoderDojo Foundation, children of seven plus will learn how to build a website using HTML, CSS and JavascriptDon't worry too much if some of those words don't mean anything to you - all will be made clear as you read through the bookThere's also information about how to start a CoderDojo Nano club with friends - which has great benefits in terms of harnessing creativity, learning how to code - and the benefits of teamwork.
+
|summary='Germs' seems to have become a catch-all word to cover anything unpleasant which has the potential to make you ill. In the first book in what looks to be a very promising new series, OUP and Isabel Thomas have provided a clear and accessible introduction to the world of germsWe get an informed look at how people originally thought about diseases and what they thought caused them and how the thinking has developed over timeThe vocabulary can be confusing but Thomas gives a regular box headed 'speak like a scientist' which explains some of the trickiest concepts and you'll soon be familiar with bacteria, fungi, protists and viruses – and how we should protect ourselves.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405278730</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=CoderDojo
+
|isbn=gareth_steel
|title=Build Your Own Website: Create with Code
+
|title=Never Work With Animals
|rating=5
+
|author=Gareth Steel
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|rating=4
|summary=The Nanonauts want a website for their band, and who better to build it for them than the CoderDojo network of free computing clubs for young people?  In this handbook, created in conjunction with the CoderDojo Foundation, children of seven plus will learn how to build a website using HTML, CSS and Javascript. Don't worry too much if some of those words don't mean anything to you - all will be made clear as you read through the book. There's also information about how to start a CoderDojo Nano club with friends - which has great benefits in terms of harnessing creativity, learning how to code - and the benefits of teamwork.
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1405278730</amazonuk>
+
|summary=I don't often begin my reviews with a warning but with ''Never Work With Animals'' it seems to be appropriate. Stories of a vet's life have proved popular since ''All Creatures Great and Small'' but ''Never Work With Animals'' is definitely not the companion volume you've been looking for. As a TV show the author would argue that ''All Creatures'' lacked realism, as do other similar programmes. Gareth Steel says that the book is not suitable for younger readers and - after reading - I agree with him. He says that he's written it to inform and provoke thought, particularly amongst aspiring vets. It deals with some uncomfortable and distressing issues but it doesn't lack sensitivity, although there are occasions when you would be best choosing between reading and eating.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Young Rewired State
+
|isbn=0241480442
|title=Get Coding!: Learn HTML, CSS & JavaScript & build a website, app & game
+
|title=Healthy Vegan The Cookbook: Vegan Cooking Meets Nutrition Science
|rating=5
+
|author=Niko Rittenau and Sebastian Copien
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
+
|rating=4.5
|summary=Learning to code, even heading into my seventh decade, changed my life and for today's children it's important because it opens so many doorsIt might look complicated, but all it required is concentration and - eventually - imaginationI had a reasonable mastery of the skills of basic HTML in three days with the benefit of a personal tutor, but where to go if you don't have that privilege or if you need some extra support? ''Get Coding!'' seems like the perfect answer.
+
|genre=Cookery
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1406366846</amazonuk>
+
|summary=Emotionally, I am a vegan.  Mentally, I am a vegan.  I read [[How to Love Animals in a Human-Shaped World by Henry Mance]] and was appalled by the way in which we treat animals in our search for (preferably cheap) foodPractically, I am not a veganIt worked for a while apart from the odd blip with regard to cheese but then a perfect storm of those events which you hope don't occur too often in your lifetime tempted me back to animal-based protein. It wasn't the taste - I know that I can get plant-based food that tastes just as good as anything plundered from the animal kingdom - it was the ease of being able to get sufficient protein when meals were often snatched in a few spare moments.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Arabella Kurtz and J M Coetzee
+
|author=Daniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker
|title= The Good Story: Exchanges on Truth, Fiction and Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy
+
|title=A Tattoo on my Brain
|rating= 5
+
|rating=3.5
|genre= Popular Science
+
|genre=Autobiography
|summary= We live by stories. Novelists weave tales that may or may not reflect reality, and that we accept as their job: to create fictions with intriguing character plots that draw in, surprise and touch the reader is at the core of their job description. But story telling goes beyond profession: everyone, writer or not, sometimes more consciously, sometimes less, creates their own history, selects memories that they retain, repress others, and constantly weave together a story of who we are, a tale of identity.
+
|summary=Alzheimer's is a disease that slowly wears away your identity and sense of self. I have been directly affected by this cruel disease, as have many. Your memories and personality worn away like a statue over time affected the elements. It seems as if nature wants that final victory over you and your dignity. This is what makes Daniel Gibbs' memoir so admirable. Daniel Gibbs is a neurologist who was diagnosed with Alzheimers and has documented his journey in ''A Tattoo on my Brain''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099598221</amazonuk>
+
|isbn=1108838936
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Lisa Woollett
+
|isbn=0099551063
|title=Sea Journal
+
|title=The Wisdom of Psychopaths: Lessons in life from Saints, Spies and Serial Killers
|rating=5
+
|author=Dr Kevin Dutton
 +
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Over the course of a year Lisa Woollett invites us to go with her on her visits to various beaches in the British Isles, although 'visits' might make what happens sound a little too formal. Woollett knows her local beaches, and some further afield, in much the same way that a gardener knows their own plotShe's aware of minute changes, how the phase of the moon will affect the tide, what she can expect to find in the strandline and where it's come fromShe delights in every variation of the weather and she's a mine of wonderful information from ancient myths to up-to-the-minute science.
+
|summary='' 'Donald Trump outscores Hitler on psychopathic traits' claims Oxford University researcher.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0957490216</amazonuk>
+
 
 +
Until the events of 6 January 2021 that might have surprised, even shocked many readers: now they're probably convinced that they knew it all alongThe statement has lost a little of its shock value but it does help us to understand more about the nature of psychopathyIt's too easy to associate psychopathy with the Yorkshire Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Saddam Hussein or Robert Maudsley, the real-life Hannibal Lecter, but the truth is that having psychopathic traits can sometimes be a good thing.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Craig Martin
+
|isbn=1849767343
|title= Shipping Container (Object Lessons)
+
|title=Count on Me
|rating= 3
+
|author=Miguel Tanco
|genre= Popular Science
+
|rating=4.5
|summary= This book is small, not even 150 pages of text, and more like 100 if you exclude the index, references and acknowledgements so perhaps it's unsurprising that it had to choose a more limited focus. There is plenty still to learn from the book. The word 'dunnage' is used daily and everyone knows what it means (the stuff inside containers to protect contents from damage during transit) but it was interesting to learn the origin of its use. Twist locks – the mighty strong connectors that can be used to link containers together – are also heavily featured.
+
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1501303147</amazonuk>
+
|summary=The title and format of this book might lead you to think that it's either about responsibility - or it's a basic 1-2-3 book for those just starting out on the numbers journey. It isn't: it's a hymn of praise to maths. It's about why maths is so wonderful and how you meet it in everyday life.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Tristan Gooley
+
|isbn=B08B39QNRH
|title=How to Read Water
+
|title=The Curious History of Writer's Cramp: Solving an age-old problem
 +
|author=Michael Pritchard
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Signs are all around us, if we know where to look. The ability to read and interpret signs is particularly useful to navigators and those who make their living on the water. In fact, the ability to read water can mean the difference between life and death, especially when strong tidal currents are involved. Of course, there are those who take water-reading beyond the ability of even the most experienced sailors. Traditional Arab navigators called this knowledge the ''isharat.'' Pacific islanders call it ''kapesani lemetau''-the talk of the sea or water lore. Those who posses such knowledge have been baffling Westerners for centuries with their seemingly preternatural ability to understand the water.
+
|summary=''Society is based on speech but civilisation requires the written word''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1473615208</amazonuk>
+
 
}}
+
I came to Michael Pritchard's ''The Curious History of Writer's Cramp'' by a rather strange route. I have problems with my hands which orthopaedic surgeons refer to as 'interesting': I prefer the word 'painful' but I have an interest in the way that hands work.  An exploration of the history of a problem which has defeated some of the best medical minds for some three-hundred-years seemed liked excellent background reading and so it proved, with the book being as much about the doctors treating the sufferers and the changing medical attitudes as the problem itself.
{{newreview
 
|author=Michael Marder
 
|title=Dust (Object Lessons)
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=''Dust'' is among the latest volumes in Bloomsbury's fascinating new 'Object Lessons' series. With titles ranging from ''Cigarette Lighter'' to ''Shipping Container'', the books aim to explore the hidden histories of commonplace items. Here Marder approaches dust not as a scientist but as a philosopher: he is a professor at the University of the Basque Country, Spain. Nevertheless, he reminds readers that dust is largely composed of skin cells and hair, the detritus of our human bodies. Thus dusting – the verb form – is a kind of guilty attempt to clean up after ourselves, ultimately a futile and 'self-defeating occupation'.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1628925582</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Cedric Villani
+
|isbn=1776572858
|title=Birth of a Theorem
+
|title=How Do You Make a Baby?
 +
|author=Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Home and Family
|summary=''Birth of a Theorem'' is a remarkable journey into the world of the abstract mathematics that shape our lives and existence. When you first open the book and flick through the pages, you are confronted with complex formulas that disorientate the mind and defy the understanding of anyone not versed in the language of the mathematician. You realise at this point that you need a guide for your journey and there is none better that Cedric Vallini. He is a winner of the Fields Medal, the mathematical equivalent of the Nobel Prize. A genius who has dedicated his life to understanding the most complex aspects of our world. He is also a writer gifted in conveying the elation and despair that his gift can bring.
+
|summary=It's more than sixty years since I asked how babies were made.  My mother was deeply embarrassed and told me that she'd get me a book about it.  A couple of days later I was handed a pamphlet (which delivered nothing more than the basics, in clinical language which had never been used in our house before)  and I was told that it wouldn't be discussed any further as it ''wasn't something which nice people talked about''. I ''knew'' more, but was little ''wiser''. Thankfully, times have changed.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099581973</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Adam Grant
+
|author=Danny Dorling
|title= Originals: How Non-conformists Change the World
+
|title=Slowdown
|rating= 4  
+
|rating=4
|genre= Popular Science
+
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=Did you know that procrastination could actually aid creativity? No? Neither did I, but it's a piece of information that I shall embrace and wield in my defence from here on out, because Adam Grant says it is so. Filled with interesting snippets and fascinating cases, Originals is not just entertaining, but instructive as well. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0753556979</amazonuk>
+
|summary= We are living in a time of rapid change, and we're worried about it.  Dorling tells us that the latter is normal, natural and probably good for us. We are designed to worry and with the current state of what we're doing in the world we have much to be worried about.  However, over the next three-hundred-and-some pages, if you can follow the arguments, it sets out in scientific detail why either we shouldn't be as worried as we are, or in some cases that we're worrying about the wrong things.  Mostly.  Because mostly, things are not changing as rapidly as we think they are.  In fact, the rate of change in many things is slowing down and the direction of change will in some cases go into reverse.
 +
|isbn=0300243405
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Ben Miller
+
|isbn=Langford_Emily
|title=The Aliens are Coming
+
|title=Emily's Numbers
 +
|author=Joss Langford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Next time that you are away from the towns and cities, wait until it gets dark and then look into the night skyIf you are lucky enough for it not to be raining, you will likely see hundreds of stars in the skyEach one of these could be a Sun just like our own and each of these Suns could have planets orbiting itNow times this number a million fold and you can start to fathom the number of stars and planets out there – surely the human race is not a complete fluke and there are aliens out there?
+
|summary=Emily found words ''useful'', but counting was what she loved bestObviously, you can count anything and there's no limit to how far you can go, but then Emily moved a step further and began counting in twos.  She knew all about odd and even numbersThen she began counting in threes: half of the list were even numbers, but the other half was odd and it was this list of odd numbers which occurred when you counted in threes which she called ''threeven''(Actually, this confused me a little bit at first as they're a subset of the odd numbers but sound as though they ought to be a subset of the even numbers, but it all worked out well when I really thought about it.)
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B018W4J9VG</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Jens Harder
+
|isbn=1910593508
|title=Alpha: Directions
+
|title=Apollo
 +
|author=Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Graphic Novels
+
|genre=History
|summary=So, people might still ask me, why do I turn to graphic novels – aren't visual books with limited writing more suited to young people?  Yeah, right – try pawning this off on juvenile audiences and the semi-literate. If you can't kill that cliché off with pages such as these I don't know what will work.  I know the book isn't designed to be a message to people in the debate about the literary worth of graphic novels, but one side-effect of it is surely an engagement with that argumentWhat it is designed to be is a complete history of everything else – and in covering every prehistoric moment, it does just that, and absolutely brilliantly.
+
|summary=This incredible graphic novel is a love letter to the Moon landings and the passion for the subject drips off every Apollo by Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins. This is a story we know well and because of this, the authors take a few narrative shortcuts knowing that we can fill in the blanks. These shortcuts are the only downside to the book. If you've ever read a comic book adaptation of a film you will be familiar with the slight feeling that there are scenes missing and that dialogue has been trimmed. This is a graphic novel that could easily have been three times as long and still felt too short.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0861662458</amazonuk>
+
}}
 +
{{Frontpage
 +
|isbn=1999308719
 +
|title=Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-aging treatments
 +
|author=Adrian Cull
 +
|rating=4.5
 +
|genre=Lifestyle
 +
|summary=For many years now I've (half) joked that I intended to live forever and that so far, it was working out OKTime has passed though and although I'm a great deal fitter and healthier than most people of my age there were a few nagging health problems which were tipping my life out of balanceIt was time to look for a new approach and as so often happens, the reviewing gods brought me the book I needed.  ''Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-ageing treatments'' seemed like the answer to my problems - only you get so much more than just 101 tips.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Clancy Martin
+
|isbn=1847941834
|title= Love and Lies: And Why You Can't Have One Without the Other
+
|title=Atomic Habits
|rating= 3.5
+
|author=James Clear
|genre= Popular Science
+
|rating=4.5
|summary= Lying is wrong and the last people you would lie to willingly are the ones you love the most – or so you would like to think. In ''Love and Lies: And Why You Can't Have One Without the Other'', Clancy Martin, a philosophy professor, self-confessed expert liar, and serial groom, sets out on a mission to disprove the central beliefs we hold with respect to, no more and no less than, our own morality.
+
|genre=Lifestyle
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1784700770</amazonuk>
+
|summary=I've said this before but there are some books that you seek out, some books that you stumble across and some books that drop into your life because you really MUST read them, like, right now!  ''Atomic Habits'' is in the last category.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Andrea Wulf
+
|isbn=Honeyborne BlueII
|title=The Invention of Nature: The Adventures of Alexander von Humboldt, the Lost Hero of Science
+
|title=Blue Planet II
 +
|author=James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Biography
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=Alexander von Humboldt was born in Berlin in 1769, the younger brother of Wilhelm von Humboldt who would become a Prussian minister but who is perhaps better remembered as a philosopher and linguist.  The family was well-to-do and both brothers benefitted from an excellent education, although they lacked affection from their emotionally-distant widowed mother, but it was a legacy from her which would fund Alexander's first explorations. His first travels would be in Europe where he met and was influenced by people such as Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society, who had travelled with Thomas Cook. But it was his travels in Latin America which would lay the foundations for his life's work.
+
|summary=You may well remember when the sticking of a number '2' after a film title was suggesting something of prestige - that the first film had been so good it was fully justified to have something more. That has hardly been proven correct, but it has until recently almost been confined to the cinema - you barely got a TV series worthy of a numbered sequel, and never in the world of non-fiction. If someone has made a nature series about, say, Alaska (and boy aren't there are a lot of those these days) and wants to make another, why she just makes another - nothing would justify the numeral. But some nature programmes do have the prestige, the energy and the heft to demand follow-ups. And after five years in the making, the BBC's Blue Planet series has delivered a second helping.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848548982</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Alastair Fothergill and Huw Cordey
+
|isbn=1783099593
|title=The Hunt
+
|title=Speaking Up
 +
|author=Allyson Jule
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
+
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=My mother has long complained that nature programmes too often concentrate on the death and violence, or how it's all about the capture and killing of one animal by another. She's long had a point, but [[Of Orcas and Men: What Killer Whales Can Teach Us by David Neiwert|killer whales]] swanning by doing nothing, and lions sleeping off the heat without munching on a passing wildebeest's leg really don't cut it when it comes to providing popular TV content. I doubt she will be tuning in to the series this book accompanies, even if the volume very quickly testifies that it's not all about the capture – often the chase can be just as thrilling, and the result for the intended victim is favourable.
+
|summary='Speaking Up' has a fascinating subject matter - how language reflects and shapes our notions of gender. It looks at our use of language in media, education, religion, the workplace and personal relationships. Author Allyson Jule calls on an encyclopedic body of research from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. Reading it, we feel that she has studied everything that has ever been said on gendered linguistics; she references Foucault and the Kardashians with equal rigour.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1849907226</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Kima Cargill
+
|isbn=Campbell_Astra
|title= The Psychology of Overeating
+
|title=Ad Astra: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet
|rating= 4.5
+
|author=Dallas Campbell
|genre= Popular Science
+
|rating=5
|summary= As a nation, we are not the same as we used to be. We eat more, both as in more often and as in more of a serving size. And we eat worse. Processed foods. Sugary drinks. It’s not really news. As a result, our waistlines are larger, our blood pressure is higher, and our sugar levels are whoooosh. But it’s not just about the food. This book takes an in depth and incredibly interesting look at our lives as a whole, to show how the modern culture of consumerism shows up in every part of our day to day living and explains, to quite a significant degree, why many of us are overeating and why it is so hard to stop.
+
|genre=Popular Science
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1472581075</amazonuk>
+
|summary=So… you want to leave the planet? Before you do you'd better study the whole history of human space flight to get up to speed. That could take a while… if only there was a handy guide that could condense it all down for you. Enter Dallas Campbell with this book: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet.
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author= Marianne Taylor
+
|isbn=Adrian_Sock
|title= I Used To Know That: General Science
+
|title=Sock (Object Lessons)
|rating= 4
+
|author=Kim Adrian
|genre= Popular Science
+
|rating=3.5
|summary= This book got off to the right start in my mind because it comes in 3 key sections, each for one of 'my' sciences without a nod to any of the other '-ologies' (or ''pseudo sciences'' as they were often called at school). Marketed as ''stuff you forgot from school'', this is a book from the same series that has already spawned [[I Used to Know That: History by Emma Marriott ]], [[I Used to Know That: Maths by Chris Waring]] and [[I Should Know That - Great Britain by Emma Marriott]] among others.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178243447X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Joel Levy
 
|title=Why We Do the Things We Do: Psychology in a Nutshell
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Chalk and cheese; your left hand and your right; philosophy and psychology.  All pairs have something closely resembling yet very different from the other, whether through colour and crumbliness, or physical form, or from being studies of the mind.  The only thing is, one pair is alone.  Your two hands formed at the same time, whereas chalk is the older, and philosophy predates psychology.  The two were the same thing until recently, and we can perhaps point at a William James as the father of the split.  I make this point because when I reviewed this volume's [[Why We Think the Things we Think: Philosophy in a Nutshell by Alain Stephen|sister book]] I found no timeline or history evident. Here, however, we do get one – travelling quickly from the ideas of idiocy-cum-possession in our early history, through phrenology and mesmerism to the birth of psychology. The fact that we then immediately look at free will in much the same terms as the philosophers does shows how common the disciplines still are – and how vital to our understanding of ourselves both topics remain.
+
|summary=The subject of this book has been around for several millennia, and yet my partner's daughter has been employed for several years designing it, or them. It's something I use for about 200 days of every year, at a guess (well, I have my self-diagnosed over-active eccrine glands and other people to think about) – which clearly puts me at the opposite end of the scale to well-known mass-murderer of women, Ted Bundy, who was into stealing credit cards to fund his desire of having a fresh pair every single day. On which subject, the amount of them we create every year could stack to the freaking moon and more. Some idiots buy more than six pairs a year, apparently, which is plain stupid. I'm talking, as you can tell, of the humble sock.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782434127</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Alain Stephen
+
|isbn=Germano_Eye
|title=Why We Think the Things we Think: Philosophy in a Nutshell
+
|title=Eye Chart (Object Lessons)
 +
|author=William Germano
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Way back when, when I started back on adult education having finished my university life (I know, it's hard to believe sometimes, but bear with me) I was asked if I was going to do a philosophy A-level. No, I said – there was no point in studying something nobody can agree about.  The introduction to this book raises much the same point – the solution to philosophical questions and study is only ever going to be more questions. It says that Kant thought the study of thought, ''or, more precisely, how ideas are formed'' was the highest science, although that sounds like the psychology that I did indeed study. Still, study it many people do do – and probably a far greater number would wish to read around it and find out what it might be like to sound as if you have studied it – hence books like this.
+
|summary=It's happened to me, and like as not it has or will happen to you, too. I mean the receipt of certain little numerical results, with a positive or negative before them to prove the correction needed to my vision to make me see with the intended clarity and normality. I've had that gizmo that photos the back of my eye to check for diabetes and other problems, I've had different tests to check the pressure inside my eye, and I've come away with glasses I don't need to wear all the time, but certainly benefit from on holiday, or when watching TV or a cinema or theatre production. And above and beyond that I've stared at – and got wrong – the simple, seemingly ageless test, of various letters in various configurations that diminish in size, to prove to the relevant scientist at what stage things get blurry for me. Of course, it's not ageless, but the scientific progress that led to it, the changes other people made to it, and the cultural impact it's had are all on these eye-opening small pages.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1782434135</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Will Cohu
+
|isbn=Ball_Wonders
|title=Out of the Woods: the armchair guide to trees
+
|title=Wonders Beyond Numbers: A Brief History of All Things Mathematical
|rating=4
+
|author=Johnny Ball
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Most people probably accept trees as, well, ''trees''.  They're there and they're green.  Some are lighter, some darker.  Some are taller and other go for width, but as for telling them apart there were few that I could identify until recently.  I knew that the big tree at the bottom of next door's garden is a sycamore, but only because I heard someone say 'that sycamore is going to cause problems with the drains of the flats at the back'.  I was OK on white horse chestnuts too, but only when the kids were collecting conkers, so I was rather pleased when Will Cohu's book landed on my desk and I opened it expecting to find lots of pictures with all the details which I probably wouldn't remember.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1780722354</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Eugenia Cheng
 
|title=Cakes, Custard and Category Theory: Easy recipes for understanding complex maths
 
 
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary= Eugenia Cheng is a professor of maths and a lover of cake. If you’re wondering how those two things could ever intersect, it’s quite easy. And the result, the middle of the Venn diagram, if you will, is this book which makes maths fun, meaningful and relatively easy to digest. Much like her recipes.
+
|summary=Like many people of a ''certain age,'' I have fond memories of tuning in to watch Johnny Ball enthusiastically extolling the virtues of maths and science; succeeding where our schoolteachers had failed and actually making these subjects ''fun.'' Although decades have passed since those classic TV shows, his latest book proves that he has lost none of his passion and enthusiasm for his subject.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>B00TA8SIV6</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
{{newreview
+
{{Frontpage
|author=Jen Green and Wesley Robins
+
|isbn=Yong_Contain
|title=Oceans in 30 Seconds
+
|title=I Contain Multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life
 +
|author=Ed Yong
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Oceans in 30 Seconds is the latest book in the innovative series from Ivy Press, which aims to give an informative and entertaining overview of a given subject in bite-sized chunks. Each given subject has its own two-page spread, with a concise description on the left, covering all of the main points, and a colourful illustration on the right hand page, complete with extra snippets of information. Each chapter also has a handy 3-second sum up, which further condenses the main idea of the chapter into a single sentence.
+
|summary=The world you know is a lie. There is no such thing as good or bad microbes. Sickness and health are all far more complex than we thought. Things designed to save us may kill us and things we think would kill us may save us. Welcome to the modern study of microbes.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>178240239X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 +
 +
Move on to [[Newest Reference Reviews]]

Latest revision as of 09:12, 27 May 2024

1787333175.jpg

Review of

You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here by Benji Waterhouse

5star.jpg Popular Science

I was tempted to read You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here after enjoying Adam Kay's first book This is Going to Hurt, a glorious mixture of insight into the workings of the NHS, humour and autobiography. You Don't Have to be Mad... promised the same elements but moved from physical problems to mental illness and the work of a psychiatrist. I did wonder whether it was acceptable to be looking for humour in this setting but the laughter is directed at a situation rather than a person and it is always delivered with empathy and understanding. Full Review

1788360702.jpg

Review of

Charles, The Alternative Prince: An Unauthorised Biography by Edzard Ernst

4star.jpg Biography

For over forty years, Prince Charles has been an ardent supporter of alternative medicine and complementary therapies. Charles, The Alternative Prince critically assesses the Prince's opinions, beliefs and aims against the background of the scientific evidence. There are few instances of his beliefs being vindicated and his relentless promotion of treatments which have no scientific support has done considerable damage to the reputation of a man who is proud of his refusal to apply evidence-based, logical reasoning to his ambitions. Full Review

0192779230.jpg

Review of

Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs by Isabel Thomas

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

'Germs' seems to have become a catch-all word to cover anything unpleasant which has the potential to make you ill. In the first book in what looks to be a very promising new series, OUP and Isabel Thomas have provided a clear and accessible introduction to the world of germs. We get an informed look at how people originally thought about diseases and what they thought caused them and how the thinking has developed over time. The vocabulary can be confusing but Thomas gives a regular box headed 'speak like a scientist' which explains some of the trickiest concepts and you'll soon be familiar with bacteria, fungi, protists and viruses – and how we should protect ourselves. Full Review

Gareth steel.jpg

Review of

Never Work With Animals by Gareth Steel

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

I don't often begin my reviews with a warning but with Never Work With Animals it seems to be appropriate. Stories of a vet's life have proved popular since All Creatures Great and Small but Never Work With Animals is definitely not the companion volume you've been looking for. As a TV show the author would argue that All Creatures lacked realism, as do other similar programmes. Gareth Steel says that the book is not suitable for younger readers and - after reading - I agree with him. He says that he's written it to inform and provoke thought, particularly amongst aspiring vets. It deals with some uncomfortable and distressing issues but it doesn't lack sensitivity, although there are occasions when you would be best choosing between reading and eating. Full Review

0241480442.jpg

Review of

Healthy Vegan The Cookbook: Vegan Cooking Meets Nutrition Science by Niko Rittenau and Sebastian Copien

4.5star.jpg Cookery

Emotionally, I am a vegan. Mentally, I am a vegan. I read How to Love Animals in a Human-Shaped World by Henry Mance and was appalled by the way in which we treat animals in our search for (preferably cheap) food. Practically, I am not a vegan. It worked for a while apart from the odd blip with regard to cheese but then a perfect storm of those events which you hope don't occur too often in your lifetime tempted me back to animal-based protein. It wasn't the taste - I know that I can get plant-based food that tastes just as good as anything plundered from the animal kingdom - it was the ease of being able to get sufficient protein when meals were often snatched in a few spare moments. Full Review

1108838936.jpg

Review of

A Tattoo on my Brain by Daniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker

3.5star.jpg Autobiography

Alzheimer's is a disease that slowly wears away your identity and sense of self. I have been directly affected by this cruel disease, as have many. Your memories and personality worn away like a statue over time affected the elements. It seems as if nature wants that final victory over you and your dignity. This is what makes Daniel Gibbs' memoir so admirable. Daniel Gibbs is a neurologist who was diagnosed with Alzheimers and has documented his journey in A Tattoo on my Brain. Full Review

0099551063.jpg

Review of

The Wisdom of Psychopaths: Lessons in life from Saints, Spies and Serial Killers by Dr Kevin Dutton

4star.jpg Popular Science

'Donald Trump outscores Hitler on psychopathic traits' claims Oxford University researcher.

Until the events of 6 January 2021 that might have surprised, even shocked many readers: now they're probably convinced that they knew it all along. The statement has lost a little of its shock value but it does help us to understand more about the nature of psychopathy. It's too easy to associate psychopathy with the Yorkshire Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Saddam Hussein or Robert Maudsley, the real-life Hannibal Lecter, but the truth is that having psychopathic traits can sometimes be a good thing. Full Review

1849767343.jpg

Review of

Count on Me by Miguel Tanco

4.5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

The title and format of this book might lead you to think that it's either about responsibility - or it's a basic 1-2-3 book for those just starting out on the numbers journey. It isn't: it's a hymn of praise to maths. It's about why maths is so wonderful and how you meet it in everyday life. Full Review

B08B39QNRH.jpg

Review of

The Curious History of Writer's Cramp: Solving an age-old problem by Michael Pritchard

4star.jpg Popular Science

Society is based on speech but civilisation requires the written word.

I came to Michael Pritchard's The Curious History of Writer's Cramp by a rather strange route. I have problems with my hands which orthopaedic surgeons refer to as 'interesting': I prefer the word 'painful' but I have an interest in the way that hands work. An exploration of the history of a problem which has defeated some of the best medical minds for some three-hundred-years seemed liked excellent background reading and so it proved, with the book being as much about the doctors treating the sufferers and the changing medical attitudes as the problem itself. Full Review

1776572858.jpg

Review of

How Do You Make a Baby? by Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)

5star.jpg Home and Family

It's more than sixty years since I asked how babies were made. My mother was deeply embarrassed and told me that she'd get me a book about it. A couple of days later I was handed a pamphlet (which delivered nothing more than the basics, in clinical language which had never been used in our house before) and I was told that it wouldn't be discussed any further as it wasn't something which nice people talked about. I knew more, but was little wiser. Thankfully, times have changed. Full Review

0300243405.jpg

Review of

Slowdown by Danny Dorling

4star.jpg Politics and Society

We are living in a time of rapid change, and we're worried about it. Dorling tells us that the latter is normal, natural and probably good for us. We are designed to worry and with the current state of what we're doing in the world we have much to be worried about. However, over the next three-hundred-and-some pages, if you can follow the arguments, it sets out in scientific detail why either we shouldn't be as worried as we are, or in some cases that we're worrying about the wrong things. Mostly. Because mostly, things are not changing as rapidly as we think they are. In fact, the rate of change in many things is slowing down and the direction of change will in some cases go into reverse. Full Review

Langford Emily.jpg

Review of

Emily's Numbers by Joss Langford

4star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

Emily found words useful, but counting was what she loved best. Obviously, you can count anything and there's no limit to how far you can go, but then Emily moved a step further and began counting in twos. She knew all about odd and even numbers. Then she began counting in threes: half of the list were even numbers, but the other half was odd and it was this list of odd numbers which occurred when you counted in threes which she called threeven. (Actually, this confused me a little bit at first as they're a subset of the odd numbers but sound as though they ought to be a subset of the even numbers, but it all worked out well when I really thought about it.) Full Review

1910593508.jpg

Review of

Apollo by Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins

5star.jpg History

This incredible graphic novel is a love letter to the Moon landings and the passion for the subject drips off every Apollo by Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins. This is a story we know well and because of this, the authors take a few narrative shortcuts knowing that we can fill in the blanks. These shortcuts are the only downside to the book. If you've ever read a comic book adaptation of a film you will be familiar with the slight feeling that there are scenes missing and that dialogue has been trimmed. This is a graphic novel that could easily have been three times as long and still felt too short. Full Review

1999308719.jpg

Review of

Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-aging treatments by Adrian Cull

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

For many years now I've (half) joked that I intended to live forever and that so far, it was working out OK. Time has passed though and although I'm a great deal fitter and healthier than most people of my age there were a few nagging health problems which were tipping my life out of balance. It was time to look for a new approach and as so often happens, the reviewing gods brought me the book I needed. Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-ageing treatments seemed like the answer to my problems - only you get so much more than just 101 tips. Full Review

1847941834.jpg

Review of

Atomic Habits by James Clear

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

I've said this before but there are some books that you seek out, some books that you stumble across and some books that drop into your life because you really MUST read them, like, right now! Atomic Habits is in the last category. Full Review

link=http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/Honeyborne BlueII/ref=nosim?tag=thebookbag-21

Review of

Blue Planet II by James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow

4.5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

You may well remember when the sticking of a number '2' after a film title was suggesting something of prestige - that the first film had been so good it was fully justified to have something more. That has hardly been proven correct, but it has until recently almost been confined to the cinema - you barely got a TV series worthy of a numbered sequel, and never in the world of non-fiction. If someone has made a nature series about, say, Alaska (and boy aren't there are a lot of those these days) and wants to make another, why she just makes another - nothing would justify the numeral. But some nature programmes do have the prestige, the energy and the heft to demand follow-ups. And after five years in the making, the BBC's Blue Planet series has delivered a second helping. Full Review

1783099593.jpg

Review of

Speaking Up by Allyson Jule

4star.jpg Popular Science

'Speaking Up' has a fascinating subject matter - how language reflects and shapes our notions of gender. It looks at our use of language in media, education, religion, the workplace and personal relationships. Author Allyson Jule calls on an encyclopedic body of research from the mid-twentieth century to the present day. Reading it, we feel that she has studied everything that has ever been said on gendered linguistics; she references Foucault and the Kardashians with equal rigour. Full Review

Campbell Astra.jpg

Review of

Ad Astra: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet by Dallas Campbell

5star.jpg Popular Science

So… you want to leave the planet? Before you do you'd better study the whole history of human space flight to get up to speed. That could take a while… if only there was a handy guide that could condense it all down for you. Enter Dallas Campbell with this book: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet. Full Review

Adrian Sock.jpg

Review of

Sock (Object Lessons) by Kim Adrian

3.5star.jpg Popular Science

The subject of this book has been around for several millennia, and yet my partner's daughter has been employed for several years designing it, or them. It's something I use for about 200 days of every year, at a guess (well, I have my self-diagnosed over-active eccrine glands and other people to think about) – which clearly puts me at the opposite end of the scale to well-known mass-murderer of women, Ted Bundy, who was into stealing credit cards to fund his desire of having a fresh pair every single day. On which subject, the amount of them we create every year could stack to the freaking moon and more. Some idiots buy more than six pairs a year, apparently, which is plain stupid. I'm talking, as you can tell, of the humble sock. Full Review

Germano Eye.jpg

Review of

Eye Chart (Object Lessons) by William Germano

4.5star.jpg Popular Science

It's happened to me, and like as not it has or will happen to you, too. I mean the receipt of certain little numerical results, with a positive or negative before them to prove the correction needed to my vision to make me see with the intended clarity and normality. I've had that gizmo that photos the back of my eye to check for diabetes and other problems, I've had different tests to check the pressure inside my eye, and I've come away with glasses I don't need to wear all the time, but certainly benefit from on holiday, or when watching TV or a cinema or theatre production. And above and beyond that I've stared at – and got wrong – the simple, seemingly ageless test, of various letters in various configurations that diminish in size, to prove to the relevant scientist at what stage things get blurry for me. Of course, it's not ageless, but the scientific progress that led to it, the changes other people made to it, and the cultural impact it's had are all on these eye-opening small pages. Full Review

Ball Wonders.jpg

Review of

Wonders Beyond Numbers: A Brief History of All Things Mathematical by Johnny Ball

5star.jpg Popular Science

Like many people of a certain age, I have fond memories of tuning in to watch Johnny Ball enthusiastically extolling the virtues of maths and science; succeeding where our schoolteachers had failed and actually making these subjects fun. Although decades have passed since those classic TV shows, his latest book proves that he has lost none of his passion and enthusiasm for his subject. Full Review

Yong Contain.jpg

Review of

I Contain Multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life by Ed Yong

5star.jpg Popular Science

The world you know is a lie. There is no such thing as good or bad microbes. Sickness and health are all far more complex than we thought. Things designed to save us may kill us and things we think would kill us may save us. Welcome to the modern study of microbes. Full Review

Move on to Newest Reference Reviews