|summary=The sub-title of Martin Cohen's latest book, Mind Games, promises, rather optimistically in my case I felt, '31 days to rediscover your brain'. It is rather presumptuous of him to assume that I had ''discovered'' it in the first place, but I appreciate his confidence.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444337092</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Marcus Chown
|title=We Need To Talk About Kelvin
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Sporting the best title for a popular science book this side of [[:Category:Alex Bellos|Alex Bellos']] ''Here's Looking At Euclid'', Marcus Chown shows us what everyday things tell us about the universe. You'll find out how your reflection in a window shows the randomness of the universe, how the abundance of iron shows a 4.5bn degree furnace exists in space, and how most of the world's astronomers are wrong about what the darkness of night shows us.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571244033</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mick O'Hare
|title=Why Can't Elephants Jump?
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Well? Why can't elephants jump? And while you're pondering that, think about why James Bond wanted his martini shaken, not stirred. Why is frozen milk yellow? Does eating bogeys do you any harm? What's the hole for in a ballpoint pen? How long a line could you draw with a single pencil? For answers to all these questions, and so many more, then do yourself a favour and pick up the latest collection from the New Scientist's [http://www.last-word.com/ Last Word column].
Mick O'Hare was also kind enough to be [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Mick O'Hare|interviewed by Bookbag]].
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184668398X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Henry Nicholls
|title=The Way of the Panda: The Curious History of China's Political Animal
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=The book cover alone, with its panda hugging a tree, says 'buy me', 'read me.' A good start. The sections are divided into no-nonsense headings: Extraction, Abstraction and Protection. Maps and Prologue give a flavour of what's to come. The inside front cover states boldly that 'Giant pandas have been causing a stir ever since their formal scientific discovery just over 140 years ago.' I think it safe to say that many of us would probably say automatically, without thinking, that the panda has immense appeal. But is it only because of the beautifully marked eyes which give the animal a cuddly, teddy bear look?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846683688</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Cindy M Meston and David Buss
|title=Why Women Have Sex: Understanding Sexual Motivation from Adventure to Revenge (and Everything in Between)
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Many many years ago, a man who was far too young to be the fusty, dusty RE teacher he was shaping to be, asked my best friend and I why we were each having sex with our girlfriends. Even aged fifteen I thought something along the lines of 'well, if he doesn't know by now, he never will', and listed that it was great fun, a very enjoyable sensation, showed an appetite for the relationship, and that sex proved the ultimate in bonding - how much closer, to be blunt, could you be to someone than actually inside them? I'll come clean now and admit said girlfriend was not real, but several have been since, and I have had heaps of fun finding out how - and perhaps why - women have sex. I was never to know, until now, there are 237 reasons for it.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099546639</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mary Roach
|title=Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in Space
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Space is big. Really big. And it's a long way away, too. I mean, I'm having enough trouble deciding what to pack for a year in Africa. I'd be hopeless if I were off to Mars. But then, no-one's written a book on what to stick in your suitcase for Sierra Leone. And Mary Roach ''has'' written a book on what to take to the red planet...
Except, this is so much more than a shopping list. This is the definitive inside scoop for anyone who has ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in a world that is, well, out of this world.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1851687807</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Richard Conniff
|title=Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=This isn't quite the book it seems. From the subtitle, I inferred a memoir or autobiography. Instead Richard Conniff has chosen twenty-three of his journal articles to reprint from a clutch of prestigious magazines, including ''National Geographic'' and ''Smithsonian''. Taken together, they illustrate his wide range of interests in the animal world. While this glimpse of some of the most peculiar creatures on the planet makes for fascinating reading, it's definitely not a book to be galloped through in a single sitting.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393304574</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman
|title=Seasons of Life: The Biological Rhythms That Living Things Need to Thrive and Survive
|rating=3.5
|genre=Popular Science
|summary="Seasons of Life" aims to present a rounded picture of the way seasonality affects human life as well as the rest of nature. Covering everything from Seasonal Affective Disorder to the potential for animals to adapt to climate change, this book would be an interesting read for anyone with an enquiring mind and an interest in the natural world.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>186197969X</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Mark van Vugt and Anjana Ahuja
|title=Selected: Why some people lead, why others follow, and why it matters
|rating=4
|genre=Business and Finance
|summary=''Selected'' is based on the psychology of leadership. Some of us may ask the perfectly reasonable question 'Does it matter who leads and who follows?' Well, apparently it not only matters but it matters greatly. And the co-authors go to great lengths to tell us why. The useful prologue informs us that the whole area of leadership can be traced back in time, by no less than several million years. Vugt and Ahuja explain that the rather innocent (and even a bit airy-fairy to some) word 'leader' is evolved from various academic disciplines. Including the more obvious psychology, there is also biology and anthropology in the mix. Heady stuff. And yes, I did want to read on.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846683270</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Adam Phillips
|title=On Balance
|rating=4
|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=Essential for a tightrope walker, prized as an intellectual objective, balance is generally considered something to which we can aspire. We praise someone who makes a balanced decision, we envy people who have a 'good work/life balance' we offer an opinion 'on balance' to demonstrate that we have considered various arguments and options.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241143888</amazonuk>
}}
{{newreview
|author=Geoffrey Miller
|title=Must-Have: The Hidden Instincts Behind Everything We Buy
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=If no one can tell the difference, why shell out $30 000 for a real Rolex when a 'mere' $1200 will get you a virtually identical replica?
Why do luxury manufacturers such as BMW spend money advertising in mass media whose typical readership most likely won't ever be able to afford their products?
And just why is the ''i'' in iPod so important?
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099437929</amazonuk>
}}
