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[[Category:New Reviews|Popular Science]]==Popular science==__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Kees van Deemter1787333175|title=Not Exactly - In Praise Of Vagueness|rating=3.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=How warm is a warm day? Or rather, given the weather at the moment, how chilly is a chilly day? Is it better You Don't Have to know I want a small helping of peas, or be Mad to know that I want 82 peas? There are times when vagueness is more useful than being specific. Kees van Deemter makes this point, sharing many examples from a number of fields, including maths, philosophy, linguistics and AI.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199545901</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewWork Here|author=Druin Burch|title=Taking the MedicineBenji Waterhouse

|summary=In 1898I 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}}, Burch points out that a new drug was developed and marketed for glorious mixture of insight into the treatment workings of tuberculosis by Bayer & Cothe NHS, humour and autobiography. TB is such an ancient enemy of man that there is apparently evidence of an earlier strain ''You Don't Have to be found in Egyptian mummiesMad... The German firm had discovered a chemical that seemed '' promised the same elements but moved from physical problems to mental illness and the work well, and patients and indeed their own staff, who were tested of a psychiatrist. seemed I did wonder whether it was acceptable to respond well - be looking for humour in this setting but the laughter is directed at a situation rather than a person and it was named Heroin - is always delivered with empathy and its addictive effects were at first missedunderstanding.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845951506</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Roger Scruton1788360702|title=I Drink Therefore I AmCharles, The Alternative Prince: An Unauthorised Biography|author=Edzard Ernst|rating=3.54|genre=Popular ScienceBiography|summary=Roger Scruton is a conservative philosopher and composerFor over forty years, best known for his work on philosophy Prince Charles has been an ardent supporter of alternative medicine and musiccomplementary therapies. ''Charles, but who shares PlatoThe Alternative Prince's belief that 'nothing more excellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by critically assesses the gods to manPrince' s opinions, beliefs and aims against the background of the scientific evidence. There are few instances of his beliefs being vindicated and in this book seeks to combine his two interests relentless promotion of philosophy and treatments which have no scientific support has done considerable damage to the fruits reputation of the vinea man who is proud of his refusal to apply evidence-based, logical reasoning to his ambitions.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847065082</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Keith Laidler0192779230|title=AnimalsVery Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs|author=Isabel Thomas|rating=4.5|genre=Popular ScienceChildren's Non-Fiction|summary='Germs'Animals'' is described as seems to have become a visual guide catch-all word to cover anything unpleasant which has the potential to make you ill. In the animal kingdomfirst book in what looks to be a very promising new series, but please don't think OUP and Isabel Thomas have provided a clear and accessible introduction to the world of it as a picture book as it's far more than thatgerms. Don't think of it as a coffee table book either – despite We get an informed look at how people originally thought about diseases and what they thought caused them and how the fact that its size – midway between A2 and A3 – might tempt you to think that waythinking has developed over time. ItThe vocabulary can be confusing but Thomas gives a regular box headed 's speak like a journey through the complex diversity scientist' which explains some of the animal kingdom based on sound scientific principlestrickiest concepts and you'll soon be familiar with bacteria, fungi, protists and viruses – and how we should protect ourselves.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184916004X</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Bill Butterworthgareth_steel|title=Reversing Global Warming For Profit Never Work With Animals|author=Gareth Steel|rating=3.54|genre=Politics Animals and SocietyWildlife|summary=There arenI don't many climate change deniers left, are there? We all know often begin my reviews with a warning but with ''Never Work With Animals'' itseems to be appropriate. Stories of a vet's therelife 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. We all know, tooAs a TV show the author would argue that ''All Creatures'' lacked realism, as do other similar programmes. Gareth Steel says that the world's population growth book is on a collision course not suitable for younger readers and - after reading - I agree with the dwindling of its resourceshim. The worldHe says that he's going written it to get hotterinform and provoke thought, its weather more extremeparticularly amongst aspiring vets. Fossil fuels It deals with some uncomfortable and distressing issues but it doesn't lack sensitivity, although there are going to run out. More and more people will compete for fewer occasions when you would be best choosing between reading and fewer of civilisation's luxurieseating. We're all worried. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312810</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Richard Wrangham 0241480442|title=Catching FireHealthy Vegan The Cookbook: How Vegan Cooking Made Us Human Meets Nutrition Science|author=Niko Rittenau and Sebastian Copien

|genre=Popular ScienceCookery|summary=Humans are cooking apesEmotionally, I am a vegan. Mentally, I am a vegan. According I read [[How to Richard Wrangham, mastery of fire Love Animals in a Human-Shaped World by Henry Mance]] and cooking of was appalled by the way in which we treat animals in our search for (preferably cheap) food that resulted . Practically, I am not a vegan. It worked for a while apart from it was at the root odd blip with regard to cheese but then a perfect storm of human evolutionary development and ultimate success. Various factors have been proposed as the crucial stimulus those events which led you hope don't occur too often in your lifetime tempted me back to animal-based protein. It wasn't the appearance of taste - I know that I can get plant-based food that tastes just as good as anything plundered from the first recognisably human creatures: leaving aside divine intervention (be animal kingdom - it from God, extra-terrestrials or future humans travelling in time), was the candidates for what made our ancestral apes stand straighter and start growing brains range from socialised hunting ease of being able to chattering about kinship to eating seafoodget sufficient protein when meals were often snatched in a few spare moments.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682851</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Alexandra BruceDaniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker|title=2012: Science or SuperstitionA Tattoo on my Brain

|genre=Popular ScienceAutobiography|summary=The fuss about 2012 has not started just recentlyAlzheimer's is a disease that slowly wears away your identity and sense of self. The first book to feature the story was from a Yale professorI have been directly affected by this cruel disease, in 1966as have many. We've also had prog rock bands named after Popol Vuh, Your memories and personality worn away like a statue over time affected the Maya creation mythelements. But It seems as the crunch date of December 21st, 2012 - the winter solstice if nature wants that year - nears, itfinal victory over you and your dignity. This is what makes Daniel Gibbs's becoming a very big story indeedmemoir so admirable. Even though it sounds absurd - the end of Daniel Gibbs is a 5,125-year long cycle of the Maya calendar, which started on August 13th, 3114BCE - or neurologist who was judged to start then, when they came across this concept a couple of thousand years into that period. Surely they couldndiagnosed with Alzheimers and has documented his journey in ''t predict the future from their A Tattoo on my Brain'primitive' state with such accuracy?.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1934708283</amazonuk>1108838936

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Stephen Baker0099551063|title=They've Got Your Number|rating=4.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=If you are The Wisdom of Psychopaths: Lessons in the slightest bit paranoid, worry that ''Big Brother'' is always watching or like to believe that you are not a number, but a free man (or woman), then this may not be the book for you, as it will do nothing to dispel any of those worries. If, on the other hand, you think 'the mathematical modelling of humanity' sounds like one of the sexiest things everlife from Saints, Spies and are chomping at the bit to learn more about it, then you might well be interested in what Business Week journalist Baker has to say.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099507021</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewSerial Killers|author=Dr Aaron Carroll and Dr Rachel Vreeman|title=Don't Swallow Your Gum|rating=5|genre=Lifestyle|summary='''BANG'''. That's the sound of copious urban myths being shot down. '''BANG'''. That's the sound of the old wives slamming the door, as their tales get revealed as baseless. '''CLICK'''. That's the noise lots of ill-informed websites make as they get closed down. All noises come due to this brilliant book.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141043369</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Robert Rowland Smith |title=Breakfast with SocratesKevin Dutton

|summary=In ''Breakfast with Socrates'Donald Trump outscores Hitler on psychopathic traits', subtitled A Philosophy of Everyday Life, former claims Oxford Fellow Robert Roland Smith takes various elements of a 'typical' day and provides insight into what an eclectic collection of thinkers might have to offer to make these mundane routines more interesting. After all, as Socrates declared 'the unexamined life is not worth living'University researcher.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682371</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=James Hannam|title=God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science|rating=5|genre=Popular Science|summary=Everybody knows that the Medieval people thought the world was flat and that it wasn't until Columbus proved otherwise that they found out it was a sphere. Everybody knows that the inquisition burned people at the stake for their scientific ideas and that Copernicus lived in perpetual fear of persecution. Everyone knows that the Pope banned human dissection and the number zero, and everybody is wrong.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848310706</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner|title=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 Comic Strip History statement has lost a little of Space|rating=5|genre=Children's Non-Fiction|summary=Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner treated its shock value but it does help us to a [[The Comic Strip History of understand more about the World by Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner|Comic Strip History nature of the World]], and have now turned their attention to spacepsychopathy. They explain It's too easy to children everything from associate psychopathy with the origins of the universeYorkshire Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Saddam Hussein or Robert Maudsley, to what ancient civilisations thought of the starsreal-life Hannibal Lecter, through astronomers discovering but the truth about planets, right up to current space missionsis that having psychopathic traits can sometimes be a good thing.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747594325</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Ian Stewart1849767343|title=Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical TreasuresCount on Me|author=Miguel Tanco

|genre=Popular ScienceChildren's Non-Fiction|summary=Ian Stewart has been collecting mathematical curiosities, puzzles The title and stories since he was 14format 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. He published his It isn't: it'Cabinet s a hymn of Mathematical Curiosities'praise to maths. It' s about why maths is so wonderful and how you meet it in 2008, and hot on its success, he's sharing this second volume with useveryday life.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682924</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|isbn=B08B39QNRH|authortitle=Mick OThe Curious History of Writer'Hares Cramp: Solving an age-old problem|titleauthor=How To Make A TornadoMichael Pritchard

|summary=Another year, another must-read book from the New Scientist. We've been here before with [[Do Polar Bears Get Lonely? by Mick O'Hare|polar bears]], [[Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? by Mick O'Hare|penguins]] and [[How To Fossilise Your Hamster by Mick O'Hare|hamsters]]. Now it's time to turn our attention to how to make a tornado, and all the other crazy experiments that scientists have done over the years.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682878</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Eva Hoffman|title=Time (Big Ideas)|rating=4.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=''Time'' Society is one of ''Big Ideas'' series of books aiming to revisit based on speech but civilisation requires the greatest notions and concepts and to provide them with a modern summary and understanding. The series strives to cause people to think and debate, to re-evaluate and doubt. Another ''Big Ideas'' books deal with topics such as ''Democracy'', ''Identity'' and ''Bodieswritten word''.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846680387</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw|title=Why Does E Equal mc Squared?|rating=4I came to Michael Pritchard's ''The Curious History of Writer's Cramp'' by a rather strange route.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=Why does E=mc² and why should we care? Two questions that every intelligent person should be able I have problems with my hands which orthopaedic surgeons refer to answer, as 'interesting': I prefer the word 'painful' but I'll bet have an interest in the way that 95% couldn'thands work. Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw explain this most famous An exploration of equations to the layperson in such history of a way that they won't need anything more complicated than Pythagoras' theorem to understand problem which has defeated some of the best medical minds for some three-hundred-years seemed liked excellent background reading and so itproved, with the book being as much about the doctors treating the sufferers and the changing medical attitudes as the problem itself.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0306817586</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Tadg Farrington1776572858|title=The Average Life of the Average PersonHow Do You Make a Baby?|author=Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)

|genre=Popular ScienceHome and Family|summary=Back in school, we would often bemoan the idea of It'average', saying s more than sixty years since I asked how babies were made. My mother was deeply embarrassed and told me that like being 'normalshe', if there were such d get me a thing, who would even want to be book about it? There could be nothing worse, we thought, than being average. Except...there is by definition A couple of days later I was handed a whole lot worse pamphlet (which delivered nothing more than 'average' – the exact same amount that is better than averagebasics, in factclinical 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''. And that I ''knew'' more, but was the problemlittle ''wiser''. Thankfully, times have changed.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086235</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Richard D RyderDanny Dorling|title=Nelson, Hitler and DianaSlowdown

|genre=Popular SciencePolitics and Society|summary=Was Horatio Nelson, We are living in a navy officer time of great renownrapid change, forever thrusting himself into the limelight, doing and we're worried about it because his mother passed away when he was nine? . Was Hitler overly affected by his father dying in a time of paternal disapprovalDorling tells us that the latter is normal, natural and a kind of Oedipal reaction probably good for us. We are designed to being worry and with the man current state of what we're doing in the house making him suffer when she herself died? world we have much to be worried about. And However, over the next three-hundred-and-some pages, if you can Dianafollow the arguments, Princess of Walesit sets out in scientific detail why either we shouldn' parentst be as worried as we are, or in some cases that we' divorce lead to a claim she was a sufferer 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 borderline personality disorder?change will in some cases go into reverse.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1845401662</amazonuk>0300243405

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Evalyn GatesLangford_Emily|title=EinsteinEmily's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the UniverseNumbers|author=Joss Langford

|genre=Popular Science Children's Non-Fiction|summary=Subtitled Emily found words ''The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universeuseful'' Gates, but counting was what she loved best. Obviously, you can count anything and there' introduction s no limit to astro-physics and cosmology is everything that how far you would expect of such can go, but then Emily moved a bookstep further and began counting in twos. She knew all about odd and even numbers. GatesThen 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 ' tries 'threeven''so. (Actually, this confused me a little bit at first as they''' hard re a subset of the odd numbers but sound as though they ought to be readable, and mostly succeedsa subset of the even numbers, but at the same time, the subject matter is it all worked out well-nigh incomprehensible. Or maybe, that's just mewhen I really thought about it.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393062384</amazonuk>)

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Stuart Sutherland1910593508|title=IrrationalityApollo|author=Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins|rating=4.5|genre=Popular ScienceHistory|summary=The belief that humans are, essentially, rational dates This incredible graphic novel is a love letter to the Greek antiquity, Moon landings and although intellectual and philosophical fashions changed throughout the epochspassion for the subject drips off every Apollo by Matt Fitch, the capacity to reason Chris Baker and behave in a rational manner is often considered to be a defining characteristics of mature humanityMike Collins. Irrational behaviours have been seen as an evidence of psychiatric or otherwise pathology.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905177070</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Brian Dunning|title=Skeptoid 2: More Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena |rating=4|genre=Popular Science|summary=Brian Dunning This is the author responsible for a series of weekly podcasts debunking story we know well and analysing a variety because of dubiousthis, pseudo-scientific, un-scientific and downright loony ideas, claims and myths common or persistent the authors take a few narrative shortcuts knowing that we can fill in the pop (and not so pop) cultureblanks. These shortcuts are the only downside to the book. If you''Skeptoid 2'' is essentially ve ever read a written version comic book adaptation of those podcasts, a collection of fifty pieces of which many can film you will be also read or listened to at his [http://skeptoidfamiliar with the slight feeling that there are scenes missing and that dialogue has been trimmed.com/ website]This is a graphic novel that could easily have been three times as long and still felt too short.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1440422850</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Dan Gardner1999308719|title=RiskLive Forever Manual: The Science , ethics and Politics of Fearcompanies behind the new anti-aging treatments|author=Adrian Cull

|genre=Popular ScienceLifestyle|summary=Picture 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 world terrorised by just two wordsfew nagging health problems which were tipping my life out of balance. A civilised, healthy, wealthy world no less, in thrall It was time to look for a new approach and under threat from two words. Not what those two words represent evenas so often happens, just the actual small phrasereviewing gods brought me the book I needed. It sounds ridiculous, but when I say those two words – ''bird flu'Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-ageing treatments' – and you've stopped laughing, you may well remember how seemed like the panic started, the nonanswer to my problems -existent worry was the biggest concern of the western media for some time, and then it went away againonly you get so much more than just 101 tips.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0753515539</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Iain McCalman1847941834|title=Darwin's Armada: Four Voyagers to the Southern Oceans and Their Battle for the Theory of Evolution|rating=3.5|genre=Biography|summary=A look at Darwin's journey on The Beagle, as well as journeys by Joseph Hooker, Thomas Huxley and Alfred Wallace. Darwin's Armada provides a broad overview that strikes a different tone to other books in a crowded market. Casual readers who usually steer clear of non-fiction will enjoy it.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184737266X</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewAtomic Habits|author=Jerry A Coyne|title=Why Evolution is True|rating=5|genre=Popular Science|summary=This book should not be needed.The theory of evolution has huge explanatory and predictive powers and it is also, philosophically, a wonderful one to behold: it shows a unity of all living things and our human connection to them all; through the billions of years and millions of generations, from the first bacteria to the human beings capable of understanding the story of life as it unfolded on this planet, the story told by the evolution theory is an exhilarating one; possibly the greatest story ever told by science. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199230846</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Philip Ball|title=Shapes|rating=5|genre=Popular Science|summary=''Shapes'' is one volume of a new trilogy born out of the author's 1999 book 'The Self-Made Tapestry: Pattern Formation in Nature', in which he surveyed a range of contemporary scientific investigation into the extent of nature's patterning with examples taken from areas such as plant growth, minerals, shells, desert sands, lightning, galaxies and atoms. This book has been restructured into the stand-alone volumes ''Shapes'', ''Flow'' and ''Branches'', with new material added.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199237964</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=John Gribbin and Michael White|title=Darwin: A Life in ScienceJames Clear

|genre=BiographyLifestyle|summary=This straightforward I've said this before but there are some books that you seek out, some books that you stumble across and likeable biography of Charles Darwin charts the evolution of his theories of evolution, while providing solid insights some books that drop into the man in the context of his upbringing, education and family your life. Importantly, it makes because you want to really MUST read ''On the Origin of the Species''them, like, acting as a primer for the ideas introduced in that famous volume. right now!  ''Darwin: A Life in ScienceAtomic Habits'' is pitched beautifully for in the reader of popular science, yet gives plenty of signposts enabling future study. It also gives a very believable picture of Darwin, based on convincing evidence and without falling into florid psychological speculationlast category.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847391494</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Patricia FaraHoneyborne BlueII|title=Science: A Four Thousand Year History|rating=5|genre=Popular Science|summary=From Ancient Babylon to the present day, Patricia Fara presents a definitive history of science. It's wide-ranging enough to cover simply everything you could hope it would, whilst being in-depth enough so that you gain a sufficient understanding of the science and the people involved. It serves as a simple reference guide for the layperson - it's riddled with information, whilst also being perfectly readable as a 'biography of science'. If you ever wanted to know anything about the history of science, this is the book for you. Patricia Fara was also kind enough to be [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks to Patricia Fara|interviewed by Bookbag]].|amazonuk=<amazonuk>019922689X</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewBlue Planet II|author=Neil deGrasse Tyson|title=The Pluto Files: The Rise James Honeyborne and Fall of America's Favourite PlanetMark Brownlow

|genre=Popular ScienceAnimals and Wildlife|summary=As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Neil deGrasse Tyson grouped the celestial bodies by type, rather than listing them under You may well remember when the arbitrary heading sticking of a number 'planets2'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. This put MercuryThat has hardly been proven correct, Venusbut it has until recently almost been confined to the cinema - you barely got a TV series worthy of a numbered sequel, Earth and Mars together never in one groupthe world of non-fiction. If someone has made a nature series about, Jupitersay, Saturn, Uranus Alaska (and Neptune together in another, boy aren't there are a lot of those these days) and left poor little Pluto out in the cold. His aim was for people wants to gain a greater understandingmake another, rather than why she just knowing makes another - nothing would justify the namesnumeral. The result was widespread outrage amongst newspapersBut some nature programmes do have the prestige, schoolchildren and the public at large. It was a scientifically-sound position, energy and ultimately fuelled the International Astronomical Union heft to define what was and wasn't a planetdemand follow-ups. The Pluto Files is a fascinating, educational and hilarious journey from Pluto's discovery, through its rise And after five years in public consciousness (by way of Disney), to the controversy about its planetary statusmaking, its ultimate downgrading, and the publicBBC's response to itBlue Planet series has delivered a second helping.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393065200</amazonuk>

 {{newreview|author=Michael D Lemonick|title=The Georgian Star: How William and Caroline Herschel Revolutionized Our Understanding of the Cosmos|rating=4|genre=Biography|summary=No-one can ever look at the night skies above our heads as Galileo did. The light pollution covering so much of our planet makes it impossible to see nearly as much as he might. Conversely, he would have adored living in a time such as ours – with the technology to show him so much he couldn't see, so much he daren't dream of. Sitting happily between those two extremes was William Herschel.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>039306574X</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Sudhir Venkatesh1783099593|title=Gang Leader For A Day|rating=5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=If you've ever wondered why young people join gangs, and what it's like to bring up a family surrounded by armed drug dealers, you'll find ''Gang Leader For The Day'' fascinating. Sociology student Sudhir Venkatesh wanted to learn by observing the poor, baulking at the abstract, mathematical research methods used by his professors in the University of Chicago. In 1989, armed with a clipboard and a questionnaire, he visited the Robert Taylor Homes, a notorious housing project. Instead of neatly answering his carefully-prepared questions - 'How does it feel to be black and poor?' by selecting from 'very bad, somewhat bad, neither bad nor good, somewhat good, very good', he finds himself held hostage overnight by members of the Black Kings, a crack-dealing gang, at the behest of its charismatic local leader, J.T.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141030917</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewSpeaking Up|author=Michael Brooks|title=13 Things That Don't Make SenseAllyson Jule

|summary=Did you know 96% '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 cosmos is unaccounted for? That workplace and personal relationships. Author Allyson Jule calls on an encyclopedic body of research from the Pioneer probes seem mid-twentieth century to be violating the laws of physics? That we might have already found life on Mars? That aliens might have made contact with us? Ohpresent day. Reading it, and why do we die? Why do we have sex? (Hopefully not in feel that she has studied everything that order). Do we really have free will? ''13 Things That Don't Make Sense'' might not make complete sense of all these, but it'll certainly fascinate you as it explains these has ever been said on gendered linguistics; she references Foucault and other questionsthe Kardashians with equal rigour.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1861978170</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Adrian Desmond and James Moore Campbell_Astra|title=Darwin's Sacred CauseAd Astra: Race, Slavery and An illustrated guide to leaving the Quest for Human Originsplanet|author=Dallas Campbell

|summary=This probably wonSo… you want to leave the planet? Before you do you't be d better study the whole history of human space flight to get up to speed. That could take a while… if only time you are told through 2009 there was a handy guide that could condense it would have been Charles Darwin's 200th birthday all down for you. Enter Dallas Campbell with this year, and that it is 150 years since ''On The Origin of Species'' first appeared. This book however declares that second anniversary : An illustrated guide to be slightly of less importance, when you factor in leaving the biggest section of his evolutionary thinking Darwin left out of that book – that of human evolutionplanet.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846140358</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Marcus ChownAdrian_Sock|title=Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt YouSock (Object Lessons)|author=Kim Adrian|rating=43.5

|summary=Classical physicsThe 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 the mostabout 200 days of every year, was concerned with at a guess (well, I have my self-diagnosed over-active eccrine glands and reasonably good other people to think about) – which clearly puts me at explaining) mediumthe opposite end of the scale to well-known mass-scale phenomena: and still nowmurderer of women, as when they were discoveredTed Bundy, Newton's laws allow us who was into stealing credit cards to quite accurately predict behaviour fund his desire of roughly human-scale objectshaving a fresh pair every single day. Newton's laws and classical physics in generalOn which subject, fail when dealing with extremes the amount of them we create every year could stack to the largest freaking moon and the smallestmore. Some idiots buy more than six pairs a year, apparently, the fastest and the slowestwhich is plain stupid. I''Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You''m talking, as you can tell, subtitled ''A Guide to the Universe'' actually presents two revolutionary theories of modern physics: Quantum Mechanics which deals with the tiniest, atomic and sub-atomic scales and Einstein's general relativity which deals with the largest, cosmological scalehumble sock.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571235468</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Paul Martin Germano_Eye|title=Sex, Drugs and Chocolate: The Science of PleasureEye Chart (Object Lessons)|author=William Germano

|summary=True It's happened to its titleme, 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'Sexve had different tests to check the pressure inside my eye, Drugs and ChocolateI've come away with glasses I don' is t need to wear all about pleasure: sensual as well as cerebralthe time, but certainly benefit from on holiday, low level or when watching TV or a cinema or theatre production. And above and fairly innocent as well as orgiastically excessive beyond that I've stared at – and decidedly not-so-innocent. It explores social as well as biological aspects got wrong – the simple, seemingly ageless test, of pleasure and throughout various letters in various configurations that diminish in size, to prove to the book relevant scientist at what stage things get blurry for me. Of course, it's not ageless, but the historicalscientific progress that led to it, sociological and anecdotal is interspersed with medicalthe changes other people made to it, physiological and psychologicalthe cultural impact it's had are all on these eye-opening small pages.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0007127081</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Nick TaslerBall_Wonders|title=The Impulse FactorWonders Beyond Numbers: Why Some Of Us Play It Safe and Others Risk It All|rating=4|genre=Popular Science|summary=Nick Tasler works for TalentSmart®, an American company which provides research, testing and training for the business world. The company's core business promotes Emotional Intelligence, so whether impulsivity in decision-making is good or bad is an interesting sideline. The American edition has already won a Best Career Book of 2008 award, so my perception is that up-and-coming managers may find it useful in their personal development portfolio. A more general readership may find it less riveting.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847374220</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Martin Lindstrom|title=Buyology: How Everything We Believe About Why We Buy Is Wrong|rating=3.5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=Considering the amount Brief History of money spent on advertising and the staggering sizes of corporate marketing budgets, it's astonishing to what extent it's unclear what exactly those huge amounts of money buy. Lord Lever famously said that half of the money spent on advertising is wasted - but he had no way of knowing which half.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847940110</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewAll Things Mathematical|author=John D Barrow|title=Cosmic Imagery: Key Images in the History of Science Johnny Ball

|summary=John D. Barrow is one Like many people of the most passionate popularisers of science, and hea 's also one of the most noticeably filled with wonder and joy of the discovery and capable of transmitting this joy and wonder to his readers. 'certain age,'Cosmic Imagery'' is veritably filled with such wonder, and following the old adages I have fond memories of one picture being worth a thousand words and each picture telling a story, it's subtitled ''key images tuning in to watch Johnny Ball enthusiastically extolling the history virtues of maths and science; succeeding where our schoolteachers had failed and actually making these subjects '': each of the eighty nine essays making up the book indeed has an image as a starting pointfun.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224075233</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=John D Barrow|title=100 Essential Things You Didn't Know You Didn't Know |rating=4|genre=Popular Science|summary=I love Although decades have passed since those collections classic TV shows, his latest book proves that appear at Christmas: '77 places to visit before you die', '39 facts you would never suspect about a Reliant Robin', '101 tips for making your wife a bedroom goddess...' Some he has lost none of these collections have not much utility beyond stocking-filling his passion and providing a mild diversion from the Boxing Day boredom, the best are genuinely educational as well as fascinatingenthusiasm for his subject.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847920039</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=George JohnsonYong_Contain|title=The Ten Most Beautiful ExperimentsI Contain Multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life|author=Ed Yong

|summary=''The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments'' looks at the most elegant, stylish, simple, ground-breaking, thrilling and inspiring experiments throughout historyworld you know is a lie. There's a real feel that this is how science should be done: one person, alone in a room, forming a hypothesis no such thing as good or bad microbes. Sickness and creating a method to test it. It doubles as a potted biography of some of the greatest scientists ever, but it's health are all far more about the experiments themselves complex than the people.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224071963</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=P D Smith|title=Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon |rating=4we thought.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=Having dallied with the odd CND march back in the '70s-80s, and while not normally a huge sci-fi fan (yet inordinately fond of certain creaky films like The Day The Earth Stood Still - which as well as offering underwhelming special effects, grapples with huge ideas about the death of humankind) I found a great deal Things designed to enjoy in ''Doomsday Men'' and its history of weapons which save us may now be capable of entirely destroying the planet.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141019158</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Charles Darwin kill us and David Quammen (Author and Editor)|title=On the Origin of Species: The Illustrated Edition |rating=4.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=There are books I things we think you have to read, and there are books you have to readwould kill us may save us. This is one of the latter, and finally in a volume that goes a long way Welcome to making it one you have to own – with the approach to this classic making this edition the definitive one for a long time to come.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1402756399</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Mike Toms and Paul Sterry|title=Garden Birds and Wildlife|rating=5|genre=Home and Family|summary=''Garden Birds & Wildlife'' has been created and published under the auspices modern study of British Trust for Ornithology (though the actual publisher is, possibly in the spirit of penance for damage inflicted on wildlife by the motorcar, the AA). Accordingly, the main focus of the guide is, indeed, on birds. It contains a wealth of information: from birdwatching to bird biology and behaviour, including visual guides to eggs and nests; practical tips and guides to bird watching, feeding (what, how and where), creating a bird-and-wildlife- friendly garden and building nest boxes; it's all there, with copious illustrations, clear text and more interesting or practically relevant facts and tips in separate insert boxesmicrobes.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749559128</amazonuk>