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[[Category:New Reviews|Popular Science]]==Popular science==__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->{{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Marcus Chown1787333175|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']] 'You Don't Have to be Mad to Work 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?Benji Waterhouse|rating=4.5

|summary=Well? Why canI was tempted to read ''You Don't elephants jump? And while youHave to be Mad to Work Here'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' after enjoying Adam Kay's the hole for in a ballpoint pen? How long a line could you draw with a single pencil? For answers first book {{amazonurl|isbn=1509858636|title=This is Going to all these questions, and so many moreHurt}}, then do yourself a favour and pick up glorious mixture of insight into the latest collection from workings of the New ScientistNHS, humour and autobiography. ''You Don's [http://wwwt Have to be Mad.last-word.com/ Last Word column]. Mick O'Hare ' promised the same elements but moved from physical problems to mental illness and the work of a psychiatrist. I did wonder whether it was also kind enough acceptable to be [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Mick O'Hare|interviewed by Bookbag]]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>184668398X</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Henry Nicholls1788360702|title=Charles, The Way of the PandaAlternative Prince: The Curious History of China's Political AnimalAn Unauthorised Biography|author=Edzard Ernst

|genre=Popular ScienceBiography|summary=The book cover aloneFor over forty years, with its panda hugging a tree, says Prince Charles has been an ardent supporter of alternative medicine and complementary therapies. 'buy me'Charles, The Alternative Prince''read me.critically assesses the Prince' A good start. The sections are divided into no-nonsense headings: Extractions opinions, Abstraction beliefs and Protectionaims against the background of the scientific evidence. Maps There are few instances of his beliefs being vindicated and Prologue give a flavour his relentless promotion of what's to come. The inside front cover states boldly that 'Giant pandas treatments which have been causing a stir ever since their formal no scientific discovery just over 140 years ago.' I think it safe support has done considerable damage to say that many the reputation of us would probably say automatically, without thinking, that the panda has immense appeal. But a man who is it only because proud of the beautifully marked eyes which give the animal a cuddlyhis refusal to apply evidence-based, teddy bear look?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846683688</amazonuk>logical reasoning to his ambitions.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Cindy M Meston and David Buss0192779230|title=Why Women Have SexVery Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: Understanding Sexual Motivation from Adventure to Revenge (and Everything in Between)The Invisible World of Germs|author=Isabel Thomas|rating=4.5|genre=Popular ScienceChildren's Non-Fiction|summary=Many many years ago, 'Germs' seems to have become a man who was far too young catch-all word to cover anything unpleasant which has the potential to be make you ill. In the fusty, dusty RE teacher he was shaping first book in what looks to bea very promising new series, asked my best friend OUP and I why we were each having sex with our girlfriendsIsabel Thomas have provided a clear and accessible introduction to the world of germs. Even aged fifteen I We get an informed look at how people originally thought about diseases and what they thought something along caused them and how the lines of thinking has developed over time. The vocabulary can be confusing but Thomas gives a regular box headed 'well, if he doesnspeak like a scientist't know by now, he never will', and listed that it was great fun, a very enjoyable sensation, showed an appetite for which explains some of the relationship, trickiest concepts 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 realsoon be familiar with bacteria, but several have been sincefungi, protists and viruses – 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 itwe should protect ourselves.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099546639</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Mary Roachgareth_steel|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>}} {{newreviewNever Work With Animals|author=Richard Conniff|title=Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with AnimalsGareth Steel

|genre=Popular ScienceAnimals and Wildlife|summary=This isnI don't quite the book often begin my reviews with a warning but with ''Never Work With Animals'' it seemsto be appropriate. From the subtitle, I inferred a memoir or autobiography. Instead Richard Conniff has chosen twenty-three Stories of his journal articles to reprint from a clutch of prestigious magazines, including vet's life have proved popular since ''National GeographicAll Creatures Great and Small'' and but ''SmithsonianNever Work With Animals''is definitely not the companion volume you've been looking for. Taken togetherAs a TV show the author would argue that ''All Creatures'' lacked realism, they illustrate his wide range of interests in the animal worldas do other similar programmes. While this glimpse of some of Gareth Steel says that the most peculiar creatures on the planet makes book is not suitable for fascinating 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 itdoesn's definitely not a book to t lack sensitivity, although there are occasions when you would be galloped through in a single sittingbest choosing between reading and eating.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393304574</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman0241480442|title=Seasons of LifeHealthy Vegan The Cookbook: The Biological Rhythms That Living Things Need to Thrive and Survive|rating=3.5|genre=Popular Vegan Cooking Meets Nutrition 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 Niko Rittenau and Anjana Ahuja|title=Selected: Why some people lead, why others follow, and why it mattersSebastian Copien|rating=4.5|genre=Business and FinanceCookery|summary=''Selected'' is based on the psychology of leadershipEmotionally, I am a vegan. Some of us may ask the perfectly reasonable question 'Does it matter who leads and who follows?' WellMentally, apparently it not only matters but it matters greatlyI am a vegan. And the co-authors go to great lengths I read [[How to tell us why. The useful prologue informs us that the whole area of leadership can be traced back Love Animals in time, a Human-Shaped World by no less than several million years. Vugt Henry Mance]] and Ahuja explain that was appalled by the rather innocent way in which we treat animals in our search for (and even a bit airy-fairy to somepreferably cheap) word 'leader' is evolved from various academic disciplinesfood. Including the more obvious psychologyPractically, there is also biology and anthropology in the mix. Heady stuffI am not a vegan. 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 It worked for a tightrope walker, prized as an intellectual objective, balance is generally considered something while apart from the odd blip with regard to cheese but then a perfect storm of those events which we can aspireyou hope don't occur too often in your lifetime tempted me back to animal-based protein. We praise someone who makes a balanced decision, we envy people who have a It wasn'good work/life balance' we offer an opinion 'on balance' to demonstrate t the taste - I know 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 I 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 plant-based food that tastes just as good as BMW spend money advertising in mass media whose typical readership most likely won't ever be anything plundered from the animal kingdom - it was the ease of being able to afford their products? And just why is the ''i'' get sufficient protein when meals were often snatched in iPod so important?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099437929</amazonuk>a few spare moments.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Bruce Bueno de MesquitaDaniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker|title=Prediction: How to See and Shape the Future with Game TheoryA Tattoo on my Brain

|genre=Popular ScienceAutobiography|summary=As Alzheimer's is a rather mediocre recreational poker player disease that slowly wears away your identity and sense of self. I've often have been intrigued directly affected by game theorythis cruel disease, as have many. The academic discipline used by politicos during Your memories and personality worn away like a statue over time affected the chilliest days of the Cold War has been utilised by the more mathematically minded players on the professional circuit to improve profitabilityelements. Rather than poker, author It seems as if nature wants that final victory over you and politics professor Bruce Bueno de Mesquita uses game theory models to forecast political, economic and international security scenarios 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 Prediction he shares some of his secrets''A Tattoo on my Brain''.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>0099531844</amazonuk>1108838936

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Tim Dee0099551063|title=The Running SkyWisdom of Psychopaths: A Bird-Watching LifeLessons in life from Saints, Spies and Serial Killers|author=Dr Kevin Dutton

|summary=Tim Dee may already be known to you as a distinguished critic and adjudicator of contemporary poetry, or for producing BBC Radio 4's 'Poetry Please'Donald Trump outscores Hitler on psychopathic traits' claims Oxford University researcher. So it's hardly surprising that my first impression of his birdwatching memoir, ''The Running Sky'' is of poetic exactitude transferred to another genre. But I remain dazzled by the sustained quality of his writing over 80,000 words. Opened at any page, paragraphs of graceful prose enclose figurative language capturing the very essence of flight (hence the title, from a Philip Larkin poem). To Dee, flight is the nub of a bird's independence. He describes and wonders poetically – be it the collective sweep of flock formations, the mysteries of migration, or individual observations of nightjars, carrion crows or peregrines.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099516497</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Paul Bloom|title=How Pleasure WorksUntil 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 New Science statement has lost a little of Why We Like What We Like|rating=5|genre=Popular Science|summary=How much would you pay for a jumper that used to belong its shock value but it does help us to Brad Pitt? What understand more about if I had it dry cleaned for you first? Chances are, if you were considering the first offer, you've just been put off somewhatnature of psychopathy. But why? The jumper hasn It't changeds too easy to associate psychopathy with the Yorkshire Ripper, after all. Do you honestly and rationallyJeffrey Dahmer, Saddam Hussein or Robert Maudsley, believe that dry cleaning would destroy some of Brad's 'essence'the real-life Hannibal Lecter, thus making but the item less valuable?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847921434</amazonuk>truth is that having psychopathic traits can sometimes be a good thing.

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=John Farndon1849767343|title=Do You Think You're Clever?: The Oxbridge QuestionsCount on Me|author=Miguel Tanco|rating=34.5|genre=Popular ScienceChildren's Non-Fiction|summary=My history The title and format of interviews with Oxbridge colleges forms a very short dialogue. Me, this book might lead you to university admissions representative, think that it's either about responsibility - or it'You don’t actually do media studies per se, do you?'' He, ''No – our graduates run s a basic 1-2-3 book for those just starting out on the medianumbers journey. It isn't: it' Had I got s a lot further, and sat in front hymn of a potential tutor, I would have faced a question designed praise to baffle, provoke, bewilder – or to inspire a flight of intuitive intelligencemaths. Thus It's about why maths is the media-running wheat separated from the media-consuming chaffso wonderful and how you meet it in everyday life. And thus is this book given its basis – sixty of the more remarkable questions, answered as our erudite author might have wished to answer them. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>184831132X</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Lisa SandersB08B39QNRH|title=DiagnosisThe Curious History of Writer's Cramp: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Medical MysteriesSolving an age-old problem|author=Michael Pritchard

|summary=Fans of ‘’House, M.D.’’ may recognise the name of Lisa Sanders. She’s the technical advisor to the TV show as well as being the writer of the ‘’Diagnosis’’ column in the New York Times. Many of the stories which appear in the column are recounted in this book, which ''Society is a look at the way in which doctors reach a diagnosis and how the method has changed (or not) over the years. I’m not a fan of based on speech but civilisation requires the hospital dramas which seem to be a major feature of the TV schedules, but I was fascinated by what is, essentially, a series of medical detective storieswritten word''.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848311338</amazonuk>}}

{{newreview|author=Stefan Klein|title=LeonardoI came to Michael Pritchard's Legacy''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': How Da Vinci Reinvented I prefer the World|rating=5|genre=Biography|summary=This excellent combination word 'painful' but I have an interest in the way that hands work. An exploration of science the history and biography starts with the most populist and of a problem which has defeated some of the most awkwardly scientific. Basically best medical minds for some three-hundred-years seemed liked excellent background reading and so it throws modern-day science at the Mona Lisaproved, which you might think is a little unfair – can she cope with the book being analysed, and as much about the neuroscience we now know used in interpreting her? Of course she can – she’s doctors treating the world’s best-known masterpiece of Italian art, sufferers and she’s survived much worse. Klein’s approach fully works, when we see also the science da Vinci did know and that he worked on himself, which all helps us know partly why changing medical attitudes as the truths of La Gioconda are still unknowableproblem itself.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0306818256</amazonuk>

 {{newreview|author=Paul Parsons|title=30-Second Theories|rating=3|genre=Popular Science|summary=Take fifty of science's most thought-provoking theories, and try to explain each in thirty seconds or one page. It's all here, from Schrodinger's cat, to cosmic topology, via the Gaia hypothesis and chaos theory.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184831129X</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Mark Griffiths1776572858|title=The Lotus Quest|rating=4|genre=Travel|summary=Mark Griffiths is one of Britain's leading plant experts. I know this because his brief biog in the front of The Lotus Quest tells me so; just as it tells me that he is the editor of The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening 'the largest work on horticulture ever published'. His prior works list includes five other plant book credits, three of them for the RHS. I shall take all of this on trust, since attempts to find out more about the author and his background through the usual internet search mechanisms has failed miserably. He remains as elusive as the sacred flower that is the subject of this latest work: the lotus.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184595100X</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewHow Do You Make a Baby?|author=Glenn Murphy|title=Science: Sorted! Evolution, Nature Anna Fiske and StuffDon Bartlett (translator)

|genre=Children's Non-FictionHome and Family|summary=Ever wanted to know about evolution, nature and stuff? Unsurprisingly, this is the book for you. If youIt're interested in [http://www.amazons more than sixty years since I asked how babies were made.co.uk/gp/product/0330508938?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0330508938 space, black holes My mother was deeply embarrassed and stuff], then Glenn Murphy has also written told me that she'd get me a sister 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 the our house before) and I was told that it wouldn't be discussed any further as it ''Science: Sorted!wasn't something which nice people talked about' series packed full of all the information you'd want to know. It I ''knew'' more, but was little ''wiser''s all written with the fabulous quality that made [[Why is Snot Green? by Glenn Murphy|Why is Snot Green?]] such a must-read.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0330508946</amazonuk> Thankfully, times have changed.

 {{newreview|author=Alex Bellos|title=Alex's Adventures In Numberland|rating=5|genre=Popular Science|summary=Maths is a wonderful thing. ...Wait, don't run away. It really is. The way numbers interact with each other, the way counting systems developed, how mathematical breakthroughs are coming from the world of crochet, and how people can mentally calculate the 13th root of a 200 digit number in almost less time than it takes to read it out loud. There's all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff going on in Numberland.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747597162</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewFrontpage|author=Richard ForteyDanny Dorling|title=The Hidden LandscapeSlowdown

|genre=Popular SciencePolitics and Society|summary=The purpose We are living in a time of this book 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 explore the connection between the landscape worry and the geology underlying it, which in one of his many vivid similes Fortey compares the surface personality with the workings current state of what we're doing in the unconscious mind beneathworld we have much to be worried about. He starts by describing a journey he once made from Paddington Station to Haverford West However, a market town in Pembrokeshire over the next three-hundred-and with -some pages, if you can follow the arguments, it a passage back into the plutonic depths of geological aeonssets out in scientific detail why either we shouldn't be as worried as we are, indicated by the large 60cm monster trilobites or in some cases that have been found in we're worrying about the Cambrian rocks near St David'swrong things. Mostly. Because mostly, things are not changing as rapidly as we think they are. Fortey describes In fact, the magnificence rate of the Cathedral constructed from the local purple sandstone change in many things is slowing down and mottled with moisture-loving lichens. He contrasts this with the anonymous character direction of a nearby brightly-coloured service station, anonymous and synthetic, an invader cheaply built and out of contextchange will in some cases go into reverse.|amazonukisbn=<amazonuk>1847920713</amazonuk>0300243405

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Alexandra HorowitzLangford_Emily|title=Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know|rating=5|genre=Pets|summary=I've long been aware that our two dogs have methods of communication which are far more subtle than anything a mere human can muster. They sense exactly how we are feeling – a slight change in the atmosphere and they will be alert. The reactions to a frown or a smile, laughter or tears are all different and they're capable of communicating with us in ways which have no need of words. For a while I thought it was our dogs who were special (well, ''obviously'' they are…) but I've noticed other dogs communicating with each other and with humans and the more that I see the more that I wonder why they are referred to as 'dumb animalsEmily'.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184737347X</amazonuk>}} {{newreviews Numbers|author=Philip Ball|title=The Music Instinct: How Music Works and Why We Can't Do without it Joss Langford

|genre=Popular ScienceChildren's Non-Fiction|summary=Emily found words ''useful'', but counting was what she loved best. Obviously, you can count anything and there'We need s no limit to talk how far you can go, but then Emily moved a step further and began counting in twos. She knew all about musicodd and even numbers. Then she began counting in threes: half of the list were even numbers, but the other half was odd and it is hard. Very few people can do itwas 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' So says Philip Ball after 400 pages re a subset of the odd numbers but sound as though they ought to be a subset of talking about music. Very few readers who make it that far will disagree with his conclusionthe even numbers, but most will have gained some enlightenment it all worked out well when I really thought about how music works and why we enjoy it.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847920888</amazonuk>)

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Derrick Niederman1910593508|title=Number Freak: A Mathematical Compendium from 1 to 200Apollo|rating=4.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=This is a book that definitely does what it says on the tin. Our author has the capacity to grab each number between one and two hundred, and wring it for all its worth - all the special status it might have in our culture (more easy with seven than, say, 187), all the special properties it might possess (perfect, triangular, prime), and as many other things mathematicians and so on would find of interest. Luckily there is enough here to make the book well worth a browse for us who would not deem themselves number buffs.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>071563710X</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Kees van Deemter|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 to know I want a small helping of peas, or 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 mathsMatt Fitch, philosophy, linguistics Chris Baker and AI.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199545901</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Druin Burch|title=Taking the MedicineMike Collins

|genre=Popular ScienceHistory|summary=In 1898, Burch points out that This incredible graphic novel is a new drug was developed love letter to the Moon landings and marketed the passion for the treatment of tuberculosis subject drips off every Apollo by Bayer & CoMatt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins. TB This is such an ancient enemy a story we know well and because of man this, the authors take a few narrative shortcuts knowing that there is apparently evidence 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 an earlier strain to a film you will be found in Egyptian mummiesfamiliar with the slight feeling that there are scenes missing and that dialogue has been trimmed. The German firm had discovered This is a chemical graphic novel that seemed to work well, and patients could easily have been three times as long and indeed their own staff, who were tested seemed to respond well - it was named Heroin - and its addictive effects were at first missedstill felt too short.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845951506</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Roger Scruton1999308719|title=I Drink Therefore I Am|rating=3.5|genre=Popular Live Forever Manual: Science|summary=Roger Scruton is a conservative philosopher and composer, best known for his work on philosophy ethics and music, but who shares Plato's belief that 'nothing more excellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by companies behind the gods to man' and in this book seeks to combine his two interests of philosophy and the fruits of the vine.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847065082</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewnew anti-aging treatments|author=Keith Laidler|title=AnimalsAdrian Cull

|genre=Popular ScienceLifestyle|summary=For many years now I''Animals'' is described as a visual guide ve (half) joked that I intended to the animal kingdomlive forever and that so far, but please donit was working out OK. Time has passed though and although I't think m a great deal fitter and healthier than most people of it as my age there were a picture book as it's far more than thatfew nagging health problems which were tipping my life out of balance. Don't think of it It was time to look for a new approach and as a coffee table so often happens, the reviewing gods brought me the book either – despite the fact that its size – midway between A2 and A3 – might tempt you to think that wayI needed. It's a journey through 'Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the complex diversity of new anti-ageing treatments'' seemed like the animal kingdom based on sound scientific principlesanswer to my problems - only you get so much more than just 101 tips.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184916004X</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Bill Butterworth1847941834|title=Reversing Global Warming For Profit |rating=3.5|genre=Politics and Society|summary=There aren't many climate change deniers left, are there? We all know it's there. We all know, too, that the world's population growth is on a collision course with the dwindling of its resources. The world's going to get hotter, its weather more extreme. Fossil fuels are going to run out. More and more people will compete for fewer and fewer of civilisation's luxuries. We're all worried. |amazonuk=<amazonuk>1904312810</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewAtomic Habits|author=Richard Wrangham |title=Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human James Clear

|genre=Popular ScienceLifestyle|summary=Humans I've said this before but there are cooking apes. According to Richard Wranghamsome books that you seek out, mastery of fire some books that you stumble across and cooking of the food some books that resulted from it was at the root of human evolutionary development and ultimate success. Various factors have been proposed as the crucial stimulus which led to the appearance of the first recognisably human creatures: leaving aside divine intervention (be it from Goddrop into your life because you really MUST read them, like, extra-terrestrials or future humans travelling right now! ''Atomic Habits'' is in time), the candidates for what made our ancestral apes stand straighter and start growing brains range from socialised hunting to chattering about kinship to eating seafoodlast category.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682851</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Alexandra BruceHoneyborne BlueII|title=2012: Science or Superstition|rating=3.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=The fuss about 2012 has not started just recently. The first book to feature the story was from a Yale professor, in 1966. We've also had prog rock bands named after Popol Vuh, the Maya creation myth. But as the crunch date of December 21st, 2012 - the winter solstice that year - nears, it's becoming a very big story indeed. Even though it sounds absurd - the end of a 5,125-year long cycle of the Maya calendar, which started on August 13th, 3114BCE - or was judged to start then, when they came across this concept a couple of thousand years into that period. Surely they couldn't predict the future from their 'primitive' state with such accuracy?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1934708283</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewBlue Planet II|author=Stephen Baker|title=They've Got Your NumberJames Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow

|genre=Popular ScienceAnimals and Wildlife|summary=If you are in You may well remember when the slightest bit paranoid, worry that sticking of a number '2'Big Brother'' is always watching or like 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 believe that the cinema - you are not barely got a number, but TV series worthy of a free man (or woman)numbered sequel, then this may not be and never in the book for you, as it will do nothing to dispel any world of those worriesnon-fiction. Ifsomeone has made a nature series about, on the other handsay, you think 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 mathematical modelling of humanity' sounds like one of numeral. But some nature programmes do have the sexiest things everprestige, the energy and are chomping at the bit heft to learn more about itdemand follow-ups. And after five years in the making, then you might well be interested in what Business Week journalist Baker the BBC's Blue Planet series has to saydelivered a second helping.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099507021</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Dr Aaron Carroll and Dr Rachel Vreeman1783099593|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>}} {{newreviewSpeaking Up|author=Robert Rowland Smith |title=Breakfast with SocratesAllyson Jule

|summary=In ''Breakfast with Socrates'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, subtitled A Philosophy of Everyday Lifereligion, former Oxford Fellow Robert Roland Smith takes various elements of a 'typical' day the workplace and provides insight into what personal relationships. Author Allyson Jule calls on an eclectic collection encyclopedic body of thinkers might have research from the mid-twentieth century to offer to make these mundane routines more interestingthe present day. After allReading it, as Socrates declared 'we feel that she has studied everything that has ever been said on gendered linguistics; she references Foucault and the unexamined life is not worth living'Kardashians with equal rigour.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682371</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=James HannamCampbell_Astra|title=God's PhilosophersAd Astra: How An illustrated guide to leaving the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Scienceplanet|author=Dallas Campbell

|summary=Everybody knows that So… you want to leave the Medieval people thought planet? Before you do you'd better study the world whole history of human space flight to get up to speed. That could take a while… if only there was flat and a handy guide that could condense 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 all down for their scientific ideas and that Copernicus lived in perpetual fear of persecutionyou. Everyone knows that the Pope banned human dissection and Enter Dallas Campbell with this book: An illustrated guide to leaving the number zero, and everybody is wrongplanet.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848310706</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Sally Kindberg and Tracey TurnerAdrian_Sock|title=The Comic Strip History of Space|rating=5|genre=Children's Non-Fiction|summary=Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner treated us to a [[The Comic Strip History of the World by Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner|Comic Strip History of the World]], and have now turned their attention to space. They explain to children everything from the origins of the universe, to what ancient civilisations thought of the stars, through astronomers discovering the truth about planets, right up to current space missions.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747594325</amazonuk>}} {{newreviewSock (Object Lessons)|author=Ian Stewart|title=Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical TreasuresKim Adrian|rating=43.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=Ian Stewart has been collecting mathematical curiosities, puzzles and stories since he was 14. He published his ''Cabinet of Mathematical Curiosities'' in 2008, and hot on its success, he's sharing this second volume with us.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682924</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Mick O'Hare|title=How To Make A Tornado|rating=4

|summary=Another year, another must-read The subject of this book from the New Scientist. We've has been here before with [[Do Polar Bears Get Lonely? by Mick O'Hare|polar bears]]around for several millennia, [[Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? by Mick O'Hare|penguins]] and [[How To Fossilise Your Hamster by Mick Oyet my partner'Hare|hamsters]]s daughter has been employed for several years designing it, or them. Now itIt's time 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 turn our attention think about) – which clearly puts me at the opposite end of the scale to how well-known mass-murderer of women, Ted Bundy, who was into stealing credit cards to make fund his desire of having a tornadofresh pair every single day. On which subject, the amount of them we create every year could stack to the freaking moon and all the other crazy experiments that scientists have done over more. Some idiots buy more than six pairs a year, apparently, which is plain stupid. I'm talking, as you can tell, of the yearshumble sock.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682878</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Eva HoffmanGermano_Eye|title=Time Eye Chart (Big IdeasObject Lessons)|author=William Germano

|summary=It''Time'' is one s happened to me, and like as not it has or will happen to you, too. I mean the receipt of ''Big Ideas'' series of books aiming certain little numerical results, with a positive or negative before them to revisit prove the greatest notions and concepts and correction needed to my vision to provide them make me see with a modern summary the intended clarity and understandingnormality. The series strives I've had that gizmo that photos the back of my eye to cause people to think check for diabetes and debateother problems, I've had different tests to re-evaluate check the pressure inside my eye, and doubt. Another 'I'Big Ideas'' books deal ve come away with topics such as 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'Democracy'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, ''Identity'' and the cultural impact it''Bodies''s had are all on these eye-opening small pages.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846680387</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Brian Cox and Jeff ForshawBall_Wonders|title=Why Does E Equal mc Squared?Wonders Beyond Numbers: A Brief History of All Things Mathematical|author=Johnny Ball|rating=4.5

|summary=Why does E=mc² and why should we care? Two questions that every intelligent person should be able to answerLike many people of a ''certain age, but I'll bet that 95% couldn't. Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw explain this most famous I have fond memories of equations tuning in to watch Johnny Ball enthusiastically extolling the layperson in such a way that they wonvirtues of maths and science; succeeding where our schoolteachers had failed and actually making these subjects ''fun.'t need anything more complicated than Pythagoras' theorem to understand itAlthough 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>0306817586</amazonuk>

 {{newreviewFrontpage|authorisbn=Tadg FarringtonYong_Contain|title=The Average Life I Contain Multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of the Average Personlife|author=Ed Yong

|summary=Back in school, we would often bemoan the idea of 'average', saying that like being 'normal', if there were such a thing, who would even want to be it? There could be nothing worse, we thought, than being average. Except...there The world you know is by definition a whole lot worse than 'average' – the exact same amount that is better than average, in factlie. And that was the problem.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0224086235</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Richard D Ryder|title=Nelson, Hitler and Diana|rating=4|genre=Popular Science|summary=Was Horatio Nelson, a navy officer of great renown, forever thrusting himself into the limelight, doing it because his mother passed away when he was nine? Was Hitler overly affected by his father dying in a time of paternal disapproval, and a kind of Oedipal reaction to being the man in the house making him suffer when she herself died? And can Diana, Princess of Wales' parents' divorce lead to a claim she was a sufferer of borderline personality disorder?|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845401662</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Evalyn Gates|title=Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe|rating=4|genre=Popular Science |summary=Subtitled ''The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe'' Gates' introduction to astro-physics and cosmology There is everything that you would expect of no such a bookthing as good or bad microbes. Gates' tries '''so''' hard to be readable, Sickness and mostly succeeds, but at the same time, the subject matter is well-nigh incomprehensiblehealth are all far more complex than we thought. Or maybe, that's just me.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393062384</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Stuart Sutherland|title=Irrationality|rating=4.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=The belief that humans are, essentially, rational dates Things designed to the Greek antiquity, save us may kill us and although intellectual and philosophical fashions changed throughout the epochs, the capacity to reason and behave in a rational manner is often considered things we think would kill us may save us. Welcome to be a defining characteristics of mature humanity. 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 is the author responsible for a series modern study of weekly podcasts debunking and analysing a variety of dubious, pseudo-scientific, un-scientific and downright loony ideas, claims and myths common or persistent in the pop (and not so pop) culture. ''Skeptoid 2'' is essentially a written version of those podcasts, a collection of fifty pieces of which many can be also read or listened to at his [http://skeptoid.com/ website]microbes.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1440422850</amazonuk>

{{newreview|author=Dan Gardner|title=Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear|rating=4.5|genre=Popular Science|summary=Picture a world terrorised by just two words. A civilised, healthy, wealthy world no less, in thrall to and under threat from two words. Not what those two words represent even, just the actual small phrase. It sounds ridiculous, but when I say those two words – ''bird flu'' – and you've stopped laughing, you may well remember how the panic started, the non-existent worry was the biggest concern of the western media for some time, and then it went away again.|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0753515539</amazonuk>}} {{newreview|author=Iain McCalman|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 Move 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>}}[[Newest Reference Reviews]]