Difference between revisions of "Newest Popular Science Reviews"

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[[Category:Popular Science|*]]
 
[[Category:Popular Science|*]]
[[Category:New Reviews|Popular Science]]
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[[Category:New Reviews|Popular Science]]__NOTOC__ <!-- Remove -->
==Popular science==
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1787333175
{{newreview
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|title=You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here
|author=Richard Fortey
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|author=Benji Waterhouse
|title=The Hidden Landscape
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|rating=5
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=The purpose of this book is to explore the connection between the landscape and the geology underlying it, which in one of his many vivid similes Fortey compares the surface personality with the workings of the unconscious mind beneath. He starts by describing a journey he once made from Paddington Station to Haverford West, a market town in Pembrokeshire and with it a passage back into the plutonic depths of geological aeons, indicated by the large 60cm monster trilobites that have been found in the Cambrian rocks near St David's. Fortey describes the magnificence of the Cathedral constructed from the local purple sandstone and mottled with moisture-loving lichens. He contrasts this with the anonymous character of a nearby brightly-coloured service station, anonymous and synthetic, an invader cheaply built and out of context.
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|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>1847920713</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Alexandra Horowitz
 
|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 musterThey 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 wordsFor 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 animals'.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184737347X</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1788360702
|author=Philip Ball
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|title=Charles, The Alternative Prince: An Unauthorised Biography
|title=The Music Instinct: How Music Works and Why We Can't Do without it
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|author=Edzard Ernst
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Biography
|summary='We need to talk about music, but it is hard. Very few people can do it.' So says Philip Ball after 400 pages of talking about music. Very few readers who make it that far will disagree with his conclusion, but most will have gained some enlightenment about how music works and why we enjoy it.
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|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 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847920888</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0192779230
|author=Derrick Niederman
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|title=Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs
|title=Number Freak: A Mathematical Compendium from 1 to 200
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|author=Isabel Thomas
|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 maths, philosophy, linguistics and AI.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0199545901</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Druin Burch
 
|title=Taking the Medicine
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=In 1898, Burch points out that a new drug was developed and marketed for the treatment of tuberculosis by Bayer & Co. TB is such an ancient enemy of man that there is apparently evidence of an earlier strain to be found in Egyptian mummies. The German firm had discovered a chemical that seemed to work well, and patients and indeed their own staff, who were tested  seemed to respond well - it was named Heroin - and its addictive effects were at first missed.
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|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 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845951506</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=gareth_steel
|author=Roger Scruton
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|title=Never Work With Animals
|title=I Drink Therefore I Am
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|author=Gareth Steel
|rating=3.5
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|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=Roger Scruton is a conservative philosopher and composer, best known for his work on philosophy and music, but who shares Plato's belief that 'nothing more excellent or valuable than wine was ever granted by the gods to man' and in this book seeks to combine his two interests of philosophy and the fruits of the vine.
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|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847065082</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0241480442
|author=Keith Laidler
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|title=Healthy Vegan The Cookbook: Vegan Cooking Meets Nutrition Science
|title=Animals
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|author=Niko Rittenau and Sebastian Copien
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Cookery
|summary=''Animals'' is described as a visual guide to the animal kingdom, but please don't think of it as a picture book as it's far more than thatDon't think of it as a coffee table book either – despite the fact that its size – midway between A2 and A3 – might tempt you to think that way.  It's a journey through the complex diversity of the animal kingdom based on sound scientific principles.
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|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) food.  Practically, 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184916004X</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Daniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker
|author=Bill Butterworth
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|title=A Tattoo on my Brain
|title=Reversing Global Warming For Profit
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Politics and Society
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|genre=Autobiography
|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.  
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|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>1904312810</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1108838936
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0099551063
|author=Richard Wrangham
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|title=The Wisdom of Psychopaths: Lessons in life from Saints, Spies and Serial Killers
|title=Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
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|author=Dr Kevin Dutton
|rating=4.5
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|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Humans are cooking apes. According to Richard Wrangham, mastery of fire and cooking of the food 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 God, extra-terrestrials or future humans travelling 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 seafood.
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|summary='' 'Donald Trump outscores Hitler on psychopathic traits' claims Oxford University researcher.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682851</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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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 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.
|author=Alexandra Bruce
 
|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 1966We'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>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1849767343
|author=Stephen Baker
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|title=Count on Me
|title=They've Got Your Number
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|author=Miguel Tanco
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=If you are 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 ever, 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>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|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>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Robert Rowland Smith
 
|title=Breakfast with Socrates
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=In ''Breakfast with Socrates'', subtitled A Philosophy of Everyday Life, former 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'.
 
|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=The Comic Strip History of Space
 
|rating=5
 
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|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.
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|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0747594325</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B08B39QNRH
|author=Ian Stewart
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|title=The Curious History of Writer's Cramp: Solving an age-old problem
|title=Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures
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|author=Michael Pritchard
|rating=4.5
 
|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
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|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.
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|summary=''Society is based on speech but civilisation requires the written word''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682878</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
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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.
|author=Eva Hoffman
 
|title=Time (Big Ideas)
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=''Time'' is one of ''Big Ideas'' series of books aiming to revisit 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 ''Bodies''.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846680387</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1776572858
|author=Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw
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|title=How Do You Make a Baby?
|title=Why Does E Equal mc Squared?
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|author=Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Why does E=mc² and why should we care? Two questions that every intelligent person should be able to answer, but I'll bet that 95% couldn't. Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw explain this most famous of equations to the layperson in such a way that they won't need anything more complicated than Pythagoras' theorem to understand it.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0306817586</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Tadg Farrington
 
|title=The Average Life of the Average Person
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Home and Family
|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 is by definition a whole lot worse than 'average' – the exact same amount that is better than average, in fact. And that was the problem.
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|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>0224086235</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Danny Dorling
|author=Richard D Ryder
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|title=Slowdown
|title=Nelson, Hitler and Diana
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Politics and Society
|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?
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|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845401662</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0300243405
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Langford_Emily
|author=Evalyn Gates
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|title=Emily's Numbers
|title=Einstein's Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe
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|author=Joss Langford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Subtitled ''The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe'' Gates' introduction to astro-physics and cosmology is everything that you would expect of such a bookGates' tries '''so''' hard to be readable, and mostly succeeds, but at the same time, the subject matter is well-nigh incomprehensible.  Or maybe, that's just me.
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|summary=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 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>0393062384</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1910593508
|author=Stuart Sutherland
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|title=Apollo
|title=Irrationality
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|author=Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins
|rating=4.5
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|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=History
|summary=The belief that humans are, essentially, rational dates to the Greek antiquity, and although intellectual and philosophical fashions changed throughout the epochs, the capacity to reason and behave in a rational manner is often considered to be a defining characteristics of mature humanity. Irrational behaviours have been seen as an evidence of psychiatric or otherwise pathology.
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|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>1905177070</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1999308719
|author=Brian Dunning
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|title=Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-aging treatments
|title=Skeptoid 2: More Critical Analysis of Pop Phenomena
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|author=Adrian Cull
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Brian Dunning is the author responsible for a series 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].
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1440422850</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Dan Gardner
 
|title=Risk: The Science and Politics of Fear
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=Picture a world terrorised by just two wordsA 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 phraseIt 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.
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|summary=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 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0753515539</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1847941834
|author=Iain McCalman
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|title=Atomic Habits
|title=Darwin's Armada: Four Voyagers to the Southern Oceans and Their Battle for the Theory of Evolution
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|author=James Clear
|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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|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 Science
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Biography
+
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=This straightforward and likeable biography of Charles Darwin charts the evolution of his theories of evolution, while providing solid insights into the man in the context of his upbringing, education and family life. Importantly, it makes you want to read ''On the Origin of the Species'', acting as a primer for the ideas introduced in that famous volume.  
+
|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.
 
 
''Darwin: A Life in Science'' is pitched beautifully for 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 speculation.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847391494</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Honeyborne BlueII
|author=Patricia Fara
+
|title=Blue Planet II
|title=Science: A Four Thousand Year History
+
|author=James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow
|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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Neil deGrasse Tyson
 
|title=The Pluto Files: The Rise and Fall of America's Favourite Planet
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=As director of the Hayden Planetarium, Neil deGrasse Tyson grouped the celestial bodies by type, rather than listing them under the arbitrary heading of 'planets'. This put Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars together in one group, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune together in another, and left poor little Pluto out in the cold. His aim was for people to gain a greater understanding, rather than just knowing the names. The result was widespread outrage amongst newspapers, schoolchildren and the public at large. It was a scientifically-sound position, and ultimately fuelled the International Astronomical Union to define what was and wasn't a planet. The Pluto Files is a fascinating, educational and hilarious journey from Pluto's discovery, through its rise in public consciousness (by way of Disney), to the controversy about its planetary status, its ultimate downgrading, and the public's response to it.
+
|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>0393065200</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1783099593
|author=Michael D Lemonick
+
|title=Speaking Up
|title=The Georgian Star: How William and Caroline Herschel Revolutionized Our Understanding of the Cosmos
+
|author=Allyson Jule
|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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Sudhir Venkatesh
 
|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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Michael Brooks
 
|title=13 Things That Don't Make Sense
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Did you know 96% of the cosmos is unaccounted for? That the Pioneer probes seem to be violating the laws of physics? That we might have already found life on Mars? That aliens might have made contact with us? Oh, and why do we die? Why do we have sex? (Hopefully not in 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 and other questions.
+
|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>1861978170</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Campbell_Astra
|author=Adrian Desmond and James Moore
+
|title=Ad Astra: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet
|title=Darwin's Sacred Cause: Race, Slavery and the Quest for Human Origins
+
|author=Dallas Campbell
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=This probably won't be the only time you are told through 2009 that it would have been Charles Darwin's 200th birthday this year, and that it is 150 years since ''On The Origin of Species'' first appeared.  This book however declares that second anniversary to be slightly of less importance, when you factor in the biggest section of his evolutionary thinking Darwin left out of that book – that of human evolution.
+
|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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846140358</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Adrian_Sock
|author=Marcus Chown
+
|title=Sock (Object Lessons)
|title=Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You
+
|author=Kim Adrian
|rating=4
+
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Classical physics, for the most, was concerned with (and reasonably good at explaining) medium-scale phenomena: and still now, as when they were discovered, Newton's laws allow us to quite accurately predict behaviour of roughly human-scale objects. Newton's laws and classical physics in general, fail when dealing with extremes of the largest and the smallest, the fastest and the slowest. ''Quantum Theory Cannot Hurt You'', 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 scale.
+
|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>0571235468</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Germano_Eye
|author=Paul Martin
+
|title=Eye Chart (Object Lessons)
|title=Sex, Drugs and Chocolate: The Science of Pleasure
+
|author=William Germano
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=True to its title, ''Sex, Drugs and Chocolate'' is all about pleasure: sensual as well as cerebral, low level and fairly innocent as well as orgiastically excessive and decidedly not-so-innocent. It explores social as well as biological aspects of pleasure and throughout the book the historical, sociological and anecdotal is interspersed with medical, physiological and psychological.
+
|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>0007127081</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nick Tasler
 
|title=The Impulse Factor: 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>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Ball_Wonders
|author=Martin Lindstrom
+
|title=Wonders Beyond Numbers: A Brief History of All Things Mathematical
|title=Buyology: How Everything We Believe About Why We Buy Is Wrong
+
|author=Johnny Ball
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Politics and Society
 
|summary=Considering the amount 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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=John D Barrow
 
|title=Cosmic Imagery: Key Images in the History of Science
 
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=John D. Barrow is one of the most passionate popularisers of science, and he'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.
+
|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.
 
 
''Cosmic Imagery'' is veritably filled with such wonder, and following the old adages of one picture being worth a thousand words and each picture telling a story, it's subtitled ''key images in the history of science'': each of the eighty nine essays making up the book indeed has an image as a starting point.
 
|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 those collections 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 of these collections have not much utility beyond stocking-filling and providing a mild diversion from the Boxing Day boredom, the best are genuinely educational as well as fascinating.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847920039</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Yong_Contain
|author=George Johnson
+
|title=I Contain Multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life
|title=The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments
+
|author=Ed Yong
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=''The Ten Most Beautiful Experiments'' looks at the most elegant, stylish, simple, ground-breaking, thrilling and inspiring experiments throughout history. There's a real feel that this is how science should be done: one person, alone in a room, forming a hypothesis and creating a method to test it. It doubles as a potted biography of some of the greatest scientists ever, but it's more about the experiments themselves than the people.
+
|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>0224071963</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=P D Smith
 
|title=Doomsday Men: The Real Dr Strangelove and the Dream of the Superweapon
 
|rating=4.5
 
|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 to enjoy in ''Doomsday Men'' and its history of weapons which may now be capable of entirely destroying the planet.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0141019158</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Charles Darwin 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 think you have to read, and there are books you have to read. This is one of the latter, and finally in a volume that goes a long way 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
+
Move on to [[Newest Reference Reviews]]
|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 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 boxes.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0749559128</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Manjit Kumar
 
|title=Quantum: Einstein, Bohr and the Great Debate About the Nature of Reality
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Two theories have shaped modern physics and thus our understanding of the world: quantum mechanics and general relativity. The relativity deals with huge scale systems and gravity - and works, while in the process creating its own well know paradoxes. Quantum mechanics applies at the atomic (and lower) levels. Of the two, it's the quantum mechanics that is - and has been - the most mind boggling for scientists and laymen alike.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848310293</amazonuk>
 
}}
 

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

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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

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Review of

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

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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

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Review of

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

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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

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