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=Mary Roach
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|author=Benji Waterhouse
|title=Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in Space
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|rating=5
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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...
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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 psychiatristI 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.  
   
 
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>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1788360702
|author=Richard Conniff
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|title=Charles, The Alternative Prince: An Unauthorised Biography
|title=Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals
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|author=Edzard Ernst
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Biography
|summary=This isn't quite the book it seems. From the subtitle, I inferred a memoir or autobiography. Instead Richard Conniff has chosen twenty-three of his journal articles to reprint from a clutch of prestigious magazines, including ''National Geographic'' and ''Smithsonian''. Taken together, they illustrate his wide range of interests in the animal world. While this glimpse of some of the most peculiar creatures on the planet makes for fascinating reading, it's definitely not a book to be galloped through in a single sitting.
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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>0393304574</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0192779230
|author=Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman
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|title=Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs
|title=Seasons of Life: The Biological Rhythms That Living Things Need to Thrive and Survive
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|author=Isabel Thomas
|rating=3.5
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|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|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.
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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>186197969X</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=gareth_steel
|author=Mark van Vugt and Anjana Ahuja
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|title=Never Work With Animals
|title=Selected: Why some people lead, why others follow, and why it matters
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|author=Gareth Steel
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Business and Finance
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|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=''Selected'' is based on the psychology of leadership. Some of us may ask the perfectly reasonable question 'Does it matter who leads and who follows?' Well, apparently it not only matters but it matters greatly. And the co-authors go to great lengths to tell us why.  The useful prologue informs us that the whole area of leadership can be traced back in time, by no less than several million years. Vugt and Ahuja explain that the rather innocent (and even a bit airy-fairy to some) word 'leader' is evolved from various academic disciplines.  Including the more obvious psychology, there is also biology and anthropology in the mix. Heady stuff.  And yes, I did want to read on.
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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>1846683270</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0241480442
|author=Adam Phillips
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|title=Healthy Vegan The Cookbook: Vegan Cooking Meets Nutrition Science
|title=On Balance
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|author=Niko Rittenau and Sebastian Copien
|rating=4
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|rating=4.5
|genre=Politics and Society
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|genre=Cookery
|summary=Essential for a tightrope walker, prized as an intellectual objective, balance is generally considered something to which we can aspireWe praise someone who makes a balanced decision, we envy people who have a 'good work/life balance' we offer an opinion 'on balance' to demonstrate that we have considered various arguments and options.
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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) foodPractically, 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241143888</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Daniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker
|author=Geoffrey Miller
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|title=A Tattoo on my Brain
|title=Must-Have: The Hidden Instincts Behind Everything We Buy
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=If no one can tell the difference, why shell out $30 000 for a real Rolex when a 'mere' $1200 will get you a virtually identical replica?
 
 
Why do luxury manufacturers such as BMW spend money advertising in mass media whose typical readership most likely won't ever be able to afford their products?
 
 
And just why is the ''i'' in iPod so important?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099437929</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Bruce Bueno de Mesquita
 
|title=Prediction: How to See and Shape the Future with Game Theory
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Autobiography
|summary=As a rather mediocre recreational poker player I've often been intrigued by game theory. The academic discipline used by politicos during the chilliest days of the Cold War has been utilised by the more mathematically minded players on the professional circuit to improve profitability. Rather than poker, author and politics professor Bruce Bueno de Mesquita uses game theory models to forecast political, economic and international security scenarios and in Prediction he shares some of his secrets.
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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>0099531844</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1108838936
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0099551063
|author=Tim Dee
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|title=The Wisdom of Psychopaths: Lessons in life from Saints, Spies and Serial Killers
|title=The Running Sky: A Bird-Watching Life
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|author=Dr Kevin Dutton
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|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'.   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.
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|summary='' 'Donald Trump outscores Hitler on psychopathic traits' claims Oxford University researcher.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099516497</amazonuk>
 
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{{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 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.
|author=Paul Bloom
 
|title=How Pleasure Works: The New Science 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 to Brad Pitt?  What 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 somewhat. But why? The jumper hasn't changed, after all. Do you honestly and rationally, believe that dry cleaning would destroy some of Brad's 'essence', thus making the item less valuable?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847921434</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1849767343
|author=John Farndon
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|title=Count on Me
|title=Do You Think You're Clever?: The Oxbridge Questions
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|author=Miguel Tanco
|rating=3.5
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|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=My history of interviews with Oxbridge colleges forms a very short dialogue.  Me, to university admissions representative, ''You don’t actually do media studies per se, do you?''  He, ''No – our graduates run the media.'' Had I got a lot further, and sat in front of a potential tutor, I would have faced a question designed to baffle, provoke, bewilder – or to inspire a flight of intuitive intelligenceThus is the media-running wheat separated from the media-consuming chaff. 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.
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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 mathsIt's about why maths is so wonderful and how you meet it in everyday life.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184831132X</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B08B39QNRH
|author=Lisa Sanders
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|title=The Curious History of Writer's Cramp: Solving an age-old problem
|title=Diagnosis: Dispatches from the Frontlines of Medical Mysteries
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|author=Michael Pritchard
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|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 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 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 stories.
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|summary=''Society is based on speech but civilisation requires the written word''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848311338</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 routeI 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=Stefan Klein
 
|title=Leonardo's Legacy: How Da Vinci Reinvented the World
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Biography
 
|summary=This excellent combination of science history and biography starts with the most populist and some of the most awkwardly scientificBasically it throws modern-day science at the Mona Lisa, which you might think is a little unfair – can she cope with being analysed, and the neuroscience we now know used in interpreting her?  Of course she can – she’s the world’s best-known masterpiece of Italian art, 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 the truths of La Gioconda are still unknowable.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0306818256</amazonuk>
 
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{{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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Mark Griffiths
 
|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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Glenn Murphy
 
|title=Science: Sorted! Evolution, Nature and Stuff
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|summary=Ever wanted to know about evolution, nature and stuff? Unsurprisingly, this is the book for you. If you're interested in [http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0330508938?ie=UTF8&tag=thebookbag-21&linkCode=as2&camp=1634&creative=6738&creativeASIN=0330508938 space, black holes and stuff], then Glenn Murphy has also written a sister book in the ''Science: Sorted!'' series packed full of all the information you'd want to know. It'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>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1776572858
|author=Alex Bellos
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|title=How Do You Make a Baby?
|title=Alex's Adventures In Numberland
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|author=Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Home and Family
|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.
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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>0747597162</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Danny Dorling
|author=Richard Fortey
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|title=Slowdown
|title=The Hidden Landscape
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Politics and Society
|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= 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.  MostlyBecause mostly, things are not changing as rapidly as we think they areIn 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>1847920713</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0300243405
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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 muster.  They sense exactly how we are feeling – a slight change in the atmosphere and they will be alertThe 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
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|isbn=Langford_Emily
|author=Philip Ball
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|title=Emily's Numbers
|title=The Music Instinct: How Music Works and Why We Can't Do without it
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|author=Joss Langford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|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=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.)
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847920888</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Derrick Niederman
 
|title=Number Freak: A Mathematical Compendium from 1 to 200
 
|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 interestLuckily 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>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1910593508
|author=Druin Burch
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|title=Apollo
|title=Taking the Medicine
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|author=Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=History
|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=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>1845951506</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1999308719
|author=Roger Scruton
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|title=Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-aging treatments
|title=I Drink Therefore I Am
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|author=Adrian Cull
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1847065082</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Keith Laidler
 
|title=Animals
 
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Lifestyle
|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=For many years now I've (half) joked that I intended to live forever and that so far, it was working out OKTime has passed though and although I'm a great deal fitter and healthier than most people of my age there were a few nagging health problems which were tipping my life out of 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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184916004X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Bill Butterworth
 
|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>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1847941834
|author=Richard Wrangham
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|title=Atomic Habits
|title=Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human
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|author=James Clear
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Lifestyle
|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=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.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682851</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|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 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>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Honeyborne BlueII
|author=Stephen Baker
+
|title=Blue Planet II
|title=They've Got Your Number
+
|author=James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|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.
+
|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>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>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1783099593
|author=Robert Rowland Smith
+
|title=Speaking Up
|title=Breakfast with Socrates
+
|author=Allyson Jule
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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'.
+
|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>1846682371</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Campbell_Astra
|author=James Hannam
+
|title=Ad Astra: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet
|title=God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science
+
|author=Dallas Campbell
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
+
|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>1848310706</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Adrian_Sock
|author=Sally Kindberg and Tracey Turner
+
|title=Sock (Object Lessons)
|title=The Comic Strip History of Space
+
|author=Kim Adrian
|rating=5
+
|rating=3.5
|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>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ian Stewart
 
|title=Professor Stewart's Hoard of Mathematical Treasures
 
|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
 
 
|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.
+
|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>1846682878</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Germano_Eye
|author=Eva Hoffman
+
|title=Eye Chart (Object Lessons)
|title=Time (Big Ideas)
+
|author=William Germano
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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''.
+
|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>1846680387</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Ball_Wonders
|author=Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw
+
|title=Wonders Beyond Numbers: A Brief History of All Things Mathematical
|title=Why Does E Equal mc Squared?
+
|author=Johnny Ball
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
+
|summary=Like many people of a ''certain age,'' I have fond memories of tuning in to watch Johnny Ball enthusiastically extolling the virtues of maths and science; succeeding where our schoolteachers had failed and actually making these subjects ''fun.'' Although decades have passed since those classic TV shows, his latest book proves that he has lost none of his passion and enthusiasm for his subject.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0306817586</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Yong_Contain
|author=Tadg Farrington
+
|title=I Contain Multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life
|title=The Average Life of the Average Person
+
|author=Ed Yong
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|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.
+
|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>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 is everything that you would expect of such a book.  Gates' 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.
 
|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 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.
 
|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 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
 
|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
+
Move on to [[Newest Reference Reviews]]
|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 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>
 
}}
 

Latest revision as of 09:12, 27 May 2024

1787333175.jpg

Review of

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

5star.jpg Popular Science

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

1788360702.jpg

Review of

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

4star.jpg Biography

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

0192779230.jpg

Review of

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

5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

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

Gareth steel.jpg

Review of

Never Work With Animals by Gareth Steel

4star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

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

0241480442.jpg

Review of

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

4.5star.jpg Cookery

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

1108838936.jpg

Review of

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

3.5star.jpg Autobiography

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

0099551063.jpg

Review of

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

4star.jpg Popular Science

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

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

1849767343.jpg

Review of

Count on Me by Miguel Tanco

4.5star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

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

B08B39QNRH.jpg

Review of

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

4star.jpg Popular Science

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

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

1776572858.jpg

Review of

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

5star.jpg Home and Family

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

0300243405.jpg

Review of

Slowdown by Danny Dorling

4star.jpg Politics and Society

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

Langford Emily.jpg

Review of

Emily's Numbers by Joss Langford

4star.jpg Children's Non-Fiction

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

1910593508.jpg

Review of

Apollo by Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins

5star.jpg History

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

1999308719.jpg

Review of

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

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

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

1847941834.jpg

Review of

Atomic Habits by James Clear

4.5star.jpg Lifestyle

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

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

Review of

Blue Planet II by James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow

4.5star.jpg Animals and Wildlife

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

1783099593.jpg

Review of

Speaking Up by Allyson Jule

4star.jpg Popular Science

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

Campbell Astra.jpg

Review of

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

5star.jpg Popular Science

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

Adrian Sock.jpg

Review of

Sock (Object Lessons) by Kim Adrian

3.5star.jpg Popular Science

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

Germano Eye.jpg

Review of

Eye Chart (Object Lessons) by William Germano

4.5star.jpg Popular Science

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

Ball Wonders.jpg

Review of

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

5star.jpg Popular Science

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

Yong Contain.jpg

Review of

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

5star.jpg Popular Science

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

Move on to Newest Reference Reviews