Book reviews and more!

Posts tagged with ‘History of Science’

THE PARTICLE AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE, by Sean Carroll

March 1, 2013

ENTERTAINING, ACCESSIBLE LOOK at particle physics, the Large Hadron Collider, the search for the Higgs Boson.

Grade: B PLUS

THE PARTICLE AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE: HOW THE HUNT FOR THE HIGGS BOSON LEADS US TO THE EDGE OF A NEW WORLD
Dutton
2012

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THE VIOLINIST’S THUMB, by Sam Kean

February 9, 2013

QUIRKY, LAID-BACK HISTORY of gene research has lots of wacky examples of how the building blocks of life work.

Grade: B PLUS

THE VIOLINIST'S THUMB: AND OTHER LOST TALES OF LOVE, WAR, AND GENIUS, AS WRITTEN BY OUR GENETIC CODE
Little, Brown
2012

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KORE, by Andrzej Szczeklik (translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones)

January 30, 2013

ELOQUENT, COMPASSIONATE WORK by a Polish physician and researcher links medicine with the arts and humanities.

Grade: A MINUS

KORE: ON SICKNESS, THE SICK, AND THE SEARCH FOR THE SOUL OF MEDICINE
Counterpoint
2012

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THE PSEUDOSCIENCE WARS, by Michael D. Gordin

December 28, 2012

FASCINATING SOCIAL HISTORY of “pseudoscience” debates focuses on Velikovsky’s “worlds in collision” theory.

Grade: B PLUS

THE PSEUDOSCIENCE WARS: IMMANUEL VELIKOVSKY AND THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN FRINGE
University of Chicago Press
2012

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LONE SURVIVORS, by Chris Stringer

July 8, 2012

WHY AND HOW we were the only human species to survive, impeccably explored by a leading paleoanthropologist.

Grade: B PLUS

LONE SURVIVOR: HOW WE CAME TO BE THE ONLY HUMANS ON EARTH
Henry Holt & Company
2012

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ELECTRIFIED SHEEP, by Alex Boese

June 10, 2012

JOKEY, CHATTY TOUR through the fringes of science, from Ben Franklin’s electrocuted turkey to nuking the moon.

Grade: SOLID B

ELECTRIFIED SHEEP: GLASS-EATING SCIENTISTS, NUKING THE MOON, AND OTHER BIZARRE EXPERIMENTS
Thomas Dunne Books
2012

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TURING’S CATHEDRAL, by George Dyson

June 6, 2012

A DEEPLY RESEARCHED LOOK at the Institute for Advanced Study’s post-WWII computer innovations; alas, too vague.

Grade: B MINUS

TURING'S CATHEDRAL: THE ORIGINS OF THE DIGITAL UNIVERSE
Pantheon
2012

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EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY, by Edmund Russell

May 7, 2012

THE IMPACTS OF HUMAN society on the evolution of other species, and vice versa, explored with admirable clarity.

Grade: B PLUS

EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY: UNITING HISTORY AND BIOLOGY TO UNDERSTAND LIFE ON EARTH
Cambridge University Press
2011

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MAD LIKE TESLA, by Tyler Hamilton

May 4, 2012

A LAID-BACK LOOK AT a wide range of “clean energy” inventors, from the mainstream to the maverick. Fascinating!

Grade: SOLID B

MAD LIKE TESLA: UNDERDOG INVENTORS AND THE RELENTLESS PURSUIT OF CLEAN ENERGY
ECW Press
2011

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THE SUN’S HEARTBEAT, by Bob Berman

April 9, 2012

CHATTY, ENGAGING BOOK summarizes what scientists know about the sun, as well as the history of solar astronomy.

Grade: SOLID B

THE SUN'S HEARTBEAT: AND OTHER STORIES FROM THE LIFE OF THE STAR THAT POWERS OUR PLANET
Little, Brown
2011

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