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
 
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|title=You Don't Have to be Mad to Work Here
{{newreview
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|author=Benji Waterhouse
|author=Ian Stewart
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|rating=5
|title=17 Equations That Changed The World
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=''17 Equations That Changed the World'' takes us through the history of mathematics, from Pythagoras through Einstein's theory of relativy and chaos theory. It highlights the most influently equations, clearly explains them, and establishes the full ranges of breakthroughs they led to.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846685311</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Taggart Siegel and Jon Betz (editors)
 
|title=Queen of the Sun
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=I kept bees for 5 or 6 years and read many books about the subject, all of the 'how to..' or 'the science of… variety. But this book is a revelation as it  genuinely tries to celebrate bees, capturing the real 'feel' of beekeeping - I wish I had come across this much sooner. For Siegel and Betz have collected a series of short articles, poems and essays not about the technique and science of the craft, but about the purpose and 'soul' behind it.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1905570341</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Keith Skene
 
|title=Escape from Bubbleworld
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Before you stifle the inward groan that comes from the thought of another book assaulting population growth, western greed and reckless exploitation of the environment, take time to read the first chapter of Keith Skene's 'Escape to Bubbleworld'. Because this is as entertaining and amusing book as you are likely to read on the subject, while at the same time taking us into to some deep science and fascinating exploration of what turns out to be less certain certainties. For Skene’s writing has two attributes which I can almost guarantee will keep even the non-scientific reading.
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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>0956250122</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1788360702
|author=David Malouf
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|title=Charles, The Alternative Prince: An Unauthorised Biography
|title=The Happy Life: The Search for Contentment in the Modern World
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|author=Edzard Ernst
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Biography
|summary=There's something quite uplifting about the physical brevity of David Malouf's 'The Happy Life' which is subtitled 'The Search for Contentment in the Modern World'. It suggests that it is easy to find, when of course, the whole point of the book is that despite, or perhaps because of, scientific and technological advances that have taken away many of the causes of true unhappiness in the world, it remains elusive for most. Who can say that they are truly happy? The book runs to less than 100 pages if you take out the Notes section, and the typeface is large. It is, by any reckoning a slim offering.
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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>0701187115</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0192779230
|author=Marcus Chown
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|title=Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs
|title=Solar System
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|author=Isabel Thomas
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=With beautiful photographs of the wonders of the solar system, this is a gorgeous coffee table book for anyone with even a passing interest in astronomy. Marcus Chown's descriptions are in-depth enough to warrant considered reading, but if you're after a simple and casual flick through, you'll still find plenty to appeal.
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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 germsWe get an informed look at how people originally thought about diseases and what they thought caused them and how the thinking has developed over timeThe 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>0571277713</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Mark Forsyth
 
|title=The Etymologicon
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Trivia
 
|summary=I like words. Words are awesome. End of. But I also like trivia. I like knowing things that perhaps other people don’t, and helpfully passing on this knowledge to them. So a book about word-related trivia is just a win-win, and this one is so good I think we’ll have to call it a win-win-win.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1848313071</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Simon Barnes
 
|title=Birdwatching With Your Eyes Closed: an introduction to birdsong
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=
 
One of my best-ever auditory memories is waking up in a tent to a dawn chorus, sung in the middle of Ireland in springIt was a high-decibel effort and seemed to involve hundreds of birds.  I'm ashamed to say that I couldn't begin to identify the multitude of species I heard that morningSo I suppose I chose this book expecting it to be a field guide that could at long last help me get a handle on birdsong.  But it isn't yet another handbook, but a much more interesting book than that, which I thought would make a great present for a new birdwatcher.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907595473</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=gareth_steel
|author=Steve Backshall
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|title=Never Work With Animals
|title=Predators
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|author=Gareth Steel
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
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|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=Many readers would probably know that on the simple count of humans they helped to dispatch, mosquitoes may be the most deadly animals ever. But did you know that if you take into account the success rate of hunts, diversity and spread, ladybirds are more successful predators than tigers?
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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>1444004174</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=0241480442
|author=Sam Leith
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|title=Healthy Vegan The Cookbook: Vegan Cooking Meets Nutrition Science
|title=You Talkin' To Me?: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama
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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=Over the years I've trained myself (fairly successfully) not to judge a book by its cover.  I've added 'not judging a book by its title' to the training, but what do you do when your first impressions of a book - the title ''and'' the cover - scream 'trivia'? Well, I put this one to one side on the basis that it really wasn't likely to be a book which would interest me.  Picking it up and looking at the contents was almost accidental - and then I discovered that this book is a gold mine.
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|summary=Emotionally, I am a veganMentally, 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 proteinIt 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>1846683157</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|author=Daniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker
|author=Gordon Grice
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|title=A Tattoo on my Brain
|title=The Book of Deadly Animals
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|rating=3.5
|rating=4.5
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|genre=Autobiography
|genre=Popular Science
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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''.
|summary=Animals and humans have long mixed, even though the one has almost always proven capable of being lethal to the other. Many scientists in the past decided animals killing humans were aberrant, and that the real animal knew it was second best to humans, having been saved in the Ark, and respected our dominion over them. Even now, it seems, there are opinions that creatures attacking mankind are somehow rogue and need destroying. But where is the wrong in an animal behaving as its nature compels it?  Similarly, the human wandering around the wilderness, or even the idiot woman feeding a black bear her own toddler's honey-dripping hand (true story - what the bear thought of the taste of honeyed fingers we don't know) is just the same in reverse - humans behaving as only humans can.
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|isbn=1108838936
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0670919675</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0099551063
|author=Thomas Byrne and Tom Cassidy
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|title=The Wisdom of Psychopaths: Lessons in life from Saints, Spies and Serial Killers
|title=How to Save the World with Salad Dressing
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|author=Dr Kevin Dutton
|rating=3
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|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=The world is under threat from a manic Bond-type baddie. You, my friendly reader, are the only person with the smarts enough to save it.  You'd better not be one of my less intelligent friends, because according to this book one needs a lot of physics-inclined lateral thinking to carry out the dangerous tasks ahead.  You'll need to know about gravity and other forces, buoyancy, friction, acceleration and more to get through the puzzles here.
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|summary='' 'Donald Trump outscores Hitler on psychopathic traits' claims Oxford University researcher.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1851688552</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 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=Gary Hayden
 
|title=You Kant Make it Up!: Strange Ideas from History's Greatest Philosophers
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=In You Kant Make it Up, journalist and philosopher Gary Hayden takes his readers through some of the biggest and most important ideas right from the very beginnings of philosophical thought up to the philosophy of the modern day. He gives a brief explanation and discussion of each idea, and shows how through the ages philosophers have argued pretty much everything you could think of, much of which seems bizarre to the modern thinker.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1851688455</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1849767343
|author=Stephen H Segal
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|title=Count on Me
|title=Geek Wisdom
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|author=Miguel Tanco
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=I am by no means a fully fledged geek, but on the Big Bang scale I'm probably more of a Leonard than a Penny. I was weaned on ''Star Trek '', chose ''Hitchhiker’s Guide... '' as my reading aloud piece for a Year 7 exam, and think it would be more than a little fun to take a trip to Comic Con.  At the same time, there are gaping holes in my knowledge. My first celeb crush might have been ''Blake’s 7’s'' Villa but I've never seen a ''Batman'' film, never read a comic book, never quite understood what all the ''Star Wars'' fuss was about. If Sci Fi is a religion, then this is the book that can fill me in one the stories, the parables, the rules, as it were, of geekdom. I had to have it.
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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>1594745277</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Mick O'Hare
 
|title=Why Are Orangutans Orange?
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Another year has passed, and once again we're treated to another offering from New Scientist's Last Word column. We've been here before, with [[Why Don't Penguins' Feet Freeze? by Mick O'Hare|Penguins]], [[Do Polar Bears Get Lonely? by Mick O'Hare|Polar Bears]], [[How To Make A Tornado by Mick O'Hare|Tornadoes]], [[Why Can't Elephants Jump? by Mick O'Hare|Elephants]] and [[How To Fossilise Your Hamster by Mick O'Hare|Hamsters]]. Now it's time for the orangutan to find out why he's orange.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846685079</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=David Crystal
 
|title=The Story Of English In 100 Words
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Crystal is a god when it comes to language. I’ve known that since I was quoting him during English A Level, since my university studies, since my TEFL days when students ask 'Why?' and you need an answer other than 'Because'. This is his new book, but you don’t need a degree in linguistics to find it fascinating, and in addition to the intriguing revelations and chummy writing style, it looks just lovely and would make a fab Christmas present.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846684277</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Niall McCrae
 
|title=The Moon and Madness
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=A book entitled ''The Moon and Madness'' has the potential to be a pile of New Age hokum.  This learned and academic treatise by Niall McCrae is very far from hokum, and there is not a whiff of New Age hanging over it.  We probably all have an old folklore image in our minds of lunatics in the asylum howling at the full moon.  Of course, the very word 'lunatic' has its origins in the moon.  McCrae tries to separate myth and fact in this fascinating book.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845402146</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=B08B39QNRH
|author=John L Locke
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|title=The Curious History of Writer's Cramp: Solving an age-old problem
|title=Duels and Duets: Why Men and Women Talk So Differently
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|author=Michael Pritchard
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Locke's subtitle ''Why Men and Women Talk So Differently'' might lead you to think that this is just another self-help ''Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus'' tome.  It's not.  Rather than focussing upon what we all know from experience – that men and women do not communicate very well because of some fundamental difference in their respective approach to verbal expression – the New York City University Professor of Linguistics sets out to explain WHY that might be.
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|summary=''Society is based on speech but civilisation requires the written word''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0521887135</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 workAn 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=Steven Connor
 
|title=Paraphernalia: The Curious Lives of Magical Things
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=...In which our author considers the smaller, less noticeable items in our lives.  He finds such objects as sticky tape, combs and keys magical, because "we can do whatever we like to things, but magical things are things that we allow and expect to do things back to usMagical things all do more, and mean more than they might be supposed to."  Principally these are the little flotsam that wash up on our desks, the handy things we keep in our pockets and about our person, and never think about - wave about, flick about, fiddle with, but never think about.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682703</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1776572858
|author=Michael Brooks
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|title=How Do You Make a Baby?
|title=Free Radicals
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|author=Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)
|rating=4.5
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|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Home and Family
|summary=We often have an image of scientists as quietly plodding away, with small breakthrough after small breakthrough. When the big breakthroughs come, they downplay things, and insist upon logical and level-headed caution. It's all very mild-mannered and polite. ...Or is it? The history of science is splattered with radicals, who'll do anything for success. There are those who mercilessly put down their rivals, those who use drugs to stimulate their breakthroughs, those who put themselves in harm's way in the pursuit of truth, and those who just plain go about things their own way, regardless of what anyone else says.
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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>1846684056</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Danny Dorling
|author=Andrew Wheen
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|title=Slowdown
|title=Dot-Dash To Dot.Com
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=You know exactly what you're getting when you read the summary of Andrew Wheen's ''Dot-Dash To Dot.Com''. ''How Modern Telecommunications Evolved from the Telegraph to the Internet'' sums it up perfectly. This is a history of technology and the people involved in creating that technology. It serves as a primer for anyone with an interest or need to know about telecommunications.
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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>1441967591</amazonuk>
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|isbn=0300243405
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Langford_Emily
|author=Stephanie Pain
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|title=Emily's Numbers
|title=Farmer Buckley's Exploding Trousers
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|author=Joss Langford
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=The history of science is filled with many miraculous discoveries. ...It's also filled with exploding trousers, self-experimentation, a coachman's leg that becomes a museum piece and gas-powered radios. ''Farmer Buckley's Exploding Trousers'' regales us with fifty odd events on the way to scientific discovery. Part popular science book, part trivia, each article is a treat to read, either as a fun-sized nugget, or when reading from cover to cover.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846685087</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jonah Lehrer
 
|title=Proust Was a Neuroscientist
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=In Troilus and Cressida, Shakespeare wrote,'Time hath, my lord, a wallet at his back, wherin he puts alms for oblivion'. This fully accords with the discoveries of modern brain science. Proust in his famous novel, 'In Search of Lost Time' anticipates such discoveries by neuroscientists, such as Rachel Hertz, that smell and taste are the only senses that connect directly to the hippocampus. Thus the taste of a petit madeleine evokes a rediscovery by Proust of Combray and a flow of associations - it is the part of the brain in which long term memory is centred. Lehrer in ' Proust was a Neuroscientist' weaves an intriguing argument about the relationship between recent neuroscientific discoveries and the novels of George Eliot, Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf. A scientist, who has researched with Nobel Prize-winning, [[:Category:Eric R Kandel|Eric Kandel]], has a taste for philosophy; Lehrer intends to heal the rift between what C.P.Snow termed the 'Two Cultures'. He wishes to accord respect to the truths and the intuitive discoveries, especially of modernist writers and painters.
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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>1847677851</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1910593508
|author=John Lister-Kaye
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|title=Apollo
|title=At the Water's Edge: A Walk in the Wild
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|author=Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins
|rating=3
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|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=History
|summary=This is a book that readers feel strongly about, and one with which I must confess to having a love/hate relationship!  I loved the detailed observation, the sharing of knowledge that Lister-Kaye has built from a lifetime of close study of the countryside.  He delights in and pays as much attention to the structure of a spider's web as to the rarest of meetings with a Scottish wildcat.
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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>1847674054</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Ian Stewart
 
|title=Mathematics of Life
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Mathematics and biology don't traditionally mix. As science develops, the boundaries between maths and physics, physics and chemistry and chemistry and biology have become more and more blurred. As it is now, biology requires many mathematical techniques, and it's fair to assume that major biological breakthroughs over the next hundred years will also have a strong basis in maths too. Ian Stewart looks at the major steps forward in the history of biology, and the areas where maths is at the forefront of development.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846681987</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Anthony James
 
|title=The Happy Passion: A Personal View of Jacob Bronowski
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Jacob Bronowski was a scientific administrator, poet, philosopher, dramatist, radio and TV personality, best remembered for the series 'The Ascent of Man'.  This short book, about 90 pages long, is partly biographical sketch, partly – in fact largely – an overview of his major published works, occupying about two-thirds of the book. In the author's words, it is intended as a personal view of Bronowski as a philosopher.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1845402200</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
 
|author=Sean Carroll
 
|title=From Eternity to Here: The Quest for the Ultimate Theory of Time
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=The Prologue sets out what this book is about. It's about ' ... the nature of time, the beginning of the universe, and the underlying structure of physical reality.'  OK?  Bring on those questions.  Yes, it's a weighty tome in terms of size and subject matter, but I would certainly describe the front cover as reader-friendly, so therefore should have broad appeal.  I love the title of this book, lots of thought has been put into it and it certainly grabbed my attention - and I'm no scientist. The classic movie from the classic book ...  I also loved Carroll's language - 'The Elegant Universe' and 'a preposterous universe'  These are phrases to make you stop and think.  And I certainly did.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1851687955</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1999308719
|author=Robert Rowland Smith
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|title=Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-aging treatments
|title=Driving with Plato: The Meaning of Life's Milestones
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|author=Adrian Cull
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=''Driving with Plato'' is a companion book to [[Breakfast with Socrates by Robert Rowland Smith|Breakfast with Socrates]], in which former Oxford Fellow Robert Roland Smith took various elements of a 'typical' day and provided insight into what a collection of thinkers might have to offer to make these mundane routines more interesting. Here, in the company of a similarly eclectic range of writers and thinkers, he considers the key aspects of a life, from birth, through school and riding a bike, to your first kiss, losing your virginity, having a family before a mid-life crisis, leading to divorce, old age and death. Montaigne said that to philosophise was to learn how to die, and here Roland Smith ensures that we think about each stage leading up to that moment.
+
|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 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>184668305X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1847941834
|author=Mark Stevenson
+
|title=Atomic Habits
|title=An Optimist's Tour of the Future
+
|author=James Clear
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Lifestyle
|summary=In 1968, the film '2001 A Space Odyssey' had an optimistic view of the future we would soon be living in. In terms of technological advancement we're not quite there yet, even though that date has a decade since passed, so maybe it's time for a revised view of what is to come. Enter Mark Stevenson, a stand up comic slash scientist. It's perhaps not the most familiar of combinations, but take the best bits of each and the result is this wonderful book that combines humour and fun with proper nitty, gritty, science stuff.
+
|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>1846683564</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde
 
|title=Sleights of Mind
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=I have a passing interest in both magic and neuroscience. Not only am I ''quite'' the hit with the ladies, but I was also very keen to read ''Sleights of Mind: What the Neuroscience of Magic Reveals About Our Brains''. Husband and wife team Stephen Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde work at the Barrow Neurological Institute in Arizona, and as a way of promoting their field of visual neuroscience, developed the [http://illusioncontest.neuralcorrelate.com/ Illusion of the Year contest]. From this, they slipped into the world of magic, investigating, discussing and researching the neuroscience of magic with James Randi, Mac King, Teller (of Penn and...) and Johnny Thompson.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846683890</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Honeyborne BlueII
|author=Sam Kean
+
|title=Blue Planet II
|title=The Disappearing Spoon
+
|author=James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=If the disappearing spoon of the title doesn't pique your interest, the subtitle is bound to get your juices flowing: ''and Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements''. As far as popular science books goes, it's got all the umm... right elements (sorry, sorry, sorry). We're taken on a tour through the periodic table, hearing exciting tales of scientific discovery and marvel.
+
|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>0857520261</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1783099593
|author=Martin Cohen
+
|title=Speaking Up
|title=Mind Games: 31 Days to Rediscover Your Brain
+
|author=Allyson Jule
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=The sub-title of Martin Cohen's latest book, Mind Games, promises, rather optimistically in my case I felt, '31 days to rediscover your brain'. It is rather presumptuous of him to assume that I had ''discovered'' it in the first place, but I appreciate his confidence.
+
|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>1444337092</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Campbell_Astra
|author=Marcus Chown
+
|title=Ad Astra: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet
|title=We Need To Talk About Kelvin
+
|author=Dallas Campbell
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Sporting the best title for a popular science book this side of [[:Category:Alex Bellos|Alex Bellos']] ''Here's Looking At Euclid'', Marcus Chown shows us what everyday things tell us about the universe. You'll find out how your reflection in a window shows the randomness of the universe, how the abundance of iron shows a 4.5bn degree furnace exists in space, and how most of the world's astronomers are wrong about what the darkness of night shows us.
+
|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>0571244033</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Adrian_Sock
|author=Mick O'Hare
+
|title=Sock (Object Lessons)
|title=Why Can't Elephants Jump?
+
|author=Kim Adrian
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=3.5
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Well? Why can't elephants jump? And while you're pondering that, think about why James Bond wanted his martini shaken, not stirred. Why is frozen milk yellow? Does eating bogeys do you any harm? What's the hole for in a ballpoint pen? How long a line could you draw with a single pencil? For answers to all these questions, and so many more, then do yourself a favour and pick up the latest collection from the New Scientist's [http://www.last-word.com/ Last Word column].
 
 
 
Mick O'Hare was also kind enough to be [[The Interview: Bookbag Talks To Mick O'Hare|interviewed by Bookbag]].
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184668398X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Henry Nicholls
 
|title=The Way of the Panda: The Curious History of China's Political Animal
 
|rating=4
 
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=The book cover alone, with its panda hugging a tree, says 'buy me', 'read me.' A good start.  The sections are divided into no-nonsense headings:  Extraction, Abstraction and Protection.  Maps and Prologue give a flavour of what's to come.  The inside front cover states boldly that 'Giant pandas have been causing a stir ever since their formal scientific discovery just over 140 years ago.'  I think it safe to say that many of us would probably say automatically, without thinking, that the panda has immense appeal. But is it only because of the beautifully marked eyes which give the animal a cuddly, teddy bear look?
+
|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>1846683688</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Germano_Eye
|author=Cindy M Meston and David Buss
+
|title=Eye Chart (Object Lessons)
|title=Why Women Have Sex: Understanding Sexual Motivation from Adventure to Revenge (and Everything in Between)
+
|author=William Germano
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=Many many years ago, a man who was far too young to be the fusty, dusty RE teacher he was shaping to be, asked my best friend and I why we were each having sex with our girlfriends. Even aged fifteen I thought something along the lines of 'well, if he doesn't know by now, he never will', and listed that it was great fun, a very enjoyable sensation, showed an appetite for the relationship, and that sex proved the ultimate in bonding - how much closer, to be blunt, could you be to someone than actually inside them?  I'll come clean now and admit said girlfriend was not real, but several have been since, and I have had heaps of fun finding out how - and perhaps why - women have sex.  I was never to know, until now, there are 237 reasons for it.
+
|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>0099546639</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Ball_Wonders
|author=Mary Roach
+
|title=Wonders Beyond Numbers: A Brief History of All Things Mathematical
|title=Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in Space
+
|author=Johnny Ball
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=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...
+
|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.
 
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>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Yong_Contain
|author=Richard Conniff
+
|title=I Contain Multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life
|title=Swimming with Piranhas at Feeding Time: My Life Doing Dumb Stuff with Animals
+
|author=Ed Yong
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393304574</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Russell Foster and Leon Kreitzman
 
|title=Seasons of Life: The Biological Rhythms That Living Things Need to Thrive and Survive
 
|rating=3.5
 
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary="Seasons of Life" aims to present a rounded picture of the way seasonality affects human life as well as the rest of nature. Covering everything from Seasonal Affective Disorder to the potential for animals to adapt to climate change, this book would be an interesting read for anyone with an enquiring mind and an interest in the natural world.
+
|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>186197969X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Mark van Vugt and Anjana Ahuja
 
|title=Selected: Why some people lead, why others follow, and why it matters
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Business and Finance
 
|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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846683270</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest Reference Reviews]]
|author=Adam Phillips
 
|title=On Balance
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Politics and Society
 
|summary=Essential for a tightrope walker, prized as an intellectual objective, balance is generally considered something to which we can aspire.  We 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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0241143888</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Geoffrey Miller
 
|title=Must-Have: The Hidden Instincts Behind Everything We Buy
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=If no one 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>
 
}}
 

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

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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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