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
__NOTOC__
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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=Mick O'Hare
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|rating=5
|title=Will We Ever Speak Dolphin?
 
|rating=4.5
 
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|summary=The annual New Scientist book is becoming a bit of a ritual for me, and I hope it is for you too. Each year, they collate the best questions and answers from their Last Word column, and each year I heartily recommend that you pick it up, or give it to someone as a Christmas present. This year is no exception, as we find out whether we'll ever speak dolphin, all the ins and outs of James Bond's vodka martini, and - most importantly - detailed information from a dishwasher expert about how to deal with tinned spinach.
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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>178125026X</amazonuk>
 
 
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1788360702
|author=Chris Waring
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|title=Charles, The Alternative Prince: An Unauthorised Biography
|title=From 0 to Infinity in 26 Centuries
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|author=Edzard Ernst
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Biography
|summary=I quite like Maths and I'm not bad at it at a basic level, which is useful as I have a financial based job.  But I recall the point at which Maths went from being easy to incomprehensible for me; sometime over the Summer that feel between GSCE and A-Level standardThen, as now, I never really wondered where Maths had come from; I just worried why I suddenly couldn't understand it any more.
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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>1843178737</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=David Kaiser
 
|title=How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=In his introduction Professor Kaiser states that there are three ways in which the west coast hippies have benefited the development of Physics; they opened up deeper speculation into the fundamental philosophy behind quantum theory, they latched on to a crucial theorem of Bell, about what Einstein termed ''spooky'' interactions between particles at a distance. This might otherwise have been totally neglected. Thirdly they propounded a key idea which has become known as the 'no-cloning theorem'. Kaiser tells a lucid account as might be expected from the Germeshausen Professor of the History of Science and department chief in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's program. Incidentally he also provides an engaging insight into the American industrial-military complex and associated institutions like the Californian University at Berkley.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>039334231X</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0192779230
|author=David Crystal
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|title=Very Short Introductions for Curious Young Minds: The Invisible World of Germs
|title=Spell It Out: The Singular Story of English Spelling
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|author=Isabel Thomas
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|summary=Are you a speller? I must confess I'm not much of one myself, so the main thing I was after from this book was an insight into the peculiarities of English spelling, and some hints and tips for remembering the rules. Oh, and a fun, entertaining read at the same time (this is Crystal, after all).
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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.
 
 
I was not disappointed.
 
 
 
(Even if I can still only spell disappointed with the help of my spellchecker)
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846685672</amazonuk>
 
 
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=gareth_steel
|author=Jim Holt
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|title=Never Work With Animals
|title=Why Does the World Exist? An Existential Detective Story
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|author=Gareth Steel
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|summary=In ''The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy'' Douglas Adam’s famously suggested that the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything was forty-two, although it quickly turns out nobody knows what the ultimate question is, rendering the answer meaningless. In ''Why Does the World Exist?'', Jim Holt explores potential answers to what could be considered the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything – why is there something, rather than nothing? And the answer’s certainly not forty-two.
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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>1846682444</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0241480442
|author=Charles Fernyhough
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|title=Healthy Vegan The Cookbook: Vegan Cooking Meets Nutrition Science
|title=Pieces of Light: the New Science of Memory
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|author=Niko Rittenau and Sebastian Copien
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Over the years, I've seen the human memory at its best and worst.  I watched my Nan suffer with Alzheimer's to the point she couldn't remember who anyone was, but also had a colleague who won a silver medal at the Memory Olympics for his ability to remember long strings of items.  I also studied memory as part of a psychology degree but, perhaps ironically, I can no longer remember much of what I learned.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>184668448X</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Robert L Wolke and Marlene Parrish
 
|title=What Einstein Kept Under His Hat: Secrets of Science in the Kitchen
 
|rating=3.5
 
 
|genre=Cookery
 
|genre=Cookery
|summary=''Everyone'' knows that when you chop onions, you cry, but have you ever wondered ''exactly'' why this happens?  More to the point have you ever considered what you might be able to do so that you don't need to look like a snivelling wreck every time you make kedgeree? Life is littered with such conundrums (along with the old-wives'-tale solutions) but there seem to be more of them in the kitchen than elsewhere.  Robert L Wolke has a column in the ''Washington'' ''Post'' in which he debunks misconceptions and answers questions with logic, science and a healthy dose of common sense.
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|summary=Emotionally, I am a vegan.  Mentally, I am a vegan. I read [[How to Love Animals in a Human-Shaped World by Henry Mance]] and was appalled by the way in which we treat animals in our search for (preferably cheap) food. Practically, I am not a 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>0393341658</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Siri Hustvedt
 
|title=Living, Thinking, Looking
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Lifestyle
 
|summary='Living, Thinking, Looking' is a collection of essays by Siri Hustvedt which, she claims, are linked by an abiding curiosity about what it means to be human.  In these essays she examines who we are and how we got that way.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1444732633</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Alasdair Wickham
 
|title=The Black Book of Modern Myths: True Stories of the Unexplained
 
|rating=3
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=A collection of 'Modern Myths' from around the world, Wickham's Black Book covers a wide range of phenomenon, from ghosts to liminal creatures, poltergeists to demons. As an aficionado of all things paranormal, this should have been right up my street. However, I found myself struggling to get into it, and putting it down for something else on more than one occasion.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099533626</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Alain Badiou with Nicholas Truong
 
|title=In Praise of Love
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary='Love encompasses the experience of the possible transition from the pure randomness of chance to a state that has universal value.  Starting out from something that is simply an encounter, a trifle, you learn that you can experience the world on the basis of difference and not only in terms of identity.' In other words, when eyes look and worlds collide, the process of alteration that follows, is love.  'It is absolutely true that love can bend our bodies and prompt the sharpest torment.  Love, as we can observe day in and day out, is not a long, quiet river.'  But it is not designed to be that way - just as a record is a lump of plastic before music has been carved on it, love is just a transaction if all the chance has been ironed out of it - as perhaps by an Internet match site questionnaire.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846687799</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Neil deGrasse Tyson
 
|title=Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier
 
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=A year or so ago there was a big hoopla about being able to see the International Space Station pass overhead where I live, so I dutifully clambered on to the roof. And indeed it was actually very warming to know I was seeing something manmade, from 250 miles away. As for the chance to see it, its speed of 17,000mph means it orbits the planet every 92 and a half minutes. It gets about. But some of the warmth of seeing it, as well as the achievements that led up to it, and the politics of NASA's five decades - and some of the Newtonian physics involved in it - are all in this volume.  
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0393082105</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Daniel Gibbs with Teresa H Barker
|author=Daniel Everett
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|title=A Tattoo on my Brain
|title=Language: The Cultural Tool
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Daniel Everett previously worked as a missionary in far flung corners of the world– a fact that isn’t surprising given the number of references to faith that crop up over the pages. This new book, however, is about two much more appealing (to me) subjects: language and travel. If [[:Category:Bill Bryson|Bill Bryson]] is a travel writer with an interest in linguistics, then Daniel Everett is a linguist with an interest in travel. It’s not quite the ‘read it by a pool’ sort of book that Bryson might release but is somewhere between a formalised every day read and a text book with a big dollop of informality stirred in. The travel stories – jaunts to Brazil, Mexico and beyond – are great, and while you might think they’re taking things a bit off track (albeit in a rather pleasant way) sooner or later the linguistic point will become clear.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846682673</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Jeffrey Masson
 
|title=Dogs Never Lie About Love: Why Your Dog Will Always Love You More Than Anyone Else
 
 
|rating=3.5
 
|rating=3.5
|genre=Pets
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|genre=Autobiography
|summary=Readers come to books for strange reasons but I don't think that I've ever before picked up a book, looked at the title and being intrigued not by what was suggested but by how anyone could think differently. 'Dogs Never Lie About Love' is a statement of the obvious to me.  I've lived with and around dogs for most of my life and I know that dogs are incapable of pretence.  I've never met a dog I couldn't trust: if it doesn't like me, it will tell me so straight away.  It will not attempt to trick me.  I only wish that I could say the same about most of the humans I encounter.
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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>0099740613</amazonuk>
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|isbn=1108838936
 
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}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=0099551063
|author=Antonio Damasio
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|title=The Wisdom of Psychopaths: Lessons in life from Saints, Spies and Serial Killers
|title=Self Comes to Mind: Constructing the Conscious Brain
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|author=Dr Kevin Dutton
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=What makes us, us? How is awareness of one's own being created in the human mind? What makes ''me'' who got up this morning ''me'' that went to bed last night,  and the same ''me'' that got up on most mornings in the preceding forty-odd years? How is it that we see, remember and understand things, other humans and the world in general? And who is doing the understanding? How is it that we are conscious of our own experiences, and how is it that we are conscious of ourselves being conscious?
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099498022</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=John D Barrow
 
|title=The Book Of Universes
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=The idea of a 'multiverse' - multiple universes existing alongside each other - is something science fiction and fantasy fans are fairly au fait with. Parallel realities in which you made a different decision at a pivotal moment and, as a consequence, have evolved in entirely different ways, have been fodder for authors, scriptwriters and 'what if' musings for some time, but recently, scientists - specifically cosmologists - have been taking increasingly seriously.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0099539861</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Nicholas Mee
 
|title=Higgs Force
 
|rating=4.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|summary=Nicholas Mee, was a Senior Wrangler at Trinity College, Cambridge and having taken his PhD in Theoretical Particle Physics by submitting his thesis on ''Supersymmetric Quantum Mechanics and Geometry'', he is uniquely qualified to explain the mysteries of the Higgs force. He is also a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Whereas other texts rapidly resort to references to erudite constructs like 'non-zero expectation values', 'zz Dibosons' and 'Bose-Einstein statistics', Dr Mee provides an accurate account of the Geneva experiments with the Large Hadron Collider, provides his readers with some insight into the character of eminent physicists, and furnishes a lucid account of current theories. Included is an exposition of the discovery of elements by Sir Humphry Davy to recent experiments to discover Peter Higg's elusive particle.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0718892755</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Ian Stewart
 
|title=17 Equations That Changed The World
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
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|summary='' 'Donald Trump outscores Hitler on psychopathic traits' claims Oxford University researcher.''
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1846685311</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
  
{{newreview
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Until the events of 6 January 2021 that might have surprised, even shocked many readers: now they're probably convinced that they knew it all along.  The statement has lost a little of its shock value but it does help us to understand more about the nature of psychopathyIt's too easy to associate psychopathy with the Yorkshire Ripper, Jeffrey Dahmer, Saddam Hussein or Robert Maudsley, the real-life Hannibal Lecter, but the truth is that having psychopathic traits can sometimes be a good thing.
|author=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>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1849767343
|author=Keith Skene
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|title=Count on Me
|title=Escape from Bubbleworld
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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=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=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>0956250122</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=B08B39QNRH
|author=David Malouf
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|title=The Curious History of Writer's Cramp: Solving an age-old problem
|title=The Happy Life: The Search for Contentment in the Modern World
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|author=Michael Pritchard
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|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=''Society is based on speech but civilisation requires the written word''.
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0701187115</amazonuk>
 
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{{newreview
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I came to Michael Pritchard's ''The Curious History of Writer's Cramp'' by a rather strange route.  I have problems with my hands which orthopaedic surgeons refer to as 'interesting': I prefer the word 'painful' but I have an interest in the way that hands work.  An exploration of the history of a problem which has defeated some of the best medical minds for some three-hundred-years seemed liked excellent background reading and so it proved, with the book being as much about the doctors treating the sufferers and the changing medical attitudes as the problem itself.
|author=Marcus Chown
 
|title=Solar System
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>0571277713</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1776572858
|author=Mark Forsyth
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|title=How Do You Make a Baby?
|title=The Etymologicon
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|author=Anna Fiske and Don Bartlett (translator)
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
|genre=Trivia
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|genre=Home and Family
|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.
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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>1848313071</amazonuk>
 
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|author=Danny Dorling
|author=Simon Barnes
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|title=Slowdown
|title=Birdwatching With Your Eyes Closed: an introduction to birdsong
 
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Politics and Society
|summary=
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|summary= We are living in a time of rapid change, and we're worried about itDorling tells us that the latter is normal, natural and probably good for usWe are designed to worry and with the current state of what we're doing in the world we have much to be worried aboutHowever, 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.
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 birdsI'm ashamed to say that I couldn't begin to identify the multitude of species I heard that morning.  So I suppose I chose this book expecting it to be a field guide that could at long last help me get a handle on birdsongBut 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.
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|isbn=0300243405
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1907595473</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=Langford_Emily
|author=Steve Backshall
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|title=Emily's Numbers
|title=Predators
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|author=Joss Langford
 
|rating=4
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
 
|genre=Children's Non-Fiction
|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=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>1444004174</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1910593508
|author=Sam Leith
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|title=Apollo
|title=You Talkin' To Me?: Rhetoric from Aristotle to Obama
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|author=Matt Fitch, Chris Baker and Mike Collins
 +
|rating=5
 +
|genre=History
 +
|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.
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{{Frontpage
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|isbn=1999308719
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|title=Live Forever Manual: Science, ethics and companies behind the new anti-aging treatments
 +
|author=Adrian Cull
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Lifestyle
|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=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>1846683157</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
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{{Frontpage
{{newreview
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|isbn=1847941834
|author=Gordon Grice
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|title=Atomic Habits
|title=The Book of Deadly Animals
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|author=James Clear
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
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|genre=Lifestyle
|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.
+
|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>0670919675</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Thomas Byrne and Tom Cassidy
 
|title=How to Save the World with Salad Dressing
 
|rating=3
 
|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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1851688552</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|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>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Honeyborne BlueII
|author=Stephen H Segal
+
|title=Blue Planet II
|title=Geek Wisdom
+
|author=James Honeyborne and Mark Brownlow
 
|rating=4.5
 
|rating=4.5
|genre=Popular Science
+
|genre=Animals and Wildlife
|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.
+
|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>1594745277</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=1783099593
|author=Mick O'Hare
+
|title=Speaking Up
|title=Why Are Orangutans Orange?
+
|author=Allyson Jule
|rating=3.5
+
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
+
|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>1846685079</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Campbell_Astra
|author=David Crystal
+
|title=Ad Astra: An illustrated guide to leaving the planet
|title=The Story Of English In 100 Words
+
|author=Dallas Campbell
 
|rating=5
 
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
+
|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>1846684277</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Adrian_Sock
|author=Niall McCrae
+
|title=Sock (Object Lessons)
|title=The Moon and Madness
+
|author=Kim Adrian
|rating=4
+
|rating=3.5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
+
|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>1845402146</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Germano_Eye
|author=John L Locke
+
|title=Eye Chart (Object Lessons)
|title=Duels and Duets: Why Men and Women Talk So Differently
+
|author=William Germano
|rating=4
+
|rating=4.5
 
|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.
+
|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>0521887135</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Ball_Wonders
|author=Steven Connor
+
|title=Wonders Beyond Numbers: A Brief History of All Things Mathematical
|title=Paraphernalia: The Curious Lives of Magical Things
+
|author=Johnny Ball
|rating=4
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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 us. Magical 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.
+
|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>1846682703</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
 
+
{{Frontpage
{{newreview
+
|isbn=Yong_Contain
|author=Michael Brooks
+
|title=I Contain Multitudes: the microbes within us and a grander view of life
|title=Free Radicals
+
|author=Ed Yong
|rating=4.5
+
|rating=5
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|genre=Popular Science
|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.
+
|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>1846684056</amazonuk>
 
 
}}
 
}}
  
{{newreview
+
Move on to [[Newest Reference Reviews]]
|author=Andrew Wheen
 
|title=Dot-Dash To Dot.Com
 
|rating=4
 
|genre=Popular Science
 
|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.
 
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>1441967591</amazonuk>
 
}}
 
 
 
{{newreview
 
|author=Stephanie Pain
 
|title=Farmer Buckley's Exploding Trousers
 
|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>
 
}}
 
amazonuk>0099539861
 

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