Books & Essays:
Category: Book Reviews
While I was on blogcation, I got an email from the watchdog group Stinky Journalism, complaining that prominent science author and professor Jared Diamond (Collapse, Guns, Germs and Steel) was in the hot seat again. (You may remember that Stinky...
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 10:00 AM • 13 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Artists & Art
Polly Law's Word Project is a series of mixed-media illustrations representing obscure words like dasypygal and nidifice. Though Law has exhibited her work in galleries, she hasn't found a backer to publish them as a book. . . yet....
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 8:30 AM • 0 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Blogosphere
if a seller lies about their merchandise and doesn't bother to ship it for weeks, why is their positive feedback around 94%? The answer may surprise you
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 4:05 PM • 27 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Science in Culture & Policy
A quick follow-up to my mention of Edward Tufte last week: you should be aware that Edward Tufte's brief classic, Data Analysis for Politics and Policy, is available online as a PDF here. It's worth a skim in your...
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 3:45 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books & Essays
Last week, I braved a nasty sleety Cambridge evening to see Rebecca Skloot read from her excellent new book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. I'm thrilled to tell you it's finally being released on Amazon tomorrow, so if...
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 8:24 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Artists & Art
Using art to make unappreciated losses tangible
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 12:08 PM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Book Reviews
On Tuesday, Feb. 23, National Geographic Explorer will be devoting an episode to "Vampire Forensics." You can preview a brief clip below the fold, but I'll warn you now: it's not CSI. It's more scientific ("unfortunately this evidence is...
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 8:18 AM • 6 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books & Essays
Okay, so between vampires and zombies, the undead have officially conquered pop culture. It's not really new - I was fascinated when young by Michael Jackson's Thriller and Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles - but it does seem a bit out...
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 10:56 AM • 2 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Books & Essays
Virtual reality trailblazer Jaron Lanier has a somewhat curmudgeonly, critical new book out called You Are Not a Gadget: A Manifesto. Here's an excerpt: If you want to know what's really going on in a society or ideology, follow the...
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 10:04 PM • 5 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
Category: Book Reviews
The famous apple-tree story, from a manuscript by one of Newton's friends: "After dinner, the weather being warm, we went into the garden and drank tea, under the shade of some apple trees. [Newton] told me, he was just in...
Read on »
Posted by Jessica Palmer at 11:52 PM • 1 Comments • 0 TrackBacks