Books
gregladen | March 29, 2011Yes, yes, I know ... Death by Black Hole: And Other Cosmic Quandaries by Neil deGrasse Tyson did not just come out, and it is not part of any current news story, so I'm not supposed to mention it in a blog post, because blog posts are only about things that happened during the last forty-five minutes or so. But what did happen in the last few minutes is that I finished reading it, and I'm recommending it to you.
It is said that Neil deGrasse Tyson is a modern day Carl Sagan ... an astronomer who is superb at communicating science to the masses. That is sort of true but not exactly. Sagan…
mikethemadbiologist | March 23, 2011A recent change by Harper Collins Publishing regarding library-owned eBook has met with a lot of criticism:
The value of this magically convenient library book -- otherwise known as an e-book -- is the subject of a fresh and furious debate in the publishing world. For years, public libraries building their e-book collections have typically done so with the agreement from publishers that once a library buys an e-book, it can lend it out, one reader at a time, an unlimited number of times.
Last week, that agreement was upended by HarperCollins Publishers when it began enforcing new restrictions…
gregladen | March 23, 2011Imma let you hear all about how Hawks at a Distance: Identification of Migrant Raptors is a remarkable and important field guide, but first I want to mention that one of the most interesting parts of that guide is the forward by Pete Dunne, who himself has written a bird book or two. Dunne reviews the history of bird identification guides, going back to the time before they actually included illustrations (yup, just words!) and follows the evolution of bird guides through the 20th century, with special reference to how raptors have been handled. Or, more exactly, mishandled.
It make sense…
gregladen | March 19, 2011Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin is coming out next month and it sounds pretty amazing.
...The space vehicle is shoddily constructed, running dangerously low on fuel; its parachutes -- though no one knows this -- won't work and the cosmonaut, Vladimir Komarov, is about to, literally, crash full speed into Earth, his body turning molten on impact. As he heads to his doom, U.S. listening posts in Turkey hear him crying in rage, "cursing the people who had put him inside a botched spaceship."...
Read more here
aardvarchaeology | March 14, 2011Here's an idea that I'd like some reader feedback on.
Would it be worthwhile to put together an EPUB e-book, about as long as a 200-page paperback, of selected blog entries of mine? I'm thinking I'd organise it in thematic sections and sort each section chronologically. And publish the thing for free on Smashwords.
If I go through with this, what EPUB authoring software should I use? Preferably for Linux.
gregladen | March 11, 2011Three days ago I happen to glance out the front window of our townhouse and found myself staring at a bald eagle swooping by, presumably after picking up one of the neighborhood dogs or small children1 A few minutes later, the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, no one was there but a package was on the stoep. And in the package was my new The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds! It was almost a Harry Potter moment.
The Crossley ID Guide is a unique and special bird book. It is not exactly a pocket field guide, unless you are the Jolly Green Giant and have pockets the size of ... well,…
milhayser | February 14, 2011
Kissing remains popular among the people of the world, and in a new book former scibling Sheril Kirshenbaum delves into the emerging science behind the age-old practice. For one, the sensory experience of osculation (as sucking face is more formally known) forges new neuronal connections in the brain. On Dean's Corner, Dr. Jeffrey Toney says "these new connections represent learning, memory and can enhance sensory perception and even healing." We at Scienceblogs recommend five to nine servings a day. Dr. Toney also shares a video which demonstrates affection throughout the animal kingdom…
milhayser | February 7, 2011
We heard recently that 36% of university students "did not demonstrate any significant improvement in learning" upon graduation, although they may have bettered their Xbox skills, social lives, and tolerance to alcohol. Physics professor Chad Orzel isn't surprised by this number, saying it "seems consistent with my experiences both as a student and as a faculty member." According to Chad, laziness is just human nature, and there are other important (if not academic) lessons that college provides. The new statistics, drawn from a book called Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College…
pharyngula | January 31, 2011I must be a magnet for madness. The latest treasure to manifest itself in my mail is a book by Stefano Polidori called The Chaos Riders. It may be a rare artifact; it's not listed on Amazon, but it's expensively bound with an inset photograph of Da Vinci's The Last Supper on the cover, with thick glossy pages and profuse color illustrations throughout, but no publisher is listed anywhere. It's hot off the vanity press.
I have tried to read bits and pieces of it. I was a bit put off by the translator's remarks that claim the author is a scientist, but the first words in the preface are…
gregladen | January 17, 2011It is very reasonable for a parent to worry about vaccines. For one thing, most of them involve sticking the baby or child with a sharp object, thus making the little one cry, and it would be abnormal to not have an automatic reaction to that. For another thing, they are drugs, in a sense. When the little one is ill, and you call in to the health care facility in the hopes that there will be some useful advice, most of the time you hear "No, we no longer recommend giving [fill in the blank with a medicine you thought might work] to children under [one or two months older than your child].…
drorzel | January 14, 2011The physics book generating the most bloggy buzz in the latter part of 2010 would have to be Ian Sample's Massive: The Missing Particle that Sparked the Greatest Hunt in Science, about the as yet undetected particle known as the Higgs boson. Detecting the Hiigs is the most immediate goal of the Large Hadron Collider, so it's a topic that's in the air at the moment, so this book was inevitable-- in fact, the publisher sent me not one but two review copies. I gave one away, but that makes me feel even more guilty for taking months to get around to reviewing it.
This is, basically, a concise…
pharyngula | January 10, 2011Have you got kids? Are you tangentially related to any young people? Are you young yourself? Do you know anyone who just likes a good story and interesting science?
Well, then, I'm sorry, but reading this article will cost you $12.89. Jay Hosler has a new book out (illustrated by Kevin Cannon and Zander Cannon), Evolution: The Story of Life on Earth(amzn/b&n/abe/pwll), and I'm afraid it's going to be required reading for everyone, and you're also all probably going to end up buying multiple copies for gifts.
Really, it's that good. It's a comic book about aliens from Glargalia explaining…
mikethemadbiologist | January 6, 2011Having grown up (or at least physiologically developed) in Virginia, this story about the totally awesome and rigorous history textbooks used in what are the wealthier counties in the state is not at all surprising, though depressing (italics mine):
In the version of history being taught in some Virginia classrooms, New Orleans began the 1800s as a bustling U.S. harbor (instead of as a Spanish colonial one). The Confederacy included 12 states (instead of 11). And the United States entered World War I in 1916 (instead of in 1917)....
Historian Mary Miley Theobald, a former Virginia…
gregladen | January 4, 2011I went out with a friend. We were both between relationships, and we both knew somehow that this was a date though it was never called a date. And we had a perfectly good time: Good food, good conversation, good drinks. She drove.
When it came time to go home, she drove me to my house in my urban neighborhood and parked on the street near my house. As we were saying our good-byes, she enigmatically unhooked her seat belt. I wondered why. Then, I discovered that she wanted the freedom of movement to lean across the console and give me a kiss. It was a good kiss. It was actually a…
catdynamics | January 3, 2011Happy New Year!
Been kinda slow 'round here recently, need to catch up now.
So, er, who is going to AAS?
Seriously: what would it take to get Amazon, or Apple, say, to give me unlimited access to all current and future eBooks?
I like books.
We have a few thousand at home, including a healthy hundred or so eBooks by now, and the piles beside the bed now reach above the mattress - and it is a good thick mattress on a boxspring and tall frame - and I mean piles, at least one per household resident, excepting the cat.
But, much as I like buying books, browsing books, getting books for pressies…
aardvarchaeology | December 31, 2010Looking for a good book? Here are my best reads in English of the past two years.
2009
The Colour of Magic. Terry Pratchett 1983. Lavishly ornate humorous fantasy.
Dancing with strangers. Inga Clendinnen 2003. On contacts between the first English penal colony and the aboriginals at Sydney Cove in 1788-92.
On the Origin of Species. Charles Darwin 1859. (Abbreviated version of the 1st edition, ed. J.A. Secord 2008.) Don't miss the appended collection of contemporary reactions!
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. Michael Chabon 2000. Two Jewish kids make up a comic-book super hero…
aardvarchaeology | December 20, 2010
I'm eager to start reading more e-books. I rarely re-read books (except for work), and my friends rarely borrow paper ones from me, so I have little reason to hang on to paper books. E-books would be just the thing. But the prices aren't any good. I either have to pay more for an e-book than what it costs me to order a paperback from England, or I can get it for free through illegal file sharing. It's amazingly easy: just try googling a book's title, your preferred file format and the name of a file sharing service like Hotfile or Megaupload.
I am well aware that I wouldn't be supporting the…
gregladen | December 18, 2010
Jim Kakalios puts a very humorous spin on quantum mechanics, and while the video may be neither here nor there, the book, The Amazing Story of Quantum Mechanics: A Math-Free Exploration of the Science That Made Our World, consists of the smallest possible number of words to explain the concept in a useful and entertaining way, and thus lays an important planck in anyone's physics education.
It has been said that only three people understand quantum mechanics. Well, one of them is Jim. And, you can be the fourth!
But wait, there's more!
Jim Kakalios, Author and Professor, will appear on…
stoat | December 13, 2010 Tim Worstall has written a book, and not only that, he sent me a copy to review. So I have. And this is it.
It is a Slim Tome, as I believe delicate lady poets are wont to publish; yours for £6.74 off Amazon. Being slim is good; far too many books now are bloated and turgid.
First the Good News (if you're Tim, or are thinking of buying it): the book is worth reading and will stimulate your thinking about the interface between economics and climate change; or possibly greenery in general.
On the other hand, if you're looking for an excuse not to read it, you'll find one. You could get hung…
gregladen | December 10, 2010Everybody loves to give or to get a book as a present, right? They are small, interesting, there is a wide selection in every price range. As gift giver, it is a way you can impose your will on others, which is always true for gifts, but specially so with books. As a recipient, you can easily get rid of it by claiming that you loaned it to your cousin Leo who just moved to Borneo.
Also, books are very easy to order on line. Well, you can order anything on line, but with books you know what you are getting.
The following is a list of books that I happen to have on hand (or recently…