science books
jdupuis | June 1, 2009First Principles is physicist Howard Burton's story of how Research in Motion founder and CEO Mike Lazaridis basically plucked him out of obscurity to become the founding executive director for The Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario. And quite a story it is.
Burton had just finished his PhD and was looking for work. He sent some CVs around and one of the responses was from Lazaridis, who was looking for do something both big and important with his considerable wealth. After a brief (and rather odd) interview, Burton got the job. It was then his job to figure…
jdupuis | May 27, 2009Every year starting in November or so, I start to highlight various "year's best science books" lists I find around the web.
Typically, one of the last is the long list for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books. Since it's a juried award, they need time to actually read the darn things. Yes, I know what that's like.
In any case, here's their list:
What the nose knows: The science of scent in everyday life by Avery Gilbert
Bad science by Ben Goldacre
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic generation discovered the beauty and terror of science by Richard Holmes
Living with Enza: The…
grrlscientist | February 12, 2009tags: blogosphere, meme, science books meme
Here is a meme that I was tagged with recently by the good peeps at Science on Tap. The author writes;
Imagine: YOU are asked to assign a half-dozen-or-so books as required reading for ALL science majors at a college as part of their 4-year degree; NOT technical or text books, but other works, old or new, touching upon the nature of science, philosophy, thought, or methodology in a way that a practicing scientist might gain from.
Post your list, and forward the meme to a half-dozen-or-so other science-oriented bloggers of your choosing.
As you…
grrlscientist | March 5, 2008tags: How to Fossilize Your Hamster, scientific experiments, Mick O'Hare, book review
I sometimes think that I disappoint random strangers after they find out that I am a scientist because I am not engaging in a variety of odd experiments over coffee or beer. It's true that I enjoy answering people's questions, but I only sometimes suggest fun experiments such as those described in How to Fossilize Your Hamster: And Other Amazing Experiments for the Armchair Scientist by Mick O'Hare of NewScientist magazine (NYC: Henry Holt Company; 2007).
But some scientists routinely get their friends…
grrlscientist | November 27, 2007I was browsing the NYTimes list of the 100 notable books of 2007 and was surprised to note that only one science book is included on that list! This is even more amazing when you realize that Natalie Angier, who wrote The Canon (a book that I reviewed but didn't like), was not even included in the list and she is a science writer for the Times!
Of course, it is difficult to know what is truly "notable" but I will assume that it can be used interchangeably with "best". That said, there are some other lists of the best 100 books of 2007, such as Amazon, and they include science books, so what…