Beyond Calculation: The Next Fifty Years of Computing

Edited by:
  • Peter J. Denning &
  • Robert M. Metcalfe
Copernicus, £11.50, $15

“⃛what sets the book apart from the general run of technology-future books is the authority of its contributors and the tone of restraint that pervades it, when compared with the genre's usual ludicrous extrapolations”, Martin Campbell-Kelly, Nature 390, 42; (1997).

The Heat Is On: The High Stakes Battle over Earth's Threatened Climate

  • Ross Gelbspan
Perseus, $13

“Ross Gelbspan has produced a marvellously readable but devastatingly candid account of the brutal politics of debunking the scientific method by the opulent vested interests of the fossil-fuel lobby”, Tim O'Riordan, Nature 389, 685 (1997).

Ptolemy's Almagest

translated and annotated by G. J. Toomer. Princeton University Press, $39.50

“What Toomer has produced is the best edition in any language, one that will remain the standard preferred text for years to come”, Owen Gingerich, Nature 308, 789; (1984).

Traces of the Past: Unraveling the Secrets of Archaeology through Chemistry

  • Joseph B. Lambert
Perseus, $18

 “Lambert opens a window to a kaleidoscopic view of chemical applications ⃛ The book does not make easy continuous reading, as it is too concentrated and lacks overall themes of interest and excitement. This is a shame, because there are many charming vignettes”, Robert Hedges, Nature 390, 572; (1997).

Matters of Life and Death: Perspectives on Public Health, Molecular Biology, Cancer and the Prospects for the Human Race

  • John Cairns
Princeton University Press, $14.95, £12.95

“His lucid exposition shows how experiments, observations and calculations support some of the grand conclusions of modern biology. He offers fresh — although sometimes controversial — insights”, Joel E. Cohen, Nature 387, 565; (1997).

Cartographies of Danger: Mapping Hazards in America

  • Mark Monmonier
University of Chicago Press, $15, £11.95

A distinguished professor of geography at Syracuse University describes how hazard maps can tell us a lot about where to anticipate risks, but also how maps can be dangerously misleading.