The Geek Manifesto: Why Science Matters
- Mark Henderson
A geek revolution is upon us, asserts journalist Mark Henderson. Media stars such as physicist Brian Cox have lit the fuse by giving science cultural credibility. Now, says Henderson, with 7% of the UK electorate engaged or trained in science and more than 5 million scientists and engineers working in the United States, this sector of society is poised to gain real political clout. Ultimately, he argues, that could force change in everything from politics and government to health care and the environment as the intellectual honesty and innovative bent of the scientific mindset gains ground.
Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris
- Christopher Kemp
Costly it may be, but the perfume fixative ambergris is weird stuff: a waxy mix of secretions and squid beaks from the intestines of the sperm whale. As molecular biologist Christopher Kemp relates, the beaks pass through the beast's four stomachs to form a dung-drenched mass. Often released when the whale dies, the floating lumps are seasoned by sea and sunlight, developing an odour likened to sandalwood, Brazil nuts and violets. Kemp's engrossing study takes us through history, tales of present-day hunters and cetacean science, poking its nose into the perfume industry on the way.
The Universe in Zero Words: The Story of Mathematics as Told Through Equations
- Dana Mackenzie
Mathematician and writer Dana Mackenzie brings to life 24 of the great equations that shape our world. We get Brahmagupta's subtle discovery of zero in 628 AD, the 350-year conundrum of Pierre de Fermat's last theorem, speculation over whether apples or moons inspired Isaac Newton's laws, the economic Black–Scholes formula that failed to prevent the Wall Street meltdown — and much more. Quietly learned and beautifully illustrated, Mackenzie's book is a celebration of the succinct and the singular in human expression.
Mr. Hornaday's War: How a Peculiar Victorian Zookeeper Waged a Lonely Crusade for Wildlife That Changed the World
- Stefan Bechtel
One-time taxidermist William Temple Hornaday emerges from this lively biography as a nineteenth-century conservation hero — and a rampant racist. Stefan Bechtel tells how Hornaday saved the American bison and fought for legislation to save threatened species. Yet in 1906, as director of the Bronx Zoo in New York, he displayed Congolese pygmy Ota Benga in a cage, despite the protestations of local black clergymen. A fascinating portrait of a man both ahead of his time, and deluded by gross misreadings of Darwin.
Trusting What You're Told: How Children Learn from Others
- Paul L. Harris
Children get information in two ways: from their own observation and exploration, and from other people. When the streams conflict, says educationalist Paul Harris, children often defer to the suggestions of others. But they are not uncritical: they “monitor the messenger”, choosing whom to believe. Harris's challenge to the view of children as mini-scientists in a world-as-lab is well backed by research: a gripping trawl through the young human mind confronted with moral reasoning, the separation of fact from fiction and more.
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Books in brief. Nature 485, 173 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/485173a
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/485173a
