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Non-fiction

Life in the Universe

July 2008

What is 'life' and how did something so delicate take hold in a universe that suffered such a violent birth? In Life in the Universe, Lewis Dartnell applies the relatively new discipline of astrobiology to those questions.


The New Time Travelers

July 2008

In The New Time Travelers, technical writer David Toomey puts forward a positive, though cautious, case that we might one day travel through time.


Climate Crash

July 2008

In Climate Crash, by John Cox, there is no debate about the scale of rapid climate change, just the facts about how it was discovered and theories on what triggers it.


Atoms and Alchemy

Atoms and Alchemy

January 2008

William Newman highlights the work of Daniel Sennert, a German academic who in 1618 declared that since the transmutation of metals had been seen in nature, “the same can also be done by art”.


Why The Sky is Blue

Why The Sky is Blue

January 2008

Why is the sky blue? It’s a question that has been asked for at least 2,500 years and presumably much longer. In this book, Hoeppe documents our attempts to answer the question, starting in the fourth century BC and continuing up to the present.


Coral: A Pessimist in Paradise

Coral: A Pessimist in Paradise

January 2008

Steve Jones is a big fan of Charles Darwin. In an earlier book, Almost Like A Whale, he took on the extraordinary task of updating The Origin of Species, which he described as the “most original book of the millennium”.


Why Does My Dog Act That Way? A Complete Guide to Your Dog’s Personality

Why Does My Dog Act That Way? A Complete Guide to Your Dog’s Personality

January 2008

Stanley Coren is a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia and his insights into dog psychology and behaviour are fascinating. Coren’s previous books about dog behaviour include the best-sellers The Intelligence of Dogs and How Dogs Think.


The Universe: A Biography

The Universe: A Biography

January 2008

The story begins 14 billion years ago. Somewhere in a vacuum (one school of thought would have it), a quantum ripple upset the apple cart and – BAM! One-ten-thousand-billionth of a second later a ball of pure energy, 1029 degrees Kelvin, begins its inevitable task, as described by the Standard Model of particle physics, of creating the universe.


The Silent Deep

The Silent Deep

January 2008

In this book, one thing is abundantly clear: Tony Koslow cares deeply about the marine environments that he has studied for many years. It is not difficult to share his fascination – we have always been intrigued by the deep with its exotic creatures living so isolated to human life.


Brilliant!

Brilliant!

January 2008

These days, scientific advances are usually made by teams of researchers backed by large sums of money. Shuji Nakamura is an exception. A lone researcher at the obscure Nichia Corporation in rural Japan, he beat his well-funded competitors to become the first to develop a bright blue light-emitting diode (LED).


Diversity and Discovery: The History of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute 1965-1996

Diversity and Discovery: The History of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute 1965-1996

July 2007

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, in Melbourne, is one of the premier research centres in Australia, with a superb reputation internationally. It specialises in the investigation of the human immune system, in related areas of cancer research, and in the scientific struggle against autoimmune diseases.


The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life?

The Goldilocks Enigma: Why is the Universe Just Right for Life?

July 2007

Something looks fishy about the way our universe is "uncannily fit for life". There seems to be nothing self-contradictory about the idea that its physical constants and other fundamental features — such as the amount of dark matter — could have been different.


A Beautiful Math: John Nash, Game Theory and the Modern Quest for a Code of Nature

A Beautiful Math: John Nash, Game Theory and the Modern Quest for a Code of Nature

July 2007

One of the reasons human beings are such wonderful creatures to be around is because they are so endearingly unpredictable. Get two of them in the same room and watch the sparks fly. Fill a planet with them and it's just one big party.


It Ain't Necessarily So… Bro

It Ain't Necessarily So… Bro

July 2007

Karl Kruszelnicki (affectionately known as 'Dr Karl') is a vibrant voice (just about as vibrant as his shirts) promoting science with boundless energy and passion on radio and television, in newspapers and in his many books of popular science.


Australian Backyard Astronomy

Australian Backyard Astronomy

July 2007

I'd have killed for this book when I was ten. Children's books about astronomy were thin on the ground back then, and books about the skies of the Southern Hemisphere, written for Australians, were rarer still.