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 Non-fiction Coral: A Pessimist in ParadiseJanuary 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 PersonalityJanuary 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 BiographyJanuary 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 DeepJanuary 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!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 1965-1996July 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?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 NatureJuly 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… BroJuly 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 AstronomyJuly 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.  A Different Universe (Reinventing Physics from the Bottom Down)July 2007
Tired of the predictable 'clockwork' nature of the physical world as defined by Newtonian laws? Then you'll find a friend in Robert B. Laughlin. He suspects the fact that Newtonian laws break down at quantum levels and fail to predict all phases between states is evidence the physical world is still highly mysterious.  The Fluoride DeceptionJuly 2007
In this confronting book, Christopher Bryson's quest is simple, but far from easy: to discover how tiny quantities of a key ingredient of toxic industrial poisons and Cold War wastes is today added to most toothpastes and drinking water in some parts of the U.S., Britain and Australia.  Nano-Hype: the Truth Behind the Nanotechnology BuzzJuly 2007
The hype started in 1959 when Nobel laureate Richard Feynman offered U.S. $1,000 to the first person to "make a working electronic motor no bigger than 1/64th of an inch".  Marijuana and Madness: Psychiatry and NeurobiologyJuly 2007
This book is an excellent corrective to newspaper headlines that blare simplistic claims that marijuana use causes schizophrenia, or even 'cannabis psychosis'. The bottom line from this careful and very scholarly book seems to be: it's complicated.  The Proteus Effect: Stem Cells and Their Promise for MedicineApril 2007
Ann B. Parson focuses on the current promise of stem cell research as a means of developing new therapies that might be more powerful and better tailored to the needs of individuals. 
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