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Non-fictionThe God DelusionApril 2007
For many years now, Richard Dawkins has been an outspoken critic of religious faith and its pervasive influence on social attitudes and political processes. This time, however, he has taken an extra step: The God Delusion is a comprehensive, no-holds-barred attack on all forms of theistic religion. Medical Marvels: The 100 Greatest Advances in MedicineApril 2007
This book is not a simple list of scientific discoveries ó however worthy that would be in its own right ó but rather an explanation of all types of things which have improved human health, from the development of sewerage systems to patient advocacy and flashier modern scientific discoveries. The Fruits of WarApril 2007
That war advances technological progress is a cliché; proving that this accelerated process can benefit humanity is a very different matter. True, World War II gave us nuclear power and antibiotics; but what else has war contributed, apart from periodic cullings of the population? Einstein for DummiesApril 2007
The "For Dummies" books have a schoolbag aura that could prove unappealing to a certain stratum of reader. But when you crack open this tome, written by U.S space agency NASA's senior research scientist Carlos I. Calle, you quickly realise that when it comes to the warping of space-time, maybe you are a bit of a dummy. Relatively speaking. Unintelligent Design: Why God Isn’t As Smart As She Thinks She IsApril 2007
Prior to reading Robyn Williams’ latest book, I dipped into one of the racier tomes on Intelligent Design/Creation Science. It confirmed that the only science in Creation Science is that which it tries, often petulantly, to disprove. Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo da VinciApril 2007
Leonardo da Vinci will be long remembered after every copy of The Da Vinci Code has turned to dust, so it’s a shame that Bülent Atalay’s elegant book has a whiff of opportunism about it. Blame it on the cover art, because what lies within is a devoted work where the relationship between science and art is investigated, and it’s not until halfway that da Vinci becomes the primary focus. Spying on the BombApril 2007
The development of nuclear weapons in the 20th century changed the world like no other scientific event. During WWII, U.S. spies in Europe found Germany’s nuclear secrets buried under a cesspit. The Nazis hadn’t been a serious threat, but the cooperation of spies and scientists had delivered results elsewhere. Leaving Earth: Space Stations, Rival Superpowers, and the Quest for Interplanetary TravelApril 2007
Leaving Earth is a meticulously researched history of the manned space stations: Skylab, the Salyuts, Mir and the current International Space Station (ISS). They were originally intended as a step towards interplanetary travel, their development spurred on by Cold War rivalry. The Fabric of the CosmosApril 2007
In my admittedly limited experience, the science teachers most likely to be convinced of their rapier wit are invariably physicists. One in particular set about undermining my passion for chemistry by repeatedly telling me that my subject was merely “a branch of physics”. Nature Revealed: Selected Writings 1949-2006April 2007
Eminent entomologist Edward Wilson, born in 1929, is one of the elder statesmen of science. Fascinated by natural history as a child, he chose to specialise in ants. David Suzuki: The AutobiographyApril 2007
In this chatty, charming autobiography, high-profile Canadian environmentalist David Suzuki covers his formidable life achievements from a personal perspective. Now in his seventies, Suzuki is best known for his long-running popular science TV series The Nature of Things, but as a respected scientist and author as well as an environmental campaigner, he is a television personality with true ‘street cred’. Bird Flu: Everything You Need to Know About the Next PandemicApril 2007
Marc Siegel is an American GP as well as a health writer, and deals with the concerns of the general public on a daily basis. Here he really does provide everything that most people need to know about ‘the next pandemic’ — particularly the fact that the current bird flu may well never become a human pandemic. Science FrictionApril 2007
In a world run by lawyers, in which opinions are inevitably moulded by the popular media, what chance does science have? In Science Friction, Californian writer Michael Shermer presents 14 essays in which he attempts to shine a truth-torch on the business of science being muddied and manhandled. Where Did We Come From?September 2006
Where Did We Come From? is the Australian edition of a book sold overseas as The Smithsonian Intimate Guide to Human Origins. It is a beautifully illustrated account of human evolution, from the first hominids to relatively recent times when Homo sapiens began to spread across the world. Where Stuff Comes FromSeptember 2006
Where Stuff Comes From is interested not so much in objects themselves and how they work, as in the sociology of why we want 'stuff', how it fits into our lives, and how and why designers create it for us. |
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