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 Books Less Than HumanSeptember 2005
Science fiction books are often about our future, but few give the feeling of tasting and touching a near-future world. Maxine McArthur's Less Than Human succeeds where other writers merely doodle.  On the Shores of the UnknownSeptember 2005
It's not until page 240 of this elegant hardback that author Joseph Silk, whose day job is Savilian Professor of Astronomy at Oxford University, tells the reader that "this is a golden age for cosmology". He argues that, having observed and collated and interpreted the data as well as we can from our terrestrial home, it's time to conquer the tyranny of interstellar distance and see if our models of space have any merit.  Seven Deadly ColoursSeptember 2005
This is the second volume in zoologist and biologist Andrew Parker's trilogy about sight. The first book in the series, In the Blink of an Eye, was published in 2003 and deals with the evolution of the eye and how it shaped the development of life on Earth. In Seven Deadly Colours, the Australian author begins with Darwin, who wondered if "the eye was just too accomplished to have been conceived by evolution".  Fred Hoyle: A Life in ScienceSeptember 2005
You don't have to look very far into the life of Fred Hoyle before coming across descriptions such as "maverick" or "free spirit". For as much as Sir Fred was Britain's best known astronomer for the last third of the 20th century, he was also the kind of cantankerous, combative character to attract these and similarly ambiguous labels.  The Plot Against AmericaAugust 2005
In 1940, Charles A. Lindbergh beats Franklin D. Roosevelt and becomes President of the USA. Young Philip Roth, seven years old, his brother Sandy, 12, and their parents have been doing all right until then. They survived the Depression, because Philip's father had been an insurance salesman for a large company. They live in a friendly, though not prosperous Jewish area of New Jersey.  Moondust: In Search of the Men Who Fell to EarthAugust 2005
For a brief few years between 1969 and 1972, astronauts walked the Moon. As odd it is to think of the space age as being so long in the past, even stranger is the idea that humans rather than robots were up there. But then it's hard to imagine a robot playing golf on the Moon, as Alan Shepard did. Only nine of those 12 moonwalkers are left to tell the tale.  Life's Solution: Inevitable Humans in a Lonely UniverseAugust 2005
Almost 150 years since its declaration, Charles Darwin's theory of evolution still causes anger and conniptions among those who prefer to believe, like Archbishop James Ussher, that the Earth was created by God on 23 October 4004 BC, at 9am (which means, of course, that Earth is a Scorpio).  Digging Up Deep TimeAugust 2005
Few of us are ever fortunate enough to witness the discoveries of science firsthand, to experience the landmarks of its progress. But the constant theme of Digging Up Deep Time is that Australia is a vast palaeontology lab whose treasures are on permanent display to anyone inspired enough to take the thrill of venturing out to see them.  The Little Book of Scientific Principles, Theories and ThingsAugust 2005
Surendra Verma's remarkable little book combines hard practical worth with history and fun. Here's how it works: take 175 principles and theories from all facets of science and explain each one in a page or two, giving the relevant names and dates.  Sperm Wars: The Rights and Wrongs of ReproductionAugust 2005
What is it about sperm? In the thesaurus of life, perhaps only blood among bodily fluids bears more metaphoric weight. Nonetheless, I bet blood doesn't have as many synonyms, especially if slang terms are included.  Silent SpringAugust 2005
Few books have been so influential as Silent Spring, Rachel Carson's compelling and heartfelt condemnation of the indiscriminate use of synthetic chemical pesticides. Since originally published in 1962, the book has prompted a U.S. presidential inquiry into the use of pesticides and later became a powerful instrument in the banning of DDT and other toxic materials in the U.S. and other countries (although not in the developing world where, controversially, DDT is still being used to fight malaria-carrying mosquitoes).  CollapseJuly 2005
Few books grab the reader by the throat and demand to be read, but Jared Diamond has made an impressive contribution to that short list with Collapse. Following on from his global history Guns, Germs and Steel he takes a new dramatic pitch with this bruising examination of the ecological problems facing planet Earth.  Discover the Night SkyJuly 2005
This four-part introduction to star watching is the work of astronomer Robin Kerrod. It consists of a 'planisphere', two 128-page spiral-bound books and a torch, all packed into a sturdy case. The planisphere is two rotating discs fixed one above the other.  When We Were KidsJuly 2005
This work is the result of a personal experiment by American writer, publisher and computer software guru John Brockman, who decided to find out what sort of book would result if he asked 27 of the world's most eminent scientists to write about their childhoods and answer the question: "What happened when you were a kid that led you to pursue a life in science?".  StargazerJuly 2005
The subtitle The Life and Times of the Telescope says it all: this is a biography rather than a history, and a pretty affectionate example of the breed at that. And why not? Fred Watson is the widely known and respected Astronomer-in- Charge at the Anglo-Australian Observatory in Coonabarabran in north-west New South Wales where, according to the blurb inside the front-cover dust jacket of this handsome little hardback, "he is responsible for the scientific output of Australia's largest optical telescope". 
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