I’m running a little behind this week, but I wouldn’t want this week’s Science Saturday bloggingheads to slip by without a mention. It’s a conversation between George Johnson and Louisa Gilder about The Age of Entanglement, which I liked quite a bit: The conversation is primarily about her book, the story it tells, and how… Continue reading Heads Talking About Quantum History
Category: Science Books
Physics Gets No Respect
Kind of a belated gripe, but something I was reminded of today that I forgot to blog when I first noticed it. I griped last year about the fomulaic nature of the “Best Science Writing” anthology, but I had no idea that the 2008 version would be worse. OK, I haven’t read it, but I… Continue reading Physics Gets No Respect
13 Things That Don’t Make Sense, by Michael Brooks
Michael Brooks’s 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense turned up on a lot of “Best science books of 2008” lists, and the concept of a book about scientific anomalies seemed interesting, so I ordered it from Amazon. It’s a quick read (a mere 210 pages, and breezily written), but ultimately a frustrating book. It took… Continue reading 13 Things That Don’t Make Sense, by Michael Brooks
Pop-Science Book Racing
Over at Cosmic Variance, Sean writes: You know what the world really needs? A good book about time. Google tells me there are only about one and a half million such books right now, but I think you’ll agree that one more really good one is called for. So I’m writing one. From Eternity to… Continue reading Pop-Science Book Racing
Icarus at the Edge of Time, by Brian Greene
Or, Brian Greene Writes a Kid’s Book… This is a very odd book. It’s printed on boards, like a book for very small children, but the story is a bit beyond what I would imagine reading to a normal kid of the age to want books of that format. It’s too short and simple, though,… Continue reading Icarus at the Edge of Time, by Brian Greene
Textbook Prices: Highway Robbery, or High-Seas Piracy?
There was a mix-up in textbook ordering for this term (entirely my fault), and the books for my modern physics course were not in the bookstore when the term started. I made a spare copy available in the interim, and also half-jokingly suggested buying it from Amazon rather than waiting for the bookstore to get… Continue reading Textbook Prices: Highway Robbery, or High-Seas Piracy?
Incompleteness by Rebecca Goldstein
Rebecca Goldstein’s Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel is another book in the Great Discoveries series of short books by noted authors about important moments in the history of science, and the people behind them. Previous volumes include Everything and More and A Force of Nature, both of which were excellent in their… Continue reading Incompleteness by Rebecca Goldstein
The Age of Entanglement by Louisa Gilder
I made a run to the library last week on one of the days I was home with SteelyKid, as an excuse to get out of the house for a little while. I picked up three books: Counterknowledge, The Devil’s Eye by Jack McDevitt (an Antiquities Dealers Innnnn Spaaaaaace novel, and a good example of… Continue reading The Age of Entanglement by Louisa Gilder
Publishers Weekly Snubs Science
Carl Zimmer sent me a message via Facebook, which made me think I might owe the New York Times an apology for last week’s ranting. Publishers Weekly has come out with their list of the best books of the year, and they do even worse than the Times: not one of the 27 books in… Continue reading Publishers Weekly Snubs Science
Science: 3.8% Notable
Last year, around this time, I posted a rant about the lack of science books in the New York Times‘s “Notable Books of 2007.” While I was out of town last week, they posted this year’s list. So, have things improved? Yes and no. They do, in fact, have two books that are unquestionably science… Continue reading Science: 3.8% Notable