Science Recent Picks
July 2006
The title-underlined links will take you directly to our catalogue.
Some featured items are linked via a book cover to enable you to read more reviews.
 | Letters to a young mathematician by Ian Stewart. (2006) "This is an astute and lively exploration of what it's really like to do mathematics, by well-known mathematician and writer Ian Stewart. The first scientific entry in Basic Books' renowned "Art of Mentoring" series, "Letters to a Young Mathematician" tells readers what Ian Stewart wishes he'd known when he was a student." (Synopsis, Amazon.co.uk)
|
 | Frogs : a chorus of colors by John L. Behler, Deborah A. Behler ; foreword by Clyde and Chad Peeling. (2005) "A carefully crafted a wonderful tribute to the amazingly complex frog. Fantastic colour photographs of the most exotic frogs that exist. A companion to the unique travelling exhibit - one of the most popular ever at museums throughout America - pays long-overdue homage to the fascinating frog. Breathtaking and brilliant images show tadpoles in water and on leaves; a many-hued variety of frogs (bright blue, golden yellow and black, red and turquoise) in their environment; African sand frogs and chirping frogs; Oriental fire-bellied frogs; and tiny three-toed toadlets - among the smallest that exist. It's a vision not to be missed." (Amazon.co.uk)
|
 | Butterflies of the world by photographs by Gilles Martin ; text by Myriam Baran ; translated from the French by Simon Jones. (2006) "Butterflies are among the planet's most majestic creatures, their delicate forms sprinkled with brilliant color and rich with texture. More than 200,000 kinds of butterfly and caterpillar have been spotted around the world-that's one in every ten insects. Photographer Gilles Martin brings this extraordinary slice of nature to the page in this gorgeous volume. The pictures are complemented by text from animal behaviorist and nature expert Myriam Baran, who tells would-be lepidopterists everything they need to know about these animals." (Book Description, Amazon.com)
|
 | Chances are-- : adventures in probability by Michael Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan. (2006) From The New Yorker: "This fascinating layman's trek through probability theory, from its roots in dice games in the seventeenth century to its role in modern-day thermodynamics, tackles humanity's innate need to seek order in even the most chaotic phenomena. The authors, a mother-and-son team, address simple problems (How many shuffles make a deck of cards truly random? At least seven) and more complex ones (Can time move backward? Yes, but it's unlikely). They do not avoid mathematical equations, but both have backgrounds in the humanities, and their sense of whimsy-"Once you know that daisies usually have an odd number of petals, you can get anyone to love you"-allows them to draw stimulating conclusions." (Amazon.com)
|
 | Galileo's instruments of credit : telescopes, images, secrecy by Mario Biagioli. (2006) "In six short years, Galileo Galilei went from being a somewhat obscure mathematics professor running a student boarding house in Padua to a star in the court of Florence to the recipient of dangerous attention from the Inquisition for his support of Copernicanism. In that brief period, Galileo made a series of astronomical discoveries that reshaped the debate over the physical nature of the heavens: he deeply modified the practices and status of astronomy with the introduction of the telescope and pictorial evidence, proposed a radical reconfiguration of the relationship between theology and astronomy, and transformed himself from university mathematician into court philosopher." (Synopsis, Amazon.co.uk)
|
 | The illustrated encyclopedia of dinosaurs by Dougal Dixon. (2005) Notes: "The ultimate reference to 355 dinosaurs from the Triassic, Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, including more than 900 watercolours, maps, timelines and photographs."
|
Densey Clyne's wildlife of Australia by text and photographs by Densey Clyne ; additional photography by Jim Frazier and Glen Carruthers. (2006)
"30 tales of animals and environments that are characters in the story of Australia natural history. All of these stories accompanied by beautiful colour photographs." (book cover)
Previous edition of popular science picks
Check your card I New fiction, DVD and cd lists I How to place a reserve I Borrowing I Contact us
