 | popular science
books | magazines | databases | websites | DVDs & vids |
Featured article
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The Petabyte Age: Because More Isn't Just More - More Is Different. Wired.com says: "Sensors everywhere. Infinite storage. Clouds of processors. Our ability to capture, warehouse, and understand massive amounts of data is changing science, medicine, business, and technology. As our collection of facts and figures grows, so will the opportunity to find answers to fundamental questions. Because in the era of big data, more isn't just more. More is different." (from Wired magazine, July 2008 issue) |
recent science books
(for the latest science books every month, click here)
 Mythbusters : the explosive truth behind 30 of the most perplexing urban legends of all time, by Keith and Kent Zimmerman ; with Jamie Hyneman, Adam Savage, and Peter Rees."The hosts of the hit television series MythBusters go behind the scenes to provide the real story of thirty of our most baffling urban legends, explaining how they use modern-day scientific principles and methods to document what is fact and what is fiction, in a volume that includes illustrations, photographs, blueprints, and interviews." (Amazon.co.uk) |
 Big Brain : The Origins and Future of Human Intelligence, by Gary Lynch."Our big brains, our language ability, and our intelligence make us uniquely human. But barely 10,000 years ago (a mere blip in evolutionary time) human-like creatures called "Boskops" flourished in South Africa. They possessed extraordinary features: forebrains roughly 50% larger than ours, and estimated IQs to match - far surpassing our own. Many of these huge fossil skulls have been discovered over the last century, but most of us have never heard of this scientific marvel." (Amazon) |
 The politically incorrect guide to science, by Tom Bethell."In this masterly book, venerable science writer Tom Bethell names and nabs all the subsidized fear-mongers and their gullible press. Whether debunking human-caused global warming, or discrediting the species extinction panic, or bringing down the touts of spurious cancer causes, Bethell has upended every bogus claim and taken the number and the measure of the groups that uphold it." (Book jacket)) |
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finding science books in the library
| 500 | Natural sciences |
| 510 | Maths |
| 520 | Astronomy |
| 530 | Physics |
| 540 | Chemistry |
| 550 | Earth Sciences |
| 560 | Paleontology |
| 570 | Life sciences |
| 580 | Botany |
| 590 | Zoology |
| 600 | Applied Sciences & Technology |
| 610 | Medicine |
| 620 | Engineering & Electronics |
At Central Library, science books are on the 1st floor. If in doubt, search the catalogue; if you need further assistance, ask one of our library staff members next time you visit or email us.
biographies
If you want a biography of a scientist, the library catalogue will give you the location. Here are some selected biographies grouped by specialisation:
botanists | zoologists | astronomers | paleontologists | physicists | women in science | Gale Biography Resource Center
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magazines
Science magazines are held on the 1st floor of Central Library, and all branches have a small collection of popular titles. You can search for articles in our mygateway.info science databases. We keep back-issues of many magazines, eg Scientific American (1878-1908, 1927- ).
 magazines you can borrow: | |
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General Astronomy Australasian Science Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Cosmos Discover Natural History New Scientist New Zealand Mathematics Magazine New Zealand Science Review Physics Today Popular Science Science Scientific American Sky and Space Sky and Telescope Southern Stars (Inc. RAS newsletter) Weatherwise |
Animals & the environment Audubon BBC Wildlife Clean Air Ecologist Ecos Forest & Bird Futurist Greenpeace Habitat: Australia International Wildlife (ceased) Nature (to 14th December, 2006)(ceased) Nature Australia (ceased) Our Planet (to 1996) Sierra Wildlife Australia WWF New Zealand |
databases & science mags online
We have many science magazines available for full text reading online through mygateway.info.
EBSCO magazines include Astronomy, BioScience, Discover, Nature (12 month full text delay), National Geographic (3 month full text delay), New Scientist (6 month full text delay), Science (12 month full text delay) and Scientific American.
(Links require that you have logged into EBSCO recently, if error occurs click here)
ProQuest Science Journals cover chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering, physics, transportation, astronomy, biology, earth science, and more.
You can find more science links in mygateway.info.
science magazine websites - a selection:
National Geographic
Nature
New Scientist
Science News
This month in Science History: August
2nd 1870- Tower Subway opens as the worlds first underground tube railway in London.
2nd 1932- The positron is discovered by Carl D. Anderson.
5th 1914- The first electric traffic light is installed in Cleveland, Ohio.
7th 1944- IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (Harvard Mark I).
8th 1576- The cornerstone for Tycho Brahe's Uraniborg observatory is laid on Hven.
10th 1675- The foundation stone of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in London was laid.
10th 1846- The Smithsonian Institution is Chartered.
12th 1981- The IBM Personal Computer is released.
12th 1990- Sue, the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus Rex is discoverd near Faith, South Dakota.
18th 1877- Asaph Hall discovers the Martian moon Phobos.
22nd 1989- The first ring of Neptune is discovered.
24th 79AD- Mount Vesuvius erupts burying the cities of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae.
24th 2006- The International Astronomical Union redifine the term planet.
25th 1609- Galileo Galilei demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers.
27th 1859- Oil discovered in Titusville, Pennsylvania. World's first successful oil well.
30th 1909- Burgess Shale fossils discovered by Charles Doolittle Walcott.
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websitesNew Zealand | General | Women and Science | Meteorology Earthquakes | Volcanoes | Astronomy | Science can be Fun! |
Featured websites:
UNC Minerals in thin section - minerals under a microscope and their different optical properties.
WebElements Periodic Table
general:
mygateway.info Science: Our information gateway to reliable information on the Net relating to Science, including our subscriber databases.
Science Daily: Breaking news about the latest discoveries and hottest research projects in everything from astrophysics to zoology.
SciTech Daily: Links to science-related articles from around the Internet
Intute: The UK gateway to Science, Engineering and Technology. It covers the physical sciences, engineering, computing, geography, mathematics and environmental science.
Environmental Ethics: Directory of unannotated links to general environmental ethics Web resources.
The Why Files: The science behind today's news headlines.
Smithsonian Institution: Science & Technology
Librarians Index to the Internet: Science Topics
Yahoo! Science and Biology
Google Directory: Biology and Botany
New Zealand birds
new zealand:
Te Puna Web Directory - New Zealand Science & Technology
IndexNZ.com science links
GNS Science
Latest NZ earthquake
NIWA: National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research
women and science:
Women-Related Web Sites in Science/Technology
science can be fun!:
Live chemistry
Insanely great science websites
Who is Sue? The world's largest and best preserved T.Rex
HotAIR" Tidbits from the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), featuring winners of the annual Ig Nobel Prize for "for achievements that cannot or should not be reproduced."
World Flood Map: Raise sea level up to 14m and see if your house gets flooded
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meteorology:
MetVUW, weather and climate service
World sunlight map
Current weather around New Zealand. Links to other Live weather stations around the country.
List of all online weather stations in the country.
Weather Underground: Provides global weather forcasts and much more..
earthquakes:
Kidscat Earthquakes
Library material on earthquakes
New Zealand - general information
Geonet: Find out about the latest New Zealand earthquake and information on New Zealand Volcanoes
IRIS - Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
New Zealand: Earth Sciences
volcanoes:
US Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program
Current volcano activity
USGS: FAQ about volcanoes
Kidscat Volcanoes
astronomy:
Astronomy magazine
NASA
Observing the sky blog
Astonomy New Zealand
Downloadable sky maps
Our own Kids Catalogue Web has great links to our science books and recommended websites
dvds & videos
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