The UBC
Popular Science Book Club
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Below is information about the books we read before we moved
our pages to the wiki:
Blink:
the Power of Thinking without Thinking by Malcolm
Gladwell. This is a short book
about how strongly our first impressions and subconscious biases affect our
judgments, and how we can make these more of an advantage and less of a
hindrance.
Uncorked:
the Science of Champagne,
by Gerard Liger-Belair. (For the
end-of-summer meeting, the date hasnšt been set.) This beautifully produced and written little book (only 133
small double-spaced pages) is a delight.
We drank some very expensive champagne when we discussed it, which we
swear did not affect our judgement.
On
Food and Cooking: the science and lore of the kitchen (2nd edition 2004), by Harold
McGee. We each read a chapter or
two of this encyclopedic book. Our
enthusiastic reporting on the cool things wešd learned made our meeting quite a
bit longer than usual. This is a
great book to have on hand whenever you wonder about the food youšre cooking or
eating.
What
Remains to be Discovered: Mapping the Secrets of the Universe, the Origins of
Life, and the Future of the Human Race, by John Maddox. Sir John Maddox was the editor of Nature, the 125-year-old journal that is among
the most influential in science, for 22 years -- from 1966-73, and from
1980-95. Not surprisingly he's an excellent writer, and his summaries of the various
fields of science are perfect for those of us whose knowledge of fields other
than our own has faded with time.
Although this is probably a bit over the heads of most of the general
public, it would be a good gift for a student beginning university-level
science. Selected chapters would
also be good as assigned readings in some courses.
Global
Brain: The Evolution of Mass Mind from the Big Bang to the 21st Century, by Howard Bloom. Kevin Kelly
of WIRED magazine describes this book as "a
soaring song of songs about the amorous origins of the world, and its almost
medieval urge to copulate. "
After reading it wešre divided; some agree and some think it more akin
to scientific pornography. Not
because the book is actually mainly about sex, but rather because of its breathlessly
superficial tone and the liberties it takes with scientific phenomena and
explanations. On the other hand,
it's captivating and thought-provoking, and will help readers get excited about
science.
The
Structure of Scientific Revolutions, by Thomas S. Kuhn.
This
book, first published in 1962, is where the phrase "paradigm shift"
originated. It's a little book
(167 pages) that's had a big influence on how we think about doing
science. Amazon says 1-2 months
for delivery (try their used book dealers), but the various UBC libraries have
many copies, and VPL has three.
Greg Bole will host.
How
Brains Think: evolving intelligence, then and now, by William H. Calvin
(Discussed
Dec. 13) (Sadly, Rosie delayed updating this page
for so long that she canšt remember what we thought of this book.)
The
Log from the Sea of Cortez,
by John Steinbeck (and Ed Ricketts)
This
is the journal of a 1940 collecting trip to Baja California that John Steinbeck
took with the marine biologist Ed Ricketts (Rickets was the model for
"Doc" in Steinbeck's Cannery Row, and a biography of him has just
been published). Steinbeck clearly
did the writing, but Rickets did much of the thinking. Here's a link to an
article about retracing this trip, from The Los Angeles Times.
The
Big Splat, or How our Moon Came to Be, by Dana Mackenzie
Discussed
Sept. 27. We agreed with the reviewers - not only
did we enjoy learning much more about the history of our planet and its moon,
but we felt that the book does a great job of introducing many of the big
issues about how science is done.
Guns,
Germs and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond, Discussed August
30. This big book is very well written; he
makes his points very clearly with an abundance of interesting evidence. However in some cases the evidence is
more anecdotal than we were comfortable with.
Last
Chance to See
by Douglas Adams and
Mark Carwardine.
This
is a very enjoyable read
about a BBC-sponsored
project to film endangered species; great for the beach or the sundeck. It also provides a painless
introduction to all the big ideas and issues of ecology, so it would make a
great gift for fans of Douglas Adams' science fiction.
Mapping
the Deep: the extraordinary story of ocean science, by Robert Kunzig. We hadn't realized how ignorant we were
about most of the earth's surface. This is a delight to read.
Trilobite!, by Richard Fortey. Discussed April 26 2004
Who
would have suspected that trilobites were so wonderful (except Lynn)? We especially liked the section about
their vision. And the book is very
well-written.
The Universe on a T-shirt, by Dan Falk.
Discussed March 1 2004
We
liked this book. It gives a simple
easy-to-understand overview of the progress physics has made towards finding a
'theory of everything'. Rosie was
left with the pleasant misconception that she understands string theory.
How
the Mind Works,
by Steven Pinker. Discussed Jan. 19, 2004
Most
of us didn't get through this big book, but we enjoyed what we read, and Greg
led a stimulating discussion of the parts the rest of us hadn't gotten to yet.
The
skeptical environmentalist : measuring the real state of the world by Bjorn Lomborg. Dec. 8, 2003.
This
book got us nicely stirred up. We
disagreed about how much confidence we should place in his information, but
agreed that seeing two extremes of an issue was much better than seeing one. Our discussion of where we should put
our efforts to improve the environment kept returning to the need for everyone
to reduce their consumption, and then foundering on the conspicuous display of
consumables on the table in front of us (not to mention the SUVs in our
garages). Here's the text of a speech
by Michael Crichton discussing the extent to which our environmentalism
arises from a religion-like belief system rather than from real science.
Unweaving
the Rainbow by Richard Dawkins.
Oct.
27, 2003. Suggested and presented
by Ellen Rosenberg. We liked it a
lot, with the exception of his extended diatribe against Steven J. Gould.
Linked: The new science of networks by Albert- Laszlo Barabasi.
September
2003. Suggested and presented by
Joann Nakonechny.
Napoleon's
Buttons: How 17 Molecules Changed History by Penny Le Couteur.
Suggested
and presented by Carol Pollock. We
enjoyed the content and the very clear easy-to-follow writing. Much of the material will be very
useful for teaching.
Jacobson's
Organ by Lyall Watson
July
21, 2003. Suggested and presented
by Jolie Mayer-Smith. We enjoyed
this book; it gives a whole new meaning to 'first impressions'.
A
Primate's Memoir: A Neuroscientist's Unconventional Life Among the Baboons by
Robert Sapolsky
June 16, 2003. Suggested and presented by
Rosie Redfield
We loved this book. It has become required reading for all
incoming Science One students, and will probably inspire all of them to become
field biologists.
Salt:
A World History by
Mark Kurlansky
Presented
by Kathy Nomme
April
28, 2003. This isn't a very
'scientific' book, but as scientists we enjoyed it very much.
The
Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen Counter, the Big
Consequences of Little Things by Hannah Holmes
March
10 2003, presented by Lynn (sorry I forget your last name).
This
is a wonderful book.
The
Botany of Desire
by Michael Pollan
Feb.
10 2003, presented by Ellen Rosenberg.
This
is wonderful too.
The
Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester
Jan.
12 2003, presented by Rosie Redfield
Our
opinions: Not very much science at
all. Mostly history.
Books that sound interesting (we might decide to read them
soon):
Why
So Slow: the Advancement of Women,
by Virginia Valian.
Deep
Simplicity: Chaos, Complexity and the Emergence of Life, by John Gribbin
A
Short History of Nearly Everything,
by Bill Bryson
Uncle
Tungsten, by Oliver
Sacks
Y,
the Descent of Men, by
Steve Jones
The
Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: the New Science of Evolutionary
Psychology, by R. Wright
The
Science of Good and Evil: Why People Cheat, Gossip, Care, Share, and Follow the
Golden Rule, by Michael
Schermer and Dennis McFarland
The
Elegant Universe: Superstrings, Hidden Dimensions and the Quest for the
Ultimate Theory, by
Brian Greene
The
New Humanists: Science at the Edge,
by John Brockman
Galileo's Daughter: A Historical Memoir of Science,
Faith, and Love, by Dava
Sobel
Blink:
The Power of Thinking Without Thinking,
by Malcolm Gladwell
Links to lists of popular science books (from Ellen
Rosenberg):
From
Laurence A. Marschall's Writing about Science course
Prize lists for Popular Science books:
The Aventis Prize
(formerly the Rhone-Poulenc Prize)
Rosie
Redfield maintains this web page; email her (redfield at interchange.ubc.ca)
with any comments or suggestions.