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For Tolkien fans – The Science of Middle-Earth Grant Jacobs Feb 07

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Tolkien fans with a science leaning might want to check out Henry Gee’s book, The Science of Middle-Earth.

As you might expect, it’s an attempt to retrofit a science, or science-y, back story to the famous author’s work.

Y’know: how on earth do orcs breed? (Suffer the thought…) That sort of thing.

Those who are quick may even be able to get a free promotional Kindle eBook to review and generally shout-out about.*

Mac users: you can read Kindle books on Macs via the free Kindle software.

There is also apparently a German edition.

Footnotes

* Available for one day only. Less than a day, actually, as it the promotional offer has been underway for a few hours. (You hate this sort of small-print footnote, don’t you?)

Some book reviews on Code for life:

A forensic scientist tells it like it is

Mad on Radium

A Geek Nation reviewed

Book review – The Poisoner‘s Handbook

Seduced by logic

Mad on Radium Grant Jacobs Dec 12

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(Still trying to complete the Christmas shopping list? I’m going to bring to you a couple of book reviews for readers who like more than the latest ‘trashy’ thriller.)

New Zealand wasn’t always anti-nuclear. In fact, as New Zealand writer Rebecca Priestley shows us, it was distinctly pro-nuclear.

Mad on Radium explores the corners of how the ‘nuclear age’ came to New Zealand and New Zealanders’ responses to it, their involvement in it.

It’s revealing to peer back into our recent past and see how it was, rather than what we now portray ourselves as. There’s intriguing titbits throughout, accompanied by many photographs, cartoons, advertisements and posters.

It’s probably not appreciated by younger New Zealanders that New Zealand provided some scientists for the Manhattan project, that New Zealand supported the British bomb tests in the Pacific, that radium was a popular ‘healthy’ product marketed to consumers.

The illustrations are excellent and tell their own stories. One map shows the proposed effects of ‘Atomic bombing of Wellington City’. Who remembers annual x-rays for tuberculosis, featured in one poster: ‘Make a date for MASS X-RAY’.

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The Panic Virus Grant Jacobs Sep 18

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…is the bold title of Seth Mnookin’s exploration of the ‘vaccination debate’.[1]

The Panic Virus® is a ruminative, thoughtful, exploration of vaccine history and, in particular, how people come to think the things that they do.

Not too many popular science books are headlined with the support of Nobel laureate – if you look closely you’ll see Peter Doherty’s praise for the book at the top of the cover to the left.

It surveys key events – without minutiae that you might get from an historian. It draws on the reader to do their own thinking slightly more than Offit’s Deadly Choices but is lighter than Allen’s Vaccine, which at 500+ pages is a much more lengthy affair.

I especially appreciated that the material seemed well-balanced with negative points in public health, for example, presented plainly without excuses and criticism given where it seemed deserved.[2] Vaccination is a topic that’s easy to polarise or to stick to one side of the fence. Mnookin does pretty well to see it both ways.

He touches on some of cognitive dissonances involved, where some of the poor thinking arises from and these emerge as a key underlying themes.

This from the blurb,

“Wakefield eventually lost his medical licence, yet the myth that vaccines cause developmental disorders lives on. In The Panic Virus Seth Mnookin examines how the anti-immunisation panic spread and looks at a controversial Australian case that exposed the claims and tactics of the movement to new scrutiny. Sorting fact from rumour, he confronts fundamental questions: with more facts at our fingertips than ever, why is our trust in science so fragile? Has the internet made us better informed, or simply enabled panic to spread more quickly? And how might we balance fact and intuition when it comes to decisions about children’s health?”

The book, in part, tracks the author‘s personal exploration into parents and their relationship with vaccination information starting from his own new parenthood and dinner parties,

“The more I pushed my friend, the more defensive he grew. Sure, I said, there had to be something tangible, some experiment of epidemiological survey, that informed his decisions. There wasn’t I was even more taken aback when he said he likely would have done the same thing even if he’d been present with conclusive evidence that the MMR vaccine was safe.” (From the Introduction, p11.)

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Seduced by logic Grant Jacobs Mar 23

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My previous cat traded in a habit or two every six months or so for new ones. I sometimes think my reading does something similar.

For a last while I’d fallen into reading several books concurrently, something I generally don’t do. I’m usually a one-book-at-a-time guy. Nevertheless, while starting on the Robyn Arianrbod’s book on the history of two women mathematicians in late 19th century Britain, I was also simultaneously attempting to an eclectic mix of novels (one crime, one sci-fi) and a stack of travel guides, along with my usual scientific reading.*

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Seduced by logic is Robyn Arianrbod’s biography of the work of two woman popularisers of science, Êmile du Châtelet and Mary Somerville.

Their common thread is their relationship with the ‘Newtonian revolution’. We see through the biography work that brought Newton’s science to wider acceptance.

Her descriptions of the importance of Newton’s work are, to my mind, excellent. It’s not easy to explain the conceptual basis of mathematical work using only words this clearly. Other mathematicians’, physicists’ and astronomers’ work are brought in to form the wider picture.

The historical and social contexts set the scene, with the growing intellectual (and political) freedoms from the state (or religion) presented through progress and disruptions of the players of the times. This includes the role of women, their opportunities to learn things academic and participate in academic life. There are also brief asides into issues familiar to those writing about science, as well as some interesting historical tidbits.

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Teaching kids critical thinking Grant Jacobs Sep 25

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… through adventures with the Nac Mac Feegles.

Looking at the titles of the blog posts over the weekend, it is as if the world had gone on a rampage of sloppy thinking.

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Sometimes it really does feel like that when I read local newspapers or magazines.

Terry Pratchett’s The Wee Free Men is a children’s book that encourages critical thinking.

Tiffany Aching is a hag (witch). Like all true witches she has First Sight and Second Thoughts.

First Sight for seeing things as they are, and not as she might want to them to be.

Second Thoughts for questioning things.

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Rugby fans – get physical Grant Jacobs Sep 12

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Here in New Zealand,  the Rugby World Cup has taken over.

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Just in time for the tournament the University of Otago has a new book to help rugby nuts get physical; others will have to scour bookstores.

Clearly a rugby-mad man, Ph.D.-welding theoretical physicist Trevor Lipscombe has written The physics of rugby.

You know the book is for rugby buffs when you see the table of contents are laid out on a pitch.

This book is rugby for the intelligent fan. Show you’re a notch above the rest by explaining how a player might perceive he (or she) is passing the ball back, but in fact is disappointing his team with a forward pass. Explain the physics of a spinning ball in a cross wind or how a little physics can improve passing. Examine the logic of Bateman’s movements in attempting to tackle Lomu.

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Reviewing Deadly Choices Grant Jacobs Aug 07

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Deadly Choices isn’t something I’d usually read, but spotting the book in the library I thought I’d lightly read it to see if I’d recommend it to readers outside of the USA, particularly in New Zealand.[1]

It is an excellent book for those wanting an easier read on the anti-vaccine movement in the USA, one that moves quickly. The approach taken will best appeal to readers in North America and those interested in the (modern) history anti-vaccine story in the USA.

Their is good general material on vaccines; amongst the ‘who did what’ elements are snappy introductions to a very wide range of relevant topics.

Looking closer, let’s deal with the unfavourable first–for readers outside of North America, that is. (Remember, a non-North American reader is my objective in this review.)

A running theme of the book is Barbara Loe and her emergence as an anti-vaccine campaigner in the USA and a number of television programmes shown there.[2]

Offit’s earlier chapters in particular use these media efforts and Loe’s development as a campaigner as a literary device to introduce items and further background. It makes for a running theme, and is an interesting approach, but those not familiar with her or the programmes may not identify with it well.

Some readers will be able to map what they read of these events and people in the USA to their local equivalents. Some will take a modern history perspective and see these as insights into the situation in the USA. (Reading New Zealand I found myself favouring the latter; bear in mind that I’m already familiar with the science and pseudo-science – I’m not the target audience.)

Where Offit’s writing works well for readers from any location his knack for short glosses of events or information about the vaccination and the anti-vaccine movement, conveying the point by drawing on just one or two key details. For those wanting the guts of the thing without too much cruft, and wanting a fast-paced read, his style achieves that well.

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We have a winner… Peter Griffin Jul 19

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Last week Expert Witness, written fellow sciblogger and forensic scientist Anna Sandiford, was reviewed and a competition offered for a free copy of the book.

And the winner of the competition is… Katie Brockie, who should expect an email sometime in the next wee while from Sciblogs editor Peter Griffin arranging delivery of her copy of the book.

Those that didn’t win – go on, get yourself a copy!

For the insatiably curious, the winner was chosen by a random ballot from a short-list selected from those who offered questions. (Perl computer programming geeks will probably be happy that, yes, it was a Perl one-liner that selected the winner from the shortlist.)

Other articles on Code for life:

A forensic scientist tells it like it is – free book to give away

A Geek Nation reviewed

Book review — The Poisoner’s Handbook

Science-y reading and open book thread

Man-made bird flies

Accessing digital legacies (experimental ones, too)

A Geek Nation reviewed Grant Jacobs Jul 18

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The title has a double meaning.

There’s this review of Angela Saini’s Geek Nation, which, in turn, reviews a geek nation – her father’s former workplace, India.

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Geek Nation loosely falls into the same genre as Robert Kaplan’s works – being based on a journey through a nation, with interviews, destinations and an intellectual focus on one aspect of the country, but without Kaplan’s harsh subject matter.

Thus, I am taking nothing away from Saini’s work when I say it has a lighter spirit than Kaplan’s renown efforts, in both style and content.

Robert Kaplan looked at political unease and turmoil – some in fairly harsh situations. Angela Saini has happier aspirations, targeting development of technological culture and business.

Geek Nation a blend of intelligent travelogue and extended investigative journalism, not a history text, an economics analysis, or a philosophical treatise.

If you’re thinking of a heavy tome that you struggle past dense prose, profuse reference citations and opaque footnotes, forget it. This isn’t that book. Geek Nation is an easy and fun read.

Her journey makes it’s way over many parts of India, interviewing a wide range of people, looking at the growth of science and technology there. This might seem a dry theme, but if you recall Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything[1] you’ll know it doesn’t have to be, and it isn’t.

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A forensic scientist tells it like it is – free book to give away Grant Jacobs Jul 13

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Book review and competition to win a copy of sciblogs colleague Anna Sandiford’s book Expert Witness.

Win a copy

(I’m keeping this open until Sunday midnight; it’s still open.)

We’re giving away a copy of sciblogs writer Anna Sandiford’s book Expert Witness to a lucky reader.

In it she describes what forensic science is really like, and shares tales from the forensic front-line. The book is reviewed below.

To be in to win, add a comment after the review giving one question you would ask if you met a forensic scientist.

The winner will be chosen in the first instance by judging the questions offered. If none appeal, the winner will be chosen randomly from those that enter, favouring those that offered a question. (If you can’t think of a question, enter anyway.)

Don’t include your address – the winner will be contacted using the email address you supply to add your entry comment.

Book review

David Bain was convicted of murdering his family, his mother, father, sisters and brother. The introductions are done, Expert Witness opens with an encounter with Mr Bain in a room with the door wedged shut with a chair,

I’m standing in a large, old, unfurnished room with a partially carpeted concrete floor and only one exit. A convicted murderer stands between me and the exit.

Right from the start you know you’re in for a good ride.

ExpertWitness

Sandiford’s style is chatty and easy-going. The humour (British?) comes through, in some chapters more than others as suits their content.

Before starting into forensic science or her encounter with David Bain, the author introduces herself. The first sentence lays out the author’s aim,

This book is about my job and the casework in which I have been involved.

She elaborates further on page 48,

I want to give you an indication of how forensic science is applied in a practical sense and an idea of what the job entails.

Forensic science suffers from the ‘CSI effect’, as she explains. Her book offers us a personal tour forensic science as it really is.

When it comes down to it, almost all of us have some interest in forensic science; we encounter aspects of in the media every week. Interest in Expert Witness shouldn’t be limited to just fans of crime fiction or viewers of TV series like Bones or CSI (which she remarks on in the book), but also for those who simply would like to learn more about a well-known but not especially well-understood activity.

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