Scibooks

Book review: I think you’ll find it’s a bit more complicated than that

Sarah-Jane O'Connor • May 28, 2016

• ben goldacre,
• columns,
• evidence-based policy,
• Science journalism,
• science media,
• The Guardian

Dr Ben Goldacre’s collection of columns and essays, I think you’ll find it’s a bit more complicated than that, is a snackable read for anyone interested in science and how it’s used and misused in media, policy, and everyday life. I must first admit to being a bit sucked in on this book. I picked it up in a bookstore thinking … Read More

Book review: Ocean Notorious

Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Mar 24, 2016

• Antarctica,
• antipodes,
• Auckland Islands,
• Campbell,
• Macquarie,
• Matt Vance,
• Snares,
• Southern Ocean,
• subantarctic islands

In his book Ocean Notorious, New Zealand writer, photographer and sailor Matt Vance threads history, science and good old fashioned armchair travel into a riveting read. The Ocean Notorious in question is the Southern Ocean: the ocean that doesn’t really exist. In 1914, authorities tried to agree on names and boundaries for the world’s oceans. Dubbed the Southern Ocean, they drew its … Read More

Book review: The chimp and the river

Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Mar 14, 2016

• AIDS,
• chimpanzees,
• David Quammen,
• diseases,
• ebola,
• hiv,
• Spillover,
• zoonosis

What do dengue fever, yellow fever, bubonic plague, bovine tuberculosis and West Nile fever have in common? Add to them swine flu, bird flu, SARS, HIV and Ebola and perhaps it becomes more obvious: all are zoonotic diseases – those that have crossed from animals into humans, often with devastating consequences. In 2012, science writer David Quammen tackled the subject … Read More

Book review: Pacific – The Ocean of the Future

Peter Griffin • Mar 07, 2016

• climate change,
• Environment,
• History,
• marine,
• ocean,
• Pacific,
• Science,
• Simon Winchester

I took incredible pleasure in slowly working through Simon Winchester’s new book Pacific, which serves as a sort of companion piece to his 2010 effort Atlantic. And what better a place to delve into a book about the world’s greatest ocean than in the middle of that ocean – Tahiti, where I was lucky enough to spend a week recently, with … Read More

Book review: Towards a Warmer World

Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Jan 22, 2016

• BWB Texts,
• climate change,
• COP21,
• New Zealand,
• Paris Agreement,
• Towards a warmer world,
• Veronika Meduna

Anyone who was paying attention to global temperatures in 2015 probably knew what was coming on Thursday morning. Yep, 2015 was the hottest year since modern records began in 1880. Though the latter part of the year was boosted by El Niño, 2015 continued a trend of record-breaking temperatures, with 15 of the 16 hottest years occurring since … Read More

Book review: Why science is sexist

Sarah-Jane O'Connor • Jan 14, 2016

• book review,
• New Zealand,
• Nicola Gaston,
• Science,
• sexist

Two people apply for a job managing a science lab: a male and a female. Who’s more likely to be hired and who will be deemed most worthy of a higher starting salary? You might already know the answer to this question (spoilers: the bloke) but what’s behind the answer is what Dr Nicola Gaston has tackled in her book, … Read More

Book review: Big World, Small Planet

Guest Author • Dec 03, 2015

• anthropocene,
• book review,
• climate change,
• Environment,
• National Geographic,
• Sustainability,
• university of stockholm

How do we go about communicating that the whole of the biosphere (and humanity) is at stake? Professor David Teather looks for answers in the book Big World, Small Planet in a review originally featured in the latest issue of Forest & Bird magazine. Convincing others to care for the natural world is a matter for both … Read More

Nursing text a key contributor to community health

SciBooks • Jan 21, 2015

• Health,
• health economics,
• Nursing,
• policy,
• primary healthcare,
• Scibooks

by Professor Jenny Carryer  REVIEW: Community Health and Wellness, 4th Edition: Primary health care in practice by Professor Anne McMurray and Dr. Jill Clendon Elsevier Health Sciences RRP: $90.00 This is a further edition of the already highly valued nursing text exploring social, cultural and political issues affecting individual and community health. As such it continues to … Read More

Easy read promises economics is key to internet dating success

SciBooks • Sep 29, 2014

• dating,
• Economics,
• internet,
• micro-economics,
• Scibooks

By Diane Owenga REVIEW: Everything I Ever Needed to Know About Economics I Learned from Online Dating by Paul Oyer Harvard Business Review Press 2013 The concepts underpinning micro-economics were developed by Adam Smith and others in the 18th century, from observing how auction-style commercial markets behave. In these markets price changes are the ‘invisible hand’ … Read More

On the importance of evidence – Dirty politics

SciBooks • Aug 19, 2014

• Evidence,
• media,
• policy,
• politics,
• Scibooks,
• Science

by Bill Rosenberg REVIEW: Dirty Politics Nicky Hager Craig Potton Publishing 2014 RRP35.00 Nicky Hager’s explosive new book has many levels. They include political intrigue – “how terrible some human beings can be” (referring to Cameron Slater, Jason Ede, Jordan Williams, Simon Lusk et al) as Andrew Geddis graphically describes in his … Read More