God's Universe
Hal Harris | Fri, 07/27/2012 - 15:49
Owen Gingerich is author of The Book Nobody Read, and an article about Kepler in Physics Today that I have recommended in the past.
Content
Energy for Future Presidents: The Science Behind the Headlines
Hal Harris | Thu, 10/04/2012 - 14:52
In an attempt to get at least a little discussion of science policy into the Obama-McCain campaign of 2008, Richard Muller wrote "Physics for Future Presidents" and offered a popular course at UC Berkeley with the same title. While nearly all of the issues he raised were ignored by the campaigns and during the subsequent four years, he has returned with a book focused just on energy science and related issues.
Dr. Joe's Brain Sparks: 179 Inspiring and Enlightening Inquiries Into the Science of Everyday Life
Hal Harris | Mon, 10/08/2012 - 15:19
Professor Joe Schwarcz of McGill University is Canada's foremost public spokesperson for science. His columns in the Montreal Gazette and in Canadian Chemical News and his radio program on CJAD in Montreal reach thousands of readers and listeners, and have provided grist for his many popular books about science and especially chemistry.
The Case of the Poisonous Socks: Tales From Chemistry
Hal Harris | Fri, 10/19/2012 - 14:53
This is a lively collection of essays about some of the great (mostly English, but not entirely so) chemists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It brings to life many great names of our science.
The Signal and the Noise
Hal Harris | Mon, 11/05/2012 - 11:19
New York Times blogger Nate Silver demonstrates how probability and statistical thinking can be used to analyze practical problems in our society. A lively, practical, and informative book!
Public Defender: Diane Ravitch Takes on a Movement
Hal Harris | Tue, 11/20/2012 - 15:02
The respected education reformer Diane Ravitch, previously one of the major architects and proponents of No Child Left Behind, has not only taken a new tack, but reversed course. With her 2011 book, she became a leading voice critical of the Obama-Duncan version, Race to the Top. This essay by David Denby describes her evolution.
The Half-Life of Facts: Why Everything We Know has an Expiration Date
Hal Harris | Mon, 01/28/2013 - 17:26
Samuel Arbesman, a mathematician and network scientist, uses the idea a half-life as an analogy for the changes in human knowledge that science brings. He discusses both the changing rate at which new science is done and the speed at which old results are replaced by newer ones. The analogy is far from perfect, but it emphasizes some critically important aspects of the processes of science.
Life's Ratchet: How Molecular Machines Extract Order From Chaos
Hal Harris | Tue, 04/30/2013 - 21:09
Peter Hoffman is a physicist and materials scientist, and he brings those perspectives and sensibilities to the description of how life converts chemical energy into order and motion. The "Ratchet" in the title is Feynman's Ratchet, a gedanken experiment described in Feynman's "Lectures on Physics" and reminiscent of Maxwell's Demon.
Climate Change Denial in the Classroom
Hal Harris | Sat, 05/04/2013 - 23:40
Universities should be and are expected to be sources of truthful and unbiased information about controversial subjects, especially in the sciences. Unfortunately, that is not always the case.
The Martian Chronicles: New Discoveries on the Red Planet, by Burkhard Bilger
Hal Harris | Thu, 05/16/2013 - 15:10
One could argue that the technological triumphs embodied in our robotic explorations of Mars far exceed those that put men on the moon. Missing, however, is the drama of putting human life at risk, and the ease with which our imagination can put us in the shoes of the explorer. That is not to say that there is not a human element.