Reviews

  1. Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People by Harry Ostrer

    This history of the genetics of the Jewish people delves into the population biology and genetic diseases that tie the group together. Oxford Univ., 2012, 264 p., $24.95

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  2. The Ballet of the Planets: A Mathematician’s Musings on the Elegance of Planetary Motion by Donald C. Benson

    A mathematician describes the history of the science explaining planetary motion. Oxford Univ., 2012, 178 p., $35

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  3. Moral Origins: The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame by Christopher Boehm

    An evolutionary anthropologist looks back through human evolution for clues to how groups of hunter-gatherers developed altruism and generous behaviors. Basic Books, 2012, 418 p., $28.99

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  4. Life

    The Violinist’s Thumb

    by Sam Kean.

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  5. Physics

    Trinity

    A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm.

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  6. Bird Sense: What It’s Like to Be a Bird by Tim Birkhead

    A look at what it’s like to be a bird explores avian senses and traces how scientists have studied birds through time. Walker & Co., 2012, 288 p., $25

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  7. The Universe in Zero Words: The Story of Mathematics as Told through Equations Dana Mackenzie

    This history of mathematics revels in the logical beauty of 24 equations that describe the workings of the universe. Princeton Univ., 2012, 224 p., $27.95

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  8. The Value of Species by Edward L. McCord

    A naturalist explores reasons to care about preserving species that don’t have practical use to people. Yale Univ., 2012, 184 p., $25

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  9. No Time to Lose: A Life in Pursuit of Deadly Viruses by Peter Piot

    A microbiologist tells tales of his adventures in Africa battling infectious diseases from Ebola to AIDS. W.W. Norton & Co., 2012, 304 p., $28.95

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  10. Secret Lives of Ants by Jae Choe

    Enter  the miniature world of ants and learn about their societies, from massacres and  power plays to self-sacrifice and factory-like enterprises. Johns Hopkins Univ., 2012, 156 p., $34.95

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  11. BOOK REVIEW: The Man with the Bionic Brain: And Other Victories over Paralysis by Jon Mukand

    Review by Laura Sanders.

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  12. BOOK REVIEW: Dialogues on 2012: Why the World Will Not End by Christopher Keating

    Review by Tina Hesman Saey.

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