Reviews

  1. The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices: How the Digital Magicians of the MIT Media Lab Are Creating the Innovative Technologies That Will Transform Our Lives by Frank Moss

    Preview some of the new technologies that the digital wizards at the MIT Media Lab are cooking up, from a foldable car to robotic feet. Crown Business, 2011, 272 p., $27.50

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  2. Lip Service: Smiles in Life, Death, Trust, Lies, Work, Memory, Sex, and Politics by Marianne LaFrance

    A psychologist examines the science of smiles and their many social uses, from a baby’s enticing grin to a bully’s malicious smirk. W.W. Norton, 2011, 321 p., $26.95

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  3. The Book of Universes by John D. Barrow

    Explore this universe and the many others that may be possible in this tour of the science and scientists behind theories of the multiverse. W.W. Norton, 2011, 354 p., $26.95

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  4. BOOK REVIEW: Eruptions That Shook the World by Clive Oppenheimer

    Review by Alexandra Witze.

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  5. BOOK REVIEW: Weeds: In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants by Richard Mabey

    Review by Sid Perkins.

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  6. Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer, and Buildby Peter Goodfellow

    A browsable, amply illustrated overview of avian construction from mere scrapes in the sand to edible structures people prize for soup. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011, 160 p., $27.95

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  7. The Mathematics of Life by Ian Stewart

    In this engaging overview, a mathematician describes how the field of biomathematics is answering key questions about the natural world and the origins of life. Basic Books, 2011, 358 p., $27.99

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  8. Falling to Earth: An Apollo 15 Astronaut’s Journey to the Moon by Al Worden with Francis French

    An astronaut offers a candid look at his trip to the moon, including the scandal that ended his space­faring days. Smithsonian Books, 2011, 304 p., $29.95

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  9. The Sun’s Heartbeat: And Other Stories from the Life of the Star That Powers Our Planet by Bob Berman

    Light-hearted tales trace human understanding of Earth’s nearest star and of the sun’s effects on Earth. Little, Brown and Co., 2011, 304 p., $25.99

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  10. War’s Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I America by Beth Linker

    An account of  how World War I influenced veteran medical treatment delves into the rise of  rehabilitation therapy and the costs of supporting wounded veterans. Univ. of Chicago Press, 2011, 291 p., $35

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  11. BOOK REVIEW: The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty by Simon Baron-Cohen

    Review by Erika Engelhaupt.

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  12. BOOK REVIEW: Periodic Tales: A Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc by Hugh Aldersey-Williams

    Review by Daniel Strain.

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