Reviews
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Craving Earth by Sera L. Young
Human biology and culture are interwoven in this exploration of pica, the craving to eat clay, dirt, starch and other nonfood substances. Columbia Univ. Press, 2011, 228 p., $29.50.
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The Crossley ID Guide: Eastern Birds by Richard Crossley
This illustrated field guide shows each bird in lifelike scenes using the author’s photos. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011, 529 p., $35.
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Fast Car Physics by Chuck Edmondson
Fans of fast wheels and science alike will get a charge from this look at motor sports by a physicist and amateur race car driver. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2011, 229 p., $29.95.
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Loving + Hating Mathematics by Reuben Hersh and Vera John-Steiner
Tales of mathematicians’ engagement with their subject bring to life this examination of the human and cultural aspects of math. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011, 416 p., $29.95.
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The Most Human Human by Brian Christian
The Turing test competition, an annual search for the most “human” computer, is the thread in this tour through the makings of human intelligence. Doubleday, 2011, 303 p., $27.95.
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Book Review: Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo by Nicholas de Monchaux
Review by Ron Cowen.
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The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World by Edward Dolnick
Buy this book This absorbing tale, set in the 17th century, recounts how Isaac Newton and the founders of the Royal Society described the order of the universe. Harper, 2011, 378 p., $27.99.
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How We Age: A Doctor’s Journey into the Heart of Growing Old by Marc E. Agronin
Buy this book A young doctor reflects on lessons learned about life and medicine as a psychiatrist in a Miami nursing home. Da Capo, 2011, 320 p., $25.
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Life in a Shell: A Physiologist’s View of a Turtle by Donald C. Jackson
Buy this book A physiologist shows how shells have helped turtles survive virtually unchanged for 220 million years. Harvard Univ. Press, 2011, 178 p., $29.95.
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What Are Gamma-Ray Bursts? by Joshua S. Bloom
Buy this book For readers willing to dive into (or skim past) a bit of math, this book surveys the latest research on these mysterious cosmic explosions. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011, 256 p., $27.95.
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Rabbits: The Animal Answer Guide (The Animal Answer Guides: Q&A for the Curious Naturalist) by Susan Lumpkin and John Seidensticker
Buy this book Learn little-known facts about the familiar animals, whose 90 species include several of the world’s most endangered. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2011, 235 p., $24.95.
