Reviews

  1. The Ethics of Protocells: Moral and Social Implications of Creating Life in the Laboratory by Mark A. Bedau and Emily C. Parke, eds.

    This text offers a variety of perspectives on the potential risks and rewards of developing self-organizing, microscopic entities. MIT Press, 2009, 365 p., $28 THE ETHICS OF PROTOCELLS: MORAL AND SOCIAL IMPLICATIONS OF CREATING LIFE IN THE LABORATORY BY MARK A. BEDAU AND EMILY C. PARKE, EDS.

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  2. Einstein’s Telescope: The Hunt for Dark Matter and Dark Energy in the Universe by Evalyn Gates

    Scientists attempt to track down the invisible ingredients of the cosmos. W.W. Norton, 2009, 305 p., $25.95 EINSTEIN’S TELESCOPE: THE HUNT FOR DARK MATTER AND DARK ENERGY IN THE UNIVERSE BY EVALYN GATES

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  3. Neuroscience

    Book Review: Deep Brain Stimulation: A New Treatment Shows Promise in the Most Difficult Cases by Jamie Talan

    Review by Nathan Seppa.

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  4. Book Review: The Bomb: A New History by Stephen M. Younger

    Review by Elizabeth Quill.

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  5. A Mathematician’s Lament: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form by Paul Lockhart

    Prevailing math education makes the grade but misses the meaning, a teacher argues. Bellevue Literary Press, 2009, 192 p., $12.95. A MATHEMATICIAN’S LAMENT: HOW SCHOOL CHEATS US OUT OF OUR MOST FASCINATING AND IMAGINATIVE ART FORM BY PAUL LOCKHART

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  6. Lucy’s Legacy: The Quest for Human Origins by Donald C. Johanson and Kate Wong

    Lucy’s discoverer and  a science writer detail advances in paleoanthropology. Harmony Books, 2009, 309 p., $25. LUCY’S LEGACY: THE QUEST FOR HUMAN ORIGINS BY DONALD C. JOHANSON AND KATE WONG

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  7. Dead Pool: Lake Powell, Global Warming, and the Future of Water in the West by James Lawrence Powell

    The draining reservoir is a bellwether for water supplies in the American West. Univ. of California Press, 2009, 283 p.,$27.50. DEAD POOL: LAKE POWELL, GLOBAL WARMING, AND THE FUTURE OF WATER IN THE WEST BY JAMES LAWRENCE POWELL

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  8. Aladdin’s Lamp: How Greek Science Came to Europe Through the Islamic World by John Freely

    Science survived the Dark Ages in the sanctuary of the Middle East. Knopf, 2009, 303 p., $27.95. ALADDIN’S LAMP: HOW GREEK SCIENCE CAME TO EUROPE THROUGH THE ISLAMIC WORLD BY JOHN FREELY

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  9. Elephant Reflections – Photos by Karl Ammann, Text by Dale Peterson

    A photographer’s lens brings this pachyderm into focus. Univ. of California Press, 2009, 272 p., $39.95 ELEPHANT REFLECTIONS BY PHOTOGRAPHS BY KARL AMMANN, TEXT BY DALE PETERSON

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  10. Book Review: 1001 Inventions That Changed the World by Jack Challoner, ed.

    Review by Sid Perkins.

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  11. Book Review: Diagnosis: Mercury Money, Politics & Poison by Jane M. Hightower

    Review by Janet Raloff.

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  12. How Women Got Their Curves and Other Just-So Stories: Evolutionary Enigmas by David P. Barash and Judith Eve Lipton

    A sociobiologist and a clinical psychiatrist explore why women evolved the way they did. HOW WOMEN GOT THEIR CURVES AND OTHER JUST-SO STORIES: EVOLUTIONARY ENIGMAS BY DAVID P. BARASH AND JUDITH EVE LIPTON Columbia Univ., 2009, 224 p., $29.95.

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