Uncategorized
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Science Past from the issue of February 27, 1960
HUMAN SPIES FOR RUSSIA CHEAPER THAN SATELLITES — It would be cheaper for Russia to spy on the U.S. through normal channels than by putting a reconnaissance satellite into orbit…. Russian agents in the U.S. can glean vast amounts of solid information merely by reading several major metropolitan daily newspapers…. The Department of Defense thus […]
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Book Review: The Hidden Brain by Shankar Vedantam
Review by Erika Engelhaupt.
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Book Review: Get Me Out: A History of Childbirth by Randi Hutter Epstein
Review by Kristina Bartlett Brody.
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Isaac Newton on Mathematical Certainty and Method by Niccolò Guicciardini
A science historian analyzes Newton’s philosophy of mathematics. MIT Press, 2009, 422 p., $55. ISAAC NEWTON ON MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY AND METHOD BY NICCOLò GUICCIARDINI
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A Bird-Finding Guide to Costa Rica by Barrett Lawson
The country with the highest percentage of preserved land in the world has many birding opportunities, described here by location. Cornell University Press, 2009, 365 p., $29.95. A BIRD-FINDING GUIDE TO COSTA RICA BY BARRETT LAWSON
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The Perfect Swarm: The Science of Complexity in Everyday Life by Len Fisher
Complex systems often stem from an accumulation of simple patterns. Basic Books, 2009, 260 p., $22.95. THE PERFECT SWARM: THE SCIENCE OF COMPLEXITY IN EVERYDAY LIFE BY LEN FISHER
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Perfect Rigor: A Genius and the Mathematical Breakthrough of the Century by Masha Gessen
How a mathematician solved a seemingly unsolvable problem and turned down the million-dollar prize. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009, 242 p., $26. PERFECT RIGOR: A GENIUS AND THE MATHEMATICAL BREAKTHROUGH OF THE CENTURY BY MASHA GESSEN
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The Tree Rings’ Tale: Understanding Our Changing Climate by John Fleck
Young adults can learn how scientists use tree rings to document climate change. University of New Mexico Press, 2009, 91 p., $21.95. THE TREE RINGS’ TALE: UNDERSTANDING OUR CHANGING CLIMATE BY JOHN FLECK
- Earth
Sea levels erratic during latest ice age
Mineral crusts deposited 81,000 years ago in a Mediterranean island’s caves suggest an abrupt jump in sea level.
- Health & Medicine
Mutations may underlie some stuttering
Defects in three genes governing basic cell metabolism are found in a portion of cases, researchers find.
- Space
Bouncing sands explain Mars’ rippled surface
A new study finds that dunes and ridges can form without much wind on the Red Planet.
- Anthropology
Ancient DNA points to additional New World migration
Scientists have extracted a nearly complete genome from the hairs of a 4,000-year-old man, suggesting a new scenario for Asian migrations into the New World.
