Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Where the Dragon Meets the Angry River: Nature and Power in the People’s Republic of China by R. Edward Grumbine

    A policy scholar analyzes the impact of China’s development on its natural resources. WHERE THE DRAGON MEETS THE ANGRY RIVER: NATURE AND POWER IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA BY R. EDWARD GRUMBINE Island Press, 2010, 240 p., $25.95.

  2. The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems by Henry Petroski

    The approaches of scientists and engineers complement each other, an engineer and historian argues. The Essential Engineer: Why Science Alone Will Not Solve Our Global Problems by Henry Petroski Alfred A. Knopf, 2010, 274 p., $26.95.

  3. Experimental Evolution by Theodore Garland Jr. and Michael Rose, eds.

    Scientists can take to the lab and field to explore the mechanisms of evolution. Experimental Evolution by Theodore Garland Jr. and Michael Rose, eds. Univ. of California Press, 2010, 730 p., $45.

  4. Making Sense of Autistic Spectrum Disorders by James Coplan

    A pediatrician reviews treatments for children with these disorders. Making Sense of Autistic Spectrum Disorders by James Coplan Bantam Books, 2010, 448 p., $25.

  5. Science Future for April 10, 2010

    April 18Final day to visit the New York Hall of Science’s hands-on mathematics exhibit. See www.nysci.org/explore/upcoming April 24 – 28The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology meets in Anaheim, Calif. See www.asbmb.org June 2 – 6 Researchers, cultural critics and others meet in New York City to celebrate science. See www.worldsciencefestival.com

  6. Science Past from the issue of April 9, 1960

    CALIFORNIA ZOO APES BECOME “MEDICAL FIRSTS” — Noell, Scoop and Tria, three apes that live in the San Diego zoo, have made medical history. They “came down” with chicken pox while in their zoo cages during a period last summer when there was a high incidence of that disease among children in San Diego County. […]

  7. Letters

    Hairy Ardi issue In the report on Ardi (“Evolution’s bad girl,” SN: 01/16/10, p. 22), the artist’s illustrations show her in fur. The fact that her purported descendants are relatively hairless has been popularized by Desmond Morris (The Naked Ape, 1967) and Elaine Morgan (The Descent of Woman, 1972). What is the paleoanthropologists’ evidence that […]

  8. Book Review: Crazy Like Us: The Globalization of the American Psyche by Ethan Watters

    Review by Bruce Bower.

  9. The Rise and Fall of the Biopsychosocial Model by S. Nassir Ghaemi

    A psychiatrist criticizes the idea of psychiatric disease as a product of biological and social factors. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2010, 253 p., $50. THE RISE AND FALL OF THE BIOPSYCHOSOCIAL MODEL BY S. NASSIR GHAEMI

  10. Nature’s Chemicals: The Natural Products that Shaped Our World by Richard Firn

    A biologist explores useful compounds made by plants and microbes. Oxford Univ. Press, 2010, 250 p., $65. NATURE’S CHEMICALS: THE NATURAL PRODUCTS THAT SHAPED OUR WORLD BY RICHARD FIRN

  11. Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging by Greg Critser

    An aging society has spurred academics and entrepreneurs to study getting old and what could or should be done to stop it. Harmony Books, 2010, 234 p., $26. ETERNITY SOUP: INSIDE THE QUEST TO END AGING BY GREG CRITSER

  12. The Warcraft Civilization: Social Science in a Virtual World by William Sims Bainbridge

    Studying players in the computer game World of Warcraft can explain real-world group behavior, a sociologist argues. MIT Press, 2010, 244 p., $27.95. THE WARCRAFT CIVILIZATION: SOCIAL SCIENCE IN A VIRTUAL WORLD BY WILLIAM SIMS BAINBRIDGE