Science News

All Stories by Science News

  1. Letters

    Don’t dismiss Lamarck Your January 31 special birthday edition on Darwin (SN: 1/31/09, p. 17) was excellent, but I believe that science has allowed Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s contributions to be overshadowed by Darwin’s. The change that can occur to an organism’s genetic makeup during its own lifetime harks away from Darwin’s slow evolutionary process by chance […]

  2. Book Review: Darwin’s Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin’s Views on Human Evolution by Adrian Desmond and James Moore

    Review by Josh Korenblat.

  3. Nanoscale: Visualizing an Invisible World by Kenneth S. Deffeyes and Stephen E. Deffeyes

    Illustrations reveal the nanoscale world in rich detail. MIT, 2009, 133 p., $21.95. NANOSCALE: VISUALIZING AN INVISIBLE WORLD BY KENNETH S. DEFFEYES AND STEPHEN E. DEFFEYES

  4. The Fifth Postulate: How Unraveling a Two-Thousand-Year-Old Mystery Unraveled the Universe by Jason Socrates Bardi

    The story of the discovery of non-Euclidean geometry. Wiley, 2009, 253 p., $27.95. THE FIFTH POSTULATE: HOW UNRAVELING A TWO-THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY UNRAVELED THE UNIVERSE BY JASON SOCRATES BARDI

  5. Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis: Projects and Principles for Beginning Geologists by Matthys Levy and Mario Salvadori

    Kid-friendly activities reveal the science behind natural disasters. Chicago Review, 2009, 136 p., $14.95 EARTHQUAKES, VOLCANOES, AND TSUNAMIS: PROJECTS AND PRINCIPLES FOR BEGINNING GEOLOGISTS BY MATTHYS LEVY AND MARIO SALVADORI

  6. Book Review: An Orchard Invisible: A Natural History of Seeds by Jonathan Silvertown

    Review by Susan Milius.

  7. Book Review: Out of Our Heads: Why You Are Not Your Brain, and Other Lessons from the Biology of Consciousness by Alva Noë

    Review by Bruce Bower.

  8. The Unwell Brain: Understanding the Psychobiology of Mental Health by F. Scott Kraly

    Dysfunctional moods and behavior have chemical roots. W.W. Norton & Co., 2009, 224 p., $18.95 The Unwell Brain: Understanding the Psychobiology of Mental Health by F. Scott Kraly

  9. Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day by Peter J. Bentley

    Science explains life’s daily mishaps and offers ways to fight back. Rodale, 2009, 308 p., $16.95 Why Sh*t Happens: The Science of a Really Bad Day by Peter J. Bentley

  10. Logical Labyrinths by Raymond M. Smullyan

    Analogies and a fantasy setting bridge the author’s earlier puzzle books and technical writings to teach readers about logic. A.K. Peters, 2009, 327 p., $49 Logical Labyrinths by Raymond M. Smullyan

  11. Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming by Anthony D. Barnosky

    Rising temperatures could irrevocably alter creatures and their habitats, great and small. Shearwater, 2009, 288 p., $26.95 Heatstroke: Nature in an Age of Global Warming by Anthony D. Barnosky

  12. Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth by Mark Sloan

    What is known — and what isn’t known — about the first day of a child’s life. Ballantine Books, 2009, 370 p., $25 Birth Day: A Pediatrician Explores the Science, the History, and the Wonder of Childbirth by Mark Sloan