Good Reads & Views

The View From the Center of the Universe by Joel R. Primack and Nancy Ellen Abrams
523.1 PRI

Recent discoveries in astronomy, physics, and cosmology are for the first time beginning to put together a big-picture view of the universe which is based on solid, proven fact. We can see what it looks like, know its history back to the big bang, understand the laws of physics from the molecular to the planetary…and begin to understand our own place in it. Written for the layman (no math!), this is a fascinating summary of current scientific knowledge and what it means for us.

The Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time and the Texture of Reality by Brian Greene
523.1 GRE

Research over the last several centuries has drastically changed our concept of space and time and with this our view of the world and beyond. The author of The Elegant Universe (539.7258 GRE) brings this fascinating subject to a general audience with engaging prose, using accessible analogies rather than complicated math. Still a lengthy read, but worth it.

Hubble: The Mirror on the Universe by Robin Kerrod
523 KER

Although Kerrod’s descriptions are quite good, the pictures in this book really steal the show. From the birth and death of stars to galaxies and planets, over 250 full color pictures are included. Also contains a “Background Briefing” on telescopes in general and Hubble specifically.

The Möbius Strip: Dr. August Möbius's Marvelous Band in Mathematics, Games, Literature, Art, Technology, and Cosmology by Clifford A. Pickover
514 PIC

Pickover traces the origins of the Möbius strip from the mid-1800s, when the visionary scientist Dr. August Möbius became the first to describe the properties of one-sided surfaces, to the present, where it is an integral part of mathematics, magic, science, art, engineering, literature, and music. Today Möbius's strip is everywhere: it forms the familiar recycling symbol; freestyle skiers attempt a stunt called a “Möbius flip;” and it appears in the works of artists like M.C. Escher and writers like Arthur C. Clarke. This eclectic book is full of amusement and curiosity.

Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences by John Allen Paulos
510 PAU

Fractions, statistics and numbers - oh my... Afraid of numbers? Don't be! In his celebrated bestseller, John Allen Paulos breaks down the mystery behind math to show how mathematical literacy stands to serve us in our lives.

The Republican War on Science by Chris Mooney
509 MOO

Is it possible that the Bush administration ignores, misunderstands, spins and distorts scientific research and findings that have achieved consensus among most mainstream scientists in order to please a conservative base of business groups, religious lobbies, and right-wing politicians? Are top officials in agencies such as the EPA suppressing findings of their own scientists when they do not support the Bush team’s agenda? If so, is our government making the best decisions on issues such as global warming, climate change, mercury pollution, stem cell research? Right wing pundits on radio and television talk shows would disagree. But a review in Scientific American states that Mooney’s book is “a well-researched, closely argued and amply referenced indictment of the right wing’s assault on science and scientists.” And the Union of Concerned Scientists reached similar conclusions in a March, 2004, report on Scientific Integrity in Policymaking, An Investigation Into the Bush Administration’s Misuse of Science, available online at www.ucsusa.org. Read and decide for yourself.

Voyage of the Beagle by Charles Darwin
508 DAR

This is an unabridged version of Darwin’s Journal of Researches Into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S. Beagle. His observations in the journal during 1831-1836, first published in 1839, gave him his first clues that led through twenty years of research to the scientific principles of evolution published in 1859 in Origin of Species. There is an abridged version under the same call number.

Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation by Lynne Truss
428.2 TRU

It is unusual for a book about punctuation to become a word-of-mouth best seller, but this delightful book has defied the odds. The author’s wit and good humor shine as she offers advice about how to use apostrophes, hyphens, parentheses, and more.

A Cure for the Common Word by K. D. Sullivan
428.1 SUL

According to author Sullivan, an ailing vocabulary contains overused words such as “difficult,” “certain,” “boring,” “want,” “strange,” or “old”. And there are many more. The author urges us to find vibrant synonyms for these words and liven up our conversations. For instance, replace difficult with perplexing or enigmatic; certain with evident or conclusive; boring with tedious or monotonous; want with yearn or hanker; strange with bizarre or idiosyncratic; old with antiquated or archaic. This is an easy (effortless) way to improve (enrich) your conversation and writing style.

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary by Simon Winchester
423 WIN

A compelling true story about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the lexicographers who wrote it. One of the dictionary’s main contributors, William Chester Minor, was an inmate at a criminal lunatic asylum who mailed off thousands of entries to the editors of the OED from his prison cell. The imprisoned madman shot an innocent man in the streets of London in the culmination of his slow descent into insanity after serving in the Union Army as a military surgeon during the Civil War. The author provides a well-researched history of the prestigious dictionary that is the cornerstone of the English language. It’s also a fascinating novel-style tale of the gentlemen contributors whose very dissimilar lives meet in these peculiar circumstances. For word lovers and history buffs.