books
Tales for summer science odysseys
L.K. Townsend / Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
A painting by L.K. Townsend shows what central Cahokia might have looked like during its heyday, 800 years ago in what is now southwest Illinois. The pre-Columbian city-state is the subject of a book by archaeologist Timothy Pauketat, titled "Cahokia."
Summer's the season for kicking back, taking time off and heading out on flights of fancy ... preferably with a good book (or e-reader) in your backpack. It's great if the book is associated with far-off times and places. And if the book sparks your brain's science-loving region, so much the better.
150-year-old meteor mystery solved
Courtesy of Judith Filenbaum Hernstadt via TSU-San Marcos
A painting by Frederic Church, titled "The Meteor of 1860," provided clues for figuring out the precise timing of the meteor procession mentioned in a Walt Whitman poem.
Academic sleuths have used fine art and old newspapers to figure out exactly which meteor Walt Whitman was talking about in his poem "Year of Meteors (1859-60)." It's the latest example of a historical exercise known as "forensic astronomy."
Exclusive Excerpt: Hack the Planet
The battle lines on geoengineering have begun to take shape. On one side are modern-day romantics, who consider geoengineering an a priori violation of humans’ role as planetary citizens to let nature be natural and take a humble place within it. Better to solve the climate problem by reducing our impact on the planet, they say. Prominent among their antecedents is American forestry ecologist and writer Aldo Leopold, who asserted in A Sand County Almanac in 1949 that environmental problems demanded that man change his role from “conqueror of the land community to plain member and citizen of it.”
Parrying with poisoners
Getty Images
Bottles containing poison could be found on household shelves a century ago.
If you think the investigators on "C.S.I," "Law and Order" and other cop shows have it tough, imagine what it was like a century ago - when a confessed poisoner went free because no one could prove he did it. Forensic science, as it's practiced today on television and in thousands of real-life crime labs, hadn't yet been invented.
"It wasn't just that they didn't have the tests," Pulitzer-winning science writer Deborah Blum told me today.
Darwin's difficult 'Creation'
Newmarket Films
Click for video: Naturalist Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) studies an orangutan
named Jenny in a scene from "Creation." Click on the image to watch a trailer.
Charles Darwin's inner demons - and his inner angels - come to light in a film that traces the roots of his 150-year-old masterwork, "The Origin of Species." The movie version of the story, titled "Creation," dwells on the personal conflicts and travails that helped shape Darwin's thinking on the theory of evolution.
...(read more)Last minute holiday gift advice, Part 2: books!
OK, this is it. Last day to buy stuff in a panic before Christmas. What to do?
I suggest the bookstore. Who doesn’t like books? And it just so happens I have a few to recommend.
Death from the Skies!
You may not know this, but I wrote a book. Nothing says holiday cheer like a trillion ton asteroid barreling down on the Earth at 45,000 kph. And it has a happy ending! The entire Universe dissolves.
Daily dose of science on the Web
USA Today: Science books for a high-IQ holiday
SpaceWeather.com: Big new sunspot shows up
New Scientist: The perfect way to slice a pizza
MTV: James Cameron's once and future space plans
Next Big Future: Carnival of Space 133 ...(read more)
Science by the book
Featurepics.com
Books on scientific subjects offer the world ... and other planets as well.
Science books used to show dinosaurs exclusively in shades of scaly green and brown. Books about the solar system used to list just nine planets, and books about the subatomic world didn't go much farther than protons, neutrons and electrons.
As times have changed, so has the science - and so should science books. Just in time for holiday giving, here's a selection of books for kids (and grownups) that incorporate recent developments on the scientific frontiers.
...(read more)The Fight for the Ninth Planet
If there’s still someone out there who thinks science and politics never mix, the story behind the Battle of Prague should change your mind.
Find out more about Pluto in a Q&A
with the author.
Alan Boyle
Cover Shmover: Judge an Old Book By Its Odor
Take an antique leather-bound book, open it up, and inhale deeply. There’s just something about that old book smell. And thanks to a new analytical chemistry technique, the volatile organic compounds that compose the aroma could help preservationists keep their collections safe from old age damage.
Just sniffing an old book can tell chemists a lot about the state of the paper in a vintage volume, including its level of acidity, lignin, and rosin, which are all important variables for deciding how to approach preserving the text.
