For the literary-minded physics aficionado, this book examines literature’s role in shaping and wrestling with emerging ideas of energy and thermodynamics in the Victorian age.
MIT, 2010, 343 p., $30. (p. 31)
In this collection of physics-related curiosities, every page flip reveals a basic principle of physics and a humorous cartoon by Joey Manfre. Examples include why wine is radioactive and how much plutonium it takes to build a bomb (enough to fill a coffee mug).
W.W. Norton, 2010, 144 p., $16.95. (p. 31)
Taking another angle on the string theory genre, a Harvard mathematician and a science writer join up to explore the geometry of curled-up universes too small to see.
Basic Books, 2010, 377 p., $30. (p. 31)
Looking at the body as a physics laboratory lends a fresh perspective, from how the properties of light affect eyesight to the fluid dynamics of the circulatory system. A good resource for doctors or the general reader.
Johns Hopkins Univ., 2010, 301 p., $45. (p. 31)
MERCURY CAPSULE FAILS — Failure of the test shot of the Mercury space capsule and its pilot escape system will not “necessarily” delay putting a man in space, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported. NASA has scheduled a manned rocket launch for 1961. The Mercury spacecraft, designed to take an astronaut safely into outer space and return him to earth, failed to separate from its Little Joe rocket booster 13 miles from Wallops Island, Va., where it was launched. “If the cause of the malfunction is a minor mechanical failure, I see no reason why the Mercury Pr... (p. 4)
November 20
New York’s American Museum of Natural History opens its interactive brain exhibit. Go to www.amnh.org/exhibitions/brain
December 2
San Francisco’s Exploratorium considers sugar, from its bodily functions to art. With cocktails. See www.exploratorium.edu
December 2–3
Howard Hughes Medical Institute airs live classroom webcasts on infectious diseases. See www.holidaylectures.org (p. 4)
The Light Game. The Science News-Letter. May 12, 1928, p. 294.
“Ray O. Light” summarizes the particle-wave dispute over the nature of reality as if it were a football game.
“Uncertainty Principle” Enters Science. The Science News-Letter. April 27, 1929, p. 257.
An introduction to Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle.
Einstein Finds Past Events Not Knowable with Certainty. The Science News-Letter. March 28, 1931, p. 195.
Einstein writes in a letter to Physical Review that past events cannot be described with certainty.
Beyond Einstein. The Science News-Letter...
An in-depth look reveals the uncanny smarts and elegant adaptations of these eight-armed wonders.
Timber Press, 2010, 208 p., $25.95. (p. 30)
Not just an animal lover’s tale, this book looks at recent scientific research on how humans evolved to care for canine companions.
Harper, 2010, 249 p., $25.99. (p. 30)
A journalist draws on neuroscience, anthropology and philosophy to explore the universal human experience of music.
Oxford Univ. Press, 2010, 452 p., $29.95. (p. 30)