Reviews

  1. Bird on Fire: Lessons from the World’s Least Sustainable City by Andrew Ross

    The prospects for sustainability look bleak for the city of Phoenix in this environmental analysis of the desert oasis. Oxford Univ., 2011, 304 p., $27.95

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  2. Drive and Curiosity: What Fuels the Passion for Science by Istvan Hargittai

    The stories of 15 leading scientists are examined for clues to what makes some scientists exceptional and what fuels discovery. Prometheus Books, 2011, 338 p., $26

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  3. BOOK REVIEW: The Art of Medicine: Over 2,000 Years of Images and Imagination by Julie Anderson, Emm Barnes and Emma Shackleton

    Review by Nick Bascom.

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  4. BOOK REVIEW: How To Think Like A Neandertal by Thomas Wynn and Frederick Coolidge

    Review by Bruce Bower.

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  5. An Engineer’s Alphabet by Henry Petroski

    A selection of quotations, anecdotes and other engineering trivia is arranged into a mini-encyclopedia of the profession. Cambridge Univ., 2011, 360 p., $21.99

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  6. Galileo’s Muse by Mark A. Peterson

    A physicist and mathematician argues that Renaissance art spurred the scientific revolution that laid the foundations of modern science. Harvard Univ., 2011, 336 p., $28.95

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  7. Frozen Planet: A World Beyond Imagination by Alastair Fothergill and Vanessa Berlowitz

    Journey with four polar denizens — polar bear, Arctic fox, Adélie penguin and wandering albatross — through seasonal changes in this companion to a BBC television series. Firefly Books, 2011, 312 p., $39.95

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  8. The Fossil Chronicles: How Two Controversial Discoveries Changed Our View of Human Evolution by Dean Falk

    A scientist who studies brain evolution examines fossil finds — the Taung child and hobbits — that are changing views of human evolution. Univ. of California, 2011, 259 p., $34.95

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  9. Super Sneaky Uses for Everyday Things: Power Devices with Your Plants, Modify High-Tech Toys, Turn a Penny into a Battery, Make Sneaky Light-up Nails … Sneaky Levitation with Everyday Things by Cy Tymony

    Put your engineering skills to the test with this guide to building gadgets from common household items. Andrews McMeel, 2011, 145 p., $12.99

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  10. Book Review: Relics: Travels in Nature’s Time Machine by Piotr Naskrecki

    Review by Allison Bohac.

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  11. Book Review: Time Travel and Warp Drives by Allen Everett and Thomas Roman and How to Build a Time Machine by Brian Clegg

    Review by Alexandra Witze.

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  12. Powering the Future: How We Will (Eventually) Solve the Energy Crisis and Fuel the Civilization of Tomorrow by Robert B. Laughlin

    A Nobel laureate in physics breaks down alternatives for the world’s energy supply. Basic Books, 2011, 224 p., $24.99

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