Reviews
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Ordinary Geniuses: Max Delbruck, George Gamow, and the Origins of Genomics and Big Bang Cosmology by Gino Segrè
A biography of physicists Max Delbrück and George Gamow describes their friendship and research in cosmology and genetics. Viking, 2011, 352 p., $27.95
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BOOK REVIEW: The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci’s Arithmetic Revolution by Keith Devlin
Review by Devin Powell.
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The Bleeding Disease: Hemophilia and the Unintended Consequences of Medical Progress by Stephen Pemberton
A historian shows how advances in treatment made hemophilia manageable — yet led to many deaths from HIV-tainted plasma. Johns Hopkins Univ. Press, 2011, 377 p., $50
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Vulture by Thom van Dooren
The much-maligned birds get their due attention in this thoughtful look at vultures’ natural and cultural history. Reaktion Books, 2011, 192 p., $19.95
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The Sorcerers and Their Apprentices: How the Digital Magicians of the MIT Media Lab Are Creating the Innovative Technologies That Will Transform Our Lives by Frank Moss
Preview some of the new technologies that the digital wizards at the MIT Media Lab are cooking up, from a foldable car to robotic feet. Crown Business, 2011, 272 p., $27.50
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Lip Service: Smiles in Life, Death, Trust, Lies, Work, Memory, Sex, and Politics by Marianne LaFrance
A psychologist examines the science of smiles and their many social uses, from a baby’s enticing grin to a bully’s malicious smirk. W.W. Norton, 2011, 321 p., $26.95
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The Book of Universes by John D. Barrow
Explore this universe and the many others that may be possible in this tour of the science and scientists behind theories of the multiverse. W.W. Norton, 2011, 354 p., $26.95
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BOOK REVIEW: Eruptions That Shook the World by Clive Oppenheimer
Review by Alexandra Witze.
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BOOK REVIEW: Weeds: In Defense of Nature’s Most Unloved Plants by Richard Mabey
Review by Sid Perkins.
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Avian Architecture: How Birds Design, Engineer, and Buildby Peter Goodfellow
A browsable, amply illustrated overview of avian construction from mere scrapes in the sand to edible structures people prize for soup. Princeton Univ. Press, 2011, 160 p., $27.95
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The Mathematics of Life by Ian Stewart
In this engaging overview, a mathematician describes how the field of biomathematics is answering key questions about the natural world and the origins of life. Basic Books, 2011, 358 p., $27.99
