Uncategorized
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Dark Side of the Moon: Wernher von Braun, the Third Reich, and the Space Race by Wayne Biddle
Review by Rachel Zelkowitz.
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Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life by Winifred Gallagher
Reality consists of what you pay attention to, and new research is unraveling how the brain chooses some things over others. Penguin Press, 2009, 256 p., $25.95. Rapt: Attention and the Focused Life by Winifred Gallagher
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The Mathematical Mechanic: Using Physical Reasoning to Solve Problems by Mark Levi
A Pennsylvania State University professor reveals how physics can simplify proofs, illustrate theorems and offer quick mathematical solutions. THE MATHEMATICAL MECHANIC: USING PHYSICAL REASONING TO SOLVE PROBLEMS BY MARK LEVI Princeton Univ., 2009, 186 p., $19.95.
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Summer World: A Season of Bounty by Bernd Heinrich
A naturalist’s observations reveal that the animal world is abuzz with activity during the summer. SUMMER WORLD: A SEASON OF BOUNTY BY BERND HEINRICH Ecco, 2009, 253 p., $26.99.
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Kinematics: The Lost Origins of Einstein’s Relativity by Alberto A. Martínez
This often-overlooked branch of mechanics, which describes objects’ motion, provided the foundation for special relativity, a historian argues. KINEMATICS: THE LOST ORIGINS OF EINSTEIN’S RELATIVITY BY ALBERTO A. MARTíNEZ Johns Hopkins Univ., 2009, 464 p., $65.
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The Wonders Inside: Bugs & Spiders by Jan Stradling
Illustrations for a young audience detail the anatomy and the ecosystems of these creatures. THE WONDERS INSIDE: BUGS & SPIDERS BY JAN STRADLING Silver Dolphin Books, 2009, 90 p., $19.95.
- Physics
Casper the Quantum Ghost
Researchers find that a strange kind of imaging relies on quantum mechanics.
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Science Past from the issue of August 29, 1959
Fetal sex still unknown — Expectant mothers still face the ancient and perplexing problem of whether to knit blue or pink booties, despite the advances of this scientific age. Although scientists appear to be near to perfecting a reliable method of predicting the sex of unborn babies, the present “wait and see” policy remains the […]
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Science Future for August 29, 2009
September 29 MESSENGER spacecraft expected to make its third and final flyby of Mercury. Learn more at messenger.jhuapl.edu October 4–10 Celebrate World Space Week. Find local events and activities at www.worldspaceweek.org October 18–21 The Geological Society of America hosts its annual meeting in Portland, Ore. Visit www.geosociety.org/meetings/2009
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Letters
Conspiratorial skepticism After achieving two degrees in psychology, I concluded that the field is largely bereft of genuine insight and simple common sense, and that it masquerades as a science, with notable exceptions here and there. Articles such as “Tracing the inner world of suspicion,” (SN: 6/20/09, p. 11) confirm and underline psychology’s essential mindlessness. […]
- Archaeology
Fire engineers of the Stone Age
New evidence indicates that people used fires to heat stones in preparation for making cutting instruments at least 72,000 years ago in southern Africa.
- Life
A gene for a short night’s sleep
Alterations in a gene called DEC2 lead to a shortened sleep period in people, mice and fruit flies.
