Uncategorized
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Cracking the Egyptian Code: The Revolutionary Life of Jean-Francois Champollion by Andrew Robinson
The first English-language biography of linguist Jean-François Champollion describes his quest to decipher hieroglyphs using the Rosetta Stone. Oxford Univ., 2012, 272 p., $29.95
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Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People by Harry Ostrer
This history of the genetics of the Jewish people delves into the population biology and genetic diseases that tie the group together. Oxford Univ., 2012, 264 p., $24.95
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The Ballet of the Planets: A Mathematician’s Musings on the Elegance of Planetary Motion by Donald C. Benson
A mathematician describes the history of the science explaining planetary motion. Oxford Univ., 2012, 178 p., $35
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Moral Origins: The Evolution of Virtue, Altruism, and Shame by Christopher Boehm
An evolutionary anthropologist looks back through human evolution for clues to how groups of hunter-gatherers developed altruism and generous behaviors. Basic Books, 2012, 418 p., $28.99
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- Particle Physics
Nature’s secrets foretold
After decades of searching, it seems scientists have found the elusive Higgs boson.
- Particle Physics
A primer on the long-sought Higgs boson
Discovering the Higgs boson is cause for celebration — and for explanation, of what the particle is and why it matters.
- Health & Medicine
Catching a Cancer
The official figure for the percentage of human cancers caused by viruses is around 20 percent — but most experts concede that number is largely an educated guess
- Cosmology
Inflation on Trial
Generally regarded as one of the most successful theories about the early universe, inflationary cosmology is not exactly under attack. But a few scientists are questioning whether it deserves its reputation as completely untouchable.
- Life
Skinny searchers keep fat ants full
By controlling movement out of an ant nest, researchers discover that ants weigh tubbiness in deciding who hunts for food.
