Crease: The Great Equations

Reviewer JNS has contributed a book note on Robert P. Crease, The Great Equations : Breakthroughs in Science from Pythagoras to Heisenberg; New York : W.W.Norton & Company, 2008. He gave it a 4-checkerboard recommendation.

He thought it was a book filled with ideas and connections deserving a slow read to think about those things presented. He was also pleased that the equations themselves were displayed:

It’s not by any means a mathematical book, but Crease does display each equation at the head of each chapter in mathematical symbols. That’s obviously important to a book about equations, but I think it’s also very good for the general, non-technical reader. One doesn’t need to understand the equations mathematically, but there’s value in simply seeing what they look like. True, Crease sometimes explains to some extent what an equation means, but understanding an equation in mathematical terms is not his goal. Rather, he would like his readers to appreciate each equation and to have some idea what the equation is expressing.

There is even an aspect of aesthetic appreciation involved. That may sound silly, but mathematicians and mathematical physicists will tell you that correct equations have a certain “beauty” to them. Looking at these equations in that way gives some non-verbal, non-expository feeling of what it’s like to work with mathematical expressions.

Fiennes: The Snow Geese (New Book Note)

Reviewer GG has contributed a book note on William Fiennes, The Snow Geese : A Story of Home. He gave it a 5-checkerboard rating, making it one of our top-rated books.

Fiennes writes wonderfully about bird migration, behavior, and physiology. His book includes discussion on migratory research and nesting patterns as well as anecdotes provided by researchers and naturalists. It is vivid and well written.

Michaels: Doubt is their Product (New Book Note)

JNS has contributed a new book note on David Michaels, Doubt is Their Product : How Industry’s Assault on Science Threatens Your Health; Oxford : Oxford University Press, 2008. He gave it a 5-checkerboard rating, making it one of our top-rated books.

He thought that this book broke the mold on exposes in a way that made it a model of scienticity in assessing public health policy.

This book is filled with verifiable facts and unbiased scientific research findings presented with vigor and undeniable passion that are quite appropriate to the urgency of the current situation, given the extent to which manufactured “controversy” and the campaign of doubt has succeeded in muddying the waters of rational discourse and muddled the minds of well-meaning citizens.

Taylor: My Stroke of Insight (New Book Note)

LFW has contributed a new book note on Jill Bolte Taylor, My Stroke of Insight : A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey; New York: Viking/Plume, 2009. She gave it a 5-checkerboard rating, making it one of our top-rated books.

She found great insight in the unique perspective of a trained brain-scientists observing her own stroke and recovery.

The author, patient, and brain-scientist are one-in-the-same, so the reader is treated to both the science of what occurs, and the personal narrative of a stroke survivor’s experience.

Meller: Evolution Rx (New Book Note)

LFW has contributed a new book note on William Meller, Evolution Rx : A Physician’s Guide to Harnessing our Innate Capacity for Health and Healing. New York : Penguin Group, 2009.

She writes that the book addresses various topics in health and medicine from an evolutionary perspective. Giving the book a 4-checkerboard recommendation, she concludes

Dr. Meller employs scientific logic while working through the various hypotheses in this book, but mostly he encourages us to use our common sense in thinking through popular health-care notions.

Writing about Reading about Science

Reading about science is a great way for some people to learn about science. Writing about reading about science is Ars Hermeneutica’s way of catalyzing the interaction between potential readers and authors.

Reading about science for oneself is a personal experience, an excursion into the world of ideas; helping to arrange those rewarding personal experiences is a principle part of Ars Hermeneutica’s mission in science literacy. Our goal is to help match up those who want to discover science through reading with authors who write accurately about the ideas of science in a way that matches individual reader’s abilities and interests.

For the reader who is motivated but bewildered by the vast array of available books, the question is how to choose one that is trustworthy, appealing, and will provide a rewarding experience? Not every book is intended for every reader, but we believe that for every reader there are any number of books can take that reader on an exciting adventure of the mind.

This project began in 2005 with Science Book Notes, our collection of brief reviews of popular science books, books for all types of non-scientists readers. Thanks to our Science-Book Challenge, begun in 2008, our collection of book notes is growing more diverse and more useful every month.

This blog is here now to provide another outlet for talking about reading about science, an additional signpost to keep us oriented in the forest of ideas that is science and technology.