What is your most recently read science book? What did you think of it? Part 3

[Mike]

In The Allure of the Multiverse: Extra Dimensions, Other Worlds, and Parallel Universes science writer Paul Halpern takes on the idea that there may be universes other than the one that we know. He discusses both quantum mechanics and cosmology.

My review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/03/05/t...

[Shrike58]

Just wrapped up On the Wing: Insects, Pterosaurus, Birds, Bats and the Evolution of Animal Flight. I was entertained, but suspect that after 10 years it might already be dated.

[Shrike58]

Just wrapped up Horned Armadillos and Rafting Monkeys: The Fascinating Fossil Mammals of South America, which is another typically useful book in the "Life of the Past" series.

[Bill]

I read an older physics book called The Story of Spin, by Nobel laureate Sin-Itiro Tomonaga. An excellent book relating the magnetism exhibited in the atom to the motion of electrons.

[Pramod]

Pale Rider: The Spanish Flu of 1918 and How It Changed the World https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/3...

[Shrike58]

Just finished The High Sierra: A Love Story, which while mostly a memoir, includes a significant amount of science content (Geology, Climate Studies, Paleo-anthropology, etc.).

[Mike]

In her new book Our Moon: How Earth's Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are author Rebecca Boyle draws on both history and science in allowing us to contemplate humankind's relationship with our companion in orbiting the sun.

My review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/04/05/o...

[David]

I recently read the fantastic book Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding, by Daniel Lieberman. The author is a paleoanthropoligist at Harvard University, where he is the chair of the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology. This is NOT a self-help book. Instead, the book shows why most people dislike exercise, why hunter-gatherer people are not necessarilty stronger than sedentary people in modern society. The book details how evolution has shaped our disinterested attitudes toward exercise, and tackles many myths about exercise.

Highly recommended! Here is my review.

[David]

Michael wrote: "David, My limited understanding of the hypothetical differences in the superimposed or adjacent multi-verse including physical properties and laws is fundamental. Correct me if I'm wrong, but my un..."

Michael -- sorry for not replying sooner -- I just noticed your message.

That's an interesting concept, that the universe (or multi-verse) is a fractal geometry. The universe is composed of vast galaxy clusters, each galaxy is composed of many solar systems, each solar system consists of multiple planets, etc. .... all the way down to the molecular level, atomic level, and particles. There does seem to be a hierarchy of systems or strctures, each one operating under a set of governing forces.

One facet I see with this idea, is that these systems that exist and operate on different levels are not truly fractal. The structures and physical processes at each level do not seem to resemble those at other levels--except perhaps superficially.

[Michael]

David, the word fractal usually relates to geometry. Though, I think it could be applied, instead, to evolving objectives or functions, or purposes. Additionally, objective and form or geometry often are linked, but not always.

Of course, we cannot help but think like people. Though, we do the best we can. Relevant questions to consider:

1) What is the purpose of a living cell and is its shape and size linked to its objective(s)?
2) and 3) Same questions for a galaxy and for a universe.

Considering these questions for a multi-verse may be beyond our cognitive capabilities. Though, sometimes a huge issue, like identifying the objectives of a multi-verse (i.e., did its size and shape evolve as the result of need or function?), doesn't necessarily translate into a similar scale of complexity.

[Betsy, co-mod]

I just finished The Deadly Rise of Anti-Science: A Scientist's Warning by Peter J. Hotez. It is very short, but a frightening assessment of the state of science. Here is my review.

[Shrike58]

Wrapped up Alien Oceans: The Search for Life in the Depths of Space, which is essentially a history of the exploration efforts of the Jet Propulsion Lab to the gas giant planets. The author writes well so this was a pleasure to read.

[Camelia Rose]

Just finished The Hidden Spring: A Journey to the Source of Consciousness, excellent book on consciousness, very different from other books on this topic. My review

[Shrike58]

Knocked off The Science of Roman History: Biology, Climate, and the Future of the Past. A good thing that it got vetoed for the group reading circle, as it wasn't as interesting as I had hoped.

[Shrike58]

I'm going to mention Conquering the Pacific: An Unknown Mariner and the Final Great Voyage of the Age of Discovery, as while it's nominally history, it does include a lot of background regarding geology, weather, and the science of navigation.

[Steve]

Thanks, I'll check it out. The title reminded me of a book I read decades ago: The Lost Caravel about a possible early discovery of Polynesia.

[Mike]

First published in 1981, Basin and Range by John McPhee is an excellent geological history of North America for the layperson.

My review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/05/14/b...

[Michael]

Mike, I agree with your opinion of John McPhee's book, 'Basin and Range.' His collection of North America geology stories (including this one) along the fortieth parallel, Annals of the Former World, won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for general non fiction.

[Mike]

In Alien Earths: The New Science of Planet Hunting in the Cosmos author Lisa Kaltenegger writes about the evolution of life on earth and her work in looking for life on planets outside our solar system. Fascinating stuff for any astronomy buff.

My review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/05/31/a...

[Herman]

On 5/27/24, I posted my 54th pair of reviews, 1 for Johnson-Ransom's Dinosaur World: Over 1,200 Amazing Dinosaurs, Famous Fossils, and the Latest Discoveries from the Prehistoric Era (which is good: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) & 1 for Blasing/Woodruff's "Dinosaur Encyclopedia for Kids: The Big Book of Prehistoric Creatures" (which is terrible: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

[Shrike58]

Wrapped up Proving Ground: The Untold Story of the Six Women Who Programmed the World’s First Modern Computer. A little more general history than I thought it might be, but it does come into its own once the author starts explaining just how the women in question figured out how to run ENIAC basically on their own.

[Ricardo]

I'm reading now El oráculo de la noche: Historia y ciencia de los sueños (not translated into enhlish), by Sidhartha Ribeito. Talks about history of dreams, how they are originated in our mind and themes of the dreams according to age.

[Woman Reading]

Paved Paradise: How Parking Explains the World by Henry Grabar

I was surprised to see this a BOTM in one of my other groups. Urban policies usually aren't key discussion topics even though we're all impacted by the policies adopted by the places where we live. And I tend to hear about parking only if someone is complaining about it. I was thus surprised by how interesting the subject became in this book.

My review -- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Steve]

Shrike58 wrote: "I'm going to mention Conquering the Pacific: An Unknown Mariner and the Final Great Voyage of the Age of Discovery.."</i>

Just finished it. It brought back a lot of memories because I have anchored in the lagoon and Barra de Navidad. In fact I created a set of virtual buoys for the lagoon anchorage that I think are still in use. I've also sailed to Guam and the Phillipines and made the long eastward passage back to North America from Japan. It's the longest, hardest passage I've made to date. Thanks again for bringing it to my attention. If you're interested in the science and history of ancient ocean navigation methods you might like David Lewis's [book:We, the Navigators: The Ancient Art of Landfinding in the Pacific

[Mike]

In The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth author Zoë Schlanger offers a well-written perspective on an intriguing topic: plant behavior.

My review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/07/02/t...

[Shrike58]

Just remembered to mention that I wrapped up The Wizard and the Prophet, which uses the lives of the scientists Norman Borlaug and William Vogt as a way to examine what the real policy options might be in terms of confronting the "Long Emergency" of Global Warming.

[Nancy]

I thought this was an exceptional book!

[Betsy, co-mod]

Nancy wrote: "I thought this was an exceptional book!"

What?

[CatReader]

I remember Betsy not being a particular Johann Hari fan (we read his book Stolen Focus: Why You Can't Pay Attention— and How to Think Deeply Again as our book of the month a few years ago), but I thought his latest book, Magic Pill: The Extraordinary Benefits and Disturbing Risks of the New Weight-Loss Drugs on how Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro have changed the weight loss game in the last few years was pretty interesting. Here is my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

It was just published in May 2024, but maybe this'll make a good book club read once it becomes eligible for nomination (~September 2024)?

[Nancy]

Betsy, The Wizard and the Prophet

[Mike]

There is nothing groundbreaking in the book Accidental Astronomy: How Random Discoveries Shape the Science of Space, but author Chris Lintott provides an enjoyable look at popular astronomy.

My review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/07/26/a...

[Camelia Rose]

Hi my reading friends, I haven't posted for awhile, being on reading hiatus since February.

Recently I finished two science books:

Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control, a very useful book on AI by an important AI scientist. My review

The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons: The History of the Human Brain as Revealed by True Stories of Trauma, Madness, and Recovery. Published in 2014, not that new, but I find it an engaging read. My review

[Shrike58]

Just finished up Weird Dinosaurs: The Strange new fossils challenging everything we thought we knew, a good journalistic examination of the state of play in dinosaur theory in the middle of the last decade. My overall thought is that now there was a different world; pre-COVID, before the on-going breakdown of the global economy, and not yet in the foothills of the next great war!

[Mike]

This is really more Inquiry than Science...

In Fluke: Chance, Chaos, and Why Everything We Do Matters, author Brian Klaas argues that random, small events influence later outcomes and the world we experience.

My review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/08/07/f...

[Nancy]

The Butterfly Effect

[Herman]

On 8/23/24, I posted my 55th pair of reviews, 1 for Brenner's Dinosaurium (which is good: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) & 1 for Jenkins's "Dinosaurs: By The Numbers" (which is terrible: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

[Shrike58]

Finished Escape from Model Land: How Mathematical Models Can Lead Us Astray and What We Can Do About It, an examination of the typical pitfalls involved in mathematical modeling, and a plea for doing it better (particularly when it comes to climate research).

[Mike]

In his book Living on Earth: Forests, Corals, Consciousness, and the Making of the World author Peter Godfrey-Smith covers a lot of ground. But I'm not quite clear where that journey is supposed to take us.

My review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/09/24/l...

[Camelia Rose]

My two recent science(-ish) reads:

Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life, a biography of an early American scientist and the author’s pursuit of the purpose in life. I enjoyed it very much. My review

Brain Energy: A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More The core theory the author proposed is actually not well-established in the medical field. Nevertheless, I find it an eye-opener. My review

[Betsy, co-mod]

Camelia Rose wrote: "My two recent science(-ish) reads:

Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life, a biography of an early American scientist and the author’s pursuit of..."

Camelia, the link to your second review doesn't work. Could you check it?

[Camelia Rose]

Betsy wrote: "Camelia Rose wrote: "My two recent science(-ish) reads:

Why Fish Don’t Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life, a biography of an early American scientist and th..."

Thank you Besty, just fixed.

[Shrike58]

Finished Atlas of AI: Power, Politics, and the Planetary Costs of Artificial Intelligence; not the last word on the subject, but a pretty good introduction to the latest expression of "Big Data," and its many pitfalls.

[Camelia Rose]

Finished The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth, a book about the latest plant science. Very approachable. I like it as much as I like Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?.

Here is My review

[Shrike58]

Wrapped up Control: The Dark History and Troubling Present of Eugenics this morning, a snappy polemic on the rise and fall of Eugenics, and how advances in genetic science have given a bad idea new life.

[Mike]

Deep Water: The World in the Ocean by James Bradley was not the book I expected. Its content covers more than the title suggests.

My review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/11/07/d...

[Herman]

On 11/9/24, I posted my 56th pair of reviews, 1 for Sampson's Dinosaur Odyssey: Fossil Threads in the Web of Life (which is great: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ) & 1 for Lomax's Locked in Time: Animal Behavior Unearthed in 50 Extraordinary Fossils (which is good: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... ).

[Camelia Rose]

Just finished a fascinating book, Life as No One Knows It: The Physics of Life's Emergence. It totally blows up my mind. My review

[Mike]

I have long been familiar with the work of Roger Penrose, so when The Impossible Man: Roger Penrose and the Cost of Genius was published I was keen on getting it. Patchen Barss provides a comprehensive recounting of Penrose’s life and work.

My Review:
https://mypointbeing.com/2024/12/05/t...

[Shrike58]

Finished News from Mars: Mass Media and the Forging of a New Astronomy, 1860-1910, an interesting study undercut by some very clunky prose. Probably a must read if you're interested in the "Life on Mars" craze of the period examined in this book.

[CatReader]

Here's my 2024 Goodreads wrap-up where I highlight the 15 best books I read this year (out of 314 so far). The first 5 books are science/medicine-related, and may be of interest to folks in this group.