Category Archives: science

Encompassing Flagstaff: Atop Mars’ Hill

Posted on April 23, 2018 by smellincoffee

Overlooking the fair city of Flagstaff is Lowell Observatory, perched atop Mars Hill.  The founder of the Observatory, Percival Lowell, believed based on changing observations of the planet, that it was occupied by a technologically adept civilization, one which had … Continue reading →

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This Is Your Brain on Parasites

Posted on March 7, 2018 by smellincoffee

This is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Brains and Shape Society© 2016 Kathleen McAuliffe299 pages Are you under the influence?  There’s a chance that you may be, even if you haven’t darkened the door of a … Continue reading →

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Gut

Posted on February 28, 2018 by smellincoffee

Gut: The Inside Story Of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ© 2015 Giulia Enders271 pages Through the teeth, past the gums, look out stomach, here we come! Gut is a tour of your innards, of the surprisingly clean but bustling twists … Continue reading →

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The Truth about Nature

Posted on January 22, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Truth About Nature:  A Family’s Guide to 144 Myths about the Great Outdoors©  2014 Stacey Torno and Ken Keller212 pages Great news, kids. The tyranny of mom is over: no longer do you have to wait 45 minutes after … Continue reading →

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Science Report Card

Posted on December 30, 2017 by smellincoffee

Earlier in the year, in an effort to better organize my science reading, I drew up a list of categories to guide me along.   I kept a Word file on my computer and fill it out as the months progressed, … Continue reading →

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Grunt

Posted on November 2, 2017 by smellincoffee

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War© 2016 Mary Roach285 pages I’ve never given much thought to the idea of military science. What might it involve? The chemistry of better weapons, the psychology behind successful strategy gambits? The science encountered … Continue reading →

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I Contain Multitudes

Posted on October 27, 2017 by smellincoffee

I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes WIthin Us and a Grander View of Life © 2016 Ed Yong 268 pages For much of the 20th century, microbes were equivalent with germs – invisible threats that needed to eradicated.  As we move … Continue reading →

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The Disappearing Spoon

Posted on October 25, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Disappearing Spoon© 2010 Sam Kean400 pages A massive poster of the periodic table is as elemental to the image of a science classroom as the rows of graduated cylinders and microscopes,   but there is considerably more to that table … Continue reading →

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Isaac’s Storm

Posted on September 10, 2017 by smellincoffee

Isaac’s Storm: A Man, A Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History© 1999 Erik Larson336 pages First news from Galveston just received by train that could get no closer to the bay shore than 6 mi  where the prairie was … Continue reading →

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A human is a messy receipe

Posted on August 24, 2017 by smellincoffee

“There is an important distinction between a blueprint and a recipe. A blueprint is a detailed, point-for-point specification of some end product like a house or a car. One diagnostic feature of a blueprint is that it is reversible. Give … Continue reading →

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