Category Archives: science

Stiff

Posted on September 24, 2010 by smellincoffee

Stiff: the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers© 2003 Mary Roach303 pages Being dead is absurd. It’s the silliest situation you’ll find yourself in. Your limbs are floppy and uncooperative. Your mouth hangs open. Being dead is unsightly and stinky and embarrassing, … Continue reading →

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Disease Fighters Since 1950

Posted on August 30, 2010 by smellincoffee

Disease Fighters since 1950© 1996 Ray Spangenburg and Diane Kit Moser164 pages Spotting this excited me, as Spangenburg and Moser’s history of science series (On the Feet of Giants and its expanded and revised successor) were delights for me in … Continue reading →

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Don’t Know Much About Geography

Posted on August 17, 2010 by smellincoffee

Don’t Know Much about Geography: Everything You Need to Know about the World But Never Learned© 1992 Kenneth C. Davis384 pages I’ve taken several geography courses as part of my university education, a tribute perhaps to Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, … Continue reading →

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The Roving Mind

Posted on June 12, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Roving Mind© Isaac Asimov 1983350 pages In the first place, I type quickly — 90 words a minute, when I am happy, carefree, and in a good mood. And that’s my typing rate when I am composing, too, because I don’t … Continue reading →

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Dinosaur Lives

Posted on June 9, 2010 by smellincoffee

Dinosaur Lives: Unearthing an Evolutionary Saga© 1998 John Horner256 pages    I picked up John Horner’s Dinosaur Lives  out of idle curiosity, not having read anything about dinosaurs since childhood. They remain of interest, of course, but it’s not an … Continue reading →

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Africa

Posted on June 2, 2010 by smellincoffee

Africa: a Biography of the Continent© 1997  John Reader816 pages And we are scatterlings of Africa, both you and I  We’re on the road to Phelemanga, beneath a copper sky; And we are scatterlings of Africa, on a journey to … Continue reading →

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The Life of Birds

Posted on May 23, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Life of Birds © 1998 Sir David Attenborough 320 pages As I drove home from the library last week, I watched a beautiful white bird soar above the highway for several minutes. As it passed close by overhead, I … Continue reading →

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The Trials of Life

Posted on May 5, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Trials of Life: a Natural History of Animal Behavior© 1990 Sir David Attenborough320 pages Following up on last week’s The Private Life of Plants, I enjoyed another of Attenborough’s books documenting the extraordinary natural world: this with a focus … Continue reading →

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The Private Life of Plants

Posted on April 28, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Private Life of Plants © 1995 David Attenborough 320 pages I spend a little time every week contemplating my home library’s eviscerated science section, hoping against hope to find some interesting volume amid the remains. Last week, picking through … Continue reading →

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Lost Discoveries

Posted on March 24, 2010 by smellincoffee

Lost Discoveries: the Ancient Roots of Modern Science — from the Babylonians to the Maya© 2002 Dick Teresi453 I spotted this while collecting books for a paper on the emergence of Renaissance science, and it looked so interesting that I … Continue reading →

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