Category Archives: science

The Hidden Life of Deer

Posted on February 17, 2024 by smellincoffee

There’s a buck mounted in my living room, but it’s not a head: it’s a large photograph of one standing at a stream in the woods, dawn light softly illuminating the morning mist. I find deer, second to horses, utterly … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Distracted by Alabama

Posted on January 10, 2024 by smellincoffee

Jim Brown moved to Alabama in the 1970s to teach history at Samford University, and became fascinated by Alabama, both by its wild biodiversity and its people and their folk traditions, from shape-note singing to basket-weaving and herbalism. Distracted by Alabama … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science, Society and Culture | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Of blood and brilliant butlers

Posted on June 22, 2023 by smellincoffee

Rose George has previously shared with readers her voyages across the world following cargo ships and movements to make sanitation both more eco-friendly and readily available to poorer communities. In Nine Pints, she dips into the circulatory system. The result … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Politics and Civic Interest, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Adventures with the Enemies of Science

Posted on May 30, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Heretics / The Unpersuadables: Adventures with the Enemies of Science© 2014 Will Storr368 pages Outside ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. Will Storr will meet you there, because at this point he’s not sure that there’s … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

In the air and across the Cosmos

Posted on May 25, 2023 by smellincoffee

This month’s science reading served up two surprises, both pleasant. When I arrived at university and joined the Astronomy Club, which met once a month to aim a giant telescope at the skies and gasp as we saw Saturn’s rings … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Best of the Science Survey, 2017 – 2022

Posted on May 11, 2023 by smellincoffee

I recently realized that I’m in my sixth year of doing the Science Survey, and am marking the ocassion by thinking about the ten best reads of that period. For the uninitiated, the Science Survey is an attempt to structure … Continue reading →

Posted in General, science | Tagged | 3 Comments

Scenes from Prehistoric Britain

Posted on April 28, 2023 by smellincoffee

Scenes from Prehistoric Life: From the Ice Age to the Coming of the Romans© 2021 Francis Pryor320 pages Scenes from Prehistoric Britain is a curious mix of extreme detail and fanciful speculation, visiting twelve sites in (mostly) prehistoric Britain that … Continue reading →

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The Beauty of the Beastly

Posted on April 20, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Beauty of the Beastly© 1995 Natalie Angier304 pages The Beauty of the Beastly is a fun collection of science pieces by Natalie Angier, ranging from macro to microbiology, with some science interviews added at the end. The reader will … Continue reading →

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Gaming on the ZX Speccy, oceans, and harrumphing at the White House

Posted on March 30, 2023 by smellincoffee

I think I’ve managed to avoid doing any ‘short rounds’ posts this year, but three months in the streak ends. It’s not my fault, I swear. It’s the books. First up is The Nostalgia Nerd’s Retro Tech, a mostly-graphic look … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Human Experiment

Posted on February 9, 2023 by smellincoffee

The Human Experiment: Two Years and 20 Minutes Inside Biosphere 2© 2006 Jane Poynter384 pages From this patch of desert in sunny Oracle, Arizona, eight Americans are beginning the trip of a lifetime.  Divided into two tribes and locked into … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments