Category Archives: science

Science, before and after

Posted on January 4, 2020 by smellincoffee

For the first time since I started doing a purposeful science survey, challenging myself to read from twelve different scientific disciplines, I didn’t quite make it last year.   I did, however, draw up a list of next year’s science prospects, … Continue reading →

Posted in General, science | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Of stars and saints

Posted on December 14, 2019 by smellincoffee

Two also-reads in recent weeks have been Brian Cox’s Wonders of the Solar System and Kevin Vost’s 12 Life Lessons from St. Augustine. I’m familiar with Cox from his many appearances in Symphony of Science videos (a YouTube series in  … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

The Hidden Life of Trees

Posted on October 17, 2019 by smellincoffee

The Hidden Life of Trees: What they Feel, How they Communicate: Discoveries from a Secret World © 2016 Peter Wohlleben 288 pages Joyce Kilmer offered that he had never seen a poem as lovely as a tree —  and I … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

Spark

Posted on September 23, 2019 by smellincoffee

© 2008 308 pages Are you fat? Exercise! Are you  stressed? Depressed? Exercise! Do you have ADHD? Exercise!  Do you fear dementia? Exercise!  Do you want to learn more, and more quickly? Exercise! Do you struggle with an addiction to … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Survival of the Sickest

Posted on September 21, 2019 by smellincoffee

© 2008 Sharon Moalem 267 pages Ask the man on the street about evolution, and assuming he doesn’t connect it to Pokemon, he’ll probably identify it as something that happened long ago.   But creation is never finished, either underground where … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

The dance of nature

Posted on September 6, 2019 by smellincoffee

So to be crystal clear: everything out there is influencing the evolution of everything else. The bacteria and viruses and parasites that cause disease in us have affected our evolution as we have adapted in ways to cope with their … Continue reading →

Posted in history, quotations, science | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Perspective from Seven Brief Lessons on Physics

Posted on July 25, 2019 by smellincoffee

I recently finished Seven Brief Lessons on Physics, a slim little volume introducing readers to relativity (special and general), quantum mechanics, particle physics, heat, time, and our place in the universe.   As it’s less than a hundred pages I don’t … Continue reading →

Posted in quotations, Reviews, science | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

The Cancer Chronicles

Posted on July 17, 2019 by smellincoffee

The Cancer Chronicles: Unlocking Medicine’s Deepest Mystery © 2013 George Johnson 304 pages As a kid,  Cancer was an ominous abstract monster, mentioned only in whispers,  that struck without warning and left no survivors.   You just hoped it didn’t happen to you.  … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

What Einstein Told His Cook

Posted on July 5, 2019 by smellincoffee

What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained© 2002  Richard Wolke369 pages What did Einstein tell his cook?  ..I still don’t know. I have learned, however, that it is possible to make a jello out of champagne;  that concrete sidewalks, … Continue reading →

Posted in science | Tagged , | 7 Comments

A Forest in the Clouds

Posted on March 11, 2019 by smellincoffee

A Forest in the Clouds © 2018 John Fowler336 pages John Fowler’s A Forest in the Clouds is his account of studying gorillas alongside famous naturalist Dian Fossey.   Although I picked it up for the gorillas (as one would), the … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews, science | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments