Tag Archives: history of science

An Elegant Defense

Posted on August 31, 2020 by smellincoffee

An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System © 2019  Matt Ritchel 488 pages Back in January, long before the pandemic was on my mind (or anyone else’s outside of China),  I watched a charming and educational … Continue reading →

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The Weather Machine

Posted on April 25, 2020 by smellincoffee

The Weather Machine: How We See Into the Future ©  2019 Andrew Blum 224 pages How do we know what the forecast will be?  Well, we don’t — yesterday my chances of afternoon rain were supposedly minimal, and yet by … Continue reading →

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The Ice at the End of the World

Posted on October 16, 2019 by smellincoffee

© 2019  Jon Gertner 418 pages My reading journeys have taken me to Greenland recently, but instead of reading more about the Viking settlements there,  I wanted to read about another tribe:   the explorers and scientists who willingly endured months … Continue reading →

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She Has Her Mother’s Laugh

Posted on January 8, 2019 by smellincoffee

She Has Her Mother’s Laugh: The Powers, Perversions, and Potential of Heredity© 2018 Carl Zimmer672 pages Overhearing discussion of heredity a few hundred years ago would have meant only one thing:  being in the presence of noblemen, who stood to … Continue reading →

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Seeing Further

Posted on December 23, 2018 by smellincoffee

Seeing Further: The Story of Science, Discovery, and the Genius of the Royal Society© 2010 Bill Bryson512 pages Although Bill Bryson is  chiefly known for his humorous travelogues, he has been known to venture into other nonfiction at times, and … Continue reading →

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Empires of Light

Posted on December 9, 2017 by smellincoffee

Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World © 2004 Jill Jonnes464 pages Empires of Light is less a history of how the United States became electrified and more a biography of three electrical titans – … 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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Lost Enlightenment

Posted on November 28, 2016 by smellincoffee

Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia’s Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane © 2015 S. Frederick Starr618 pages Lost Enlightenment takes readers back to a time when Central Asia was the crossroads of the world, a hub of both commercial and … Continue reading →

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The Voyage of the Beagle

Posted on April 29, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Voyage of the Beagle© 1839 Charles Darwin448 pages* As a young man, Charles Darwin lacked sharp direction. His father wanted him to become a doctor, but he hated the sight of blood.  His passion was natural philosophy, the observation … Continue reading →

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Genome

Posted on February 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

 Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters© 1999 Matt Ridley317 pages   The human genome is a recipe book, divided into 23 chapters, but considerably larger than Matt Ridley’s Genome. Were it to scale, he writes, a genuine … Continue reading →

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