"It is a good morning exercise for a research scientist to discard a pet hypothesis every day before breakfast. It keeps him young." - Konrad Lorenz.
Even Kindle readers who read for pleasure like to dip into the heady realm of science nonfiction now and then to keep up with what's happening in a world scientists are still uncovering. Recent additions to the Kindle popular science shelves include:
Make: Electronics: Learning Through Discovery, by Charles Platt. Make, 2011. Print length: 352 p. This title has complex layouts and has been optimized for reading on devices with larger screens. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (50 reviews). Kindle edition $9.80. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"Want to learn the fundamentals of electronics in a fun, hands-on way? With Make: Electronics, you'll start working on real projects as soon as you crack open the book. Explore all of the key components and essential principles through a series of fascinating experiments. You'll build the circuits first, then learn the theory behind them! You'll start with the basics and then move on to more complicated projects. Go from switching circuits to integrated circuits, and from simple alarms to programmable microcontrollers. Step-by-step instructions and more than 500 full-color photographs and illustrations will help you use - and understand - electronics concepts and techniques." - Publisher.
Why Can't Elephants Jump?: And 113 Other Tantalizing Science Questions Answered, by the editors of New Scientist. Pegasus Books, 2011. Print length: 240 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"What’s the storage capacity of the human brain in gigabytes? Why is frozen milk yellow? Why do flamingos stand on one leg? And why can’t elephant’s jump? Is it because elephants are too large or heavy (after all, they say hippos and rhinos can play hopscotch)? Or is it because their knees face the wrong way? Or do they just wait until no one’s looking? This is popular science at its most absorbing and enjoyable." - Publisher.
Hedy's Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, by Richard Rhodes. Doubleday, 2011. Print length: 272 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $13.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"What do Hedy Lamarr, avant-garde composer George Antheil, and your cell phone have in common? The answer is spread-spectrum radio: a revolutionary invention based on the rapid switching of communications signals among a spread of different frequencies. Without this technology, we would not have the digital comforts that we take for granted today. Unhappily married to a Nazi arms dealer, Lamarr fled to America at the start of World War II; she brought with her not only her theatrical talent but also a gift for technical innovation. An introduction to Antheil at a Hollywood dinner table culminated in a U.S. patent for a jam-proof radio guidance system for torpedoes - the unlikely duo’s gift to the U.S. war effort. What other book brings together 1920s Paris, player pianos, Nazi weaponry, and digital wireless into one satisfying whole? In its juxtaposition of Hollywood glamour with the reality of a brutal war, Hedy’s Folly is a riveting book about unlikely amateur inventors collaborating to change the world." - from the hardcover edition.
Island of Secrets, by Matthew Power. The Atavist, 2011. Print length: 42 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (5 reviews). Kindle edition $1.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"If geologist, adventurer and risk-prone eccentric John Lane can prove the existence of the elusive tree kangaroo on the remote Pacific island of New Britain, he just might be able to save one of the last truly wild endangered forests on earth. But first he and his ragtag expedition party - college students, adventure-seeking biologists, disinterested local teenagers - will have to find the rare animal. Award-winning writer Matthew Power plunges into one of the world’s most foreboding jungles alongside Lane. It is a quest that’s equal parts noble, dangerous and wacky, in a place that’s truly off the map." - Publisher.
Who's in Charge?: Free Will and the Science of the Brain, by Michael S. Gazzaniga. Ecco, 2011. Print length: 275 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (7 reviews). Kindle edition $14.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"The father of cognitive neuroscience and author of Human offers a provocative argument against the common belief that our lives are wholly determined by physical processes and we are therefore not responsible for our actions. Not so, argues the renowned neuroscientist Michael S. Gazzaniga in this thoughtful, provocative book... Who’s in Charge? proposes that the mind, which is somehow generated by the physical processes of the brain, 'constrains' the brain just as cars are constrained by the traffic they create. Writing with what Steven Pinker has called “his trademark wit and lack of pretension,” Gazzaniga shows how determinism immeasurably weakens our views of human responsibility; it allows a murderer to argue, in effect, “It wasn’t me who did it - it was my brain.” An extraordinary book that ranges across neuroscience, psychology, ethics, and the law with a light touch but profound implications..." - Publisher.
Mycophilia: Revelations from the Weird World of Mushrooms, by Eugenia Bone. Rodale, 2011. Print length: 368 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (26 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"An incredibly versatile cooking ingredient containing an abundance of vitamins, minerals, and possibly cancer-fighting properties, mushrooms are among the most expensive and sought-after foods on the planet. Yet when it comes to fungi, culinary uses are only the tip of the iceberg. Throughout history fungus has been prized for its diverse properties - medicinal, ecological, even recreational - and has spawned its own quirky subculture dedicated to exploring the weird biology and celebrating the unique role it plays on earth. In Mycophilia, accomplished food writer and cookbook author Eugenia Bone examines the role of fungi as exotic delicacy, curative, poison, and hallucinogen, and ultimately discovers that a greater understanding of fungi is key to facing many challenges of the 21st century. Engrossing, surprising, and packed with up-to-date science and cultural exploration..." - Publisher.
The Viral Storm: The Dawn of a New Pandemic Age, by Nathan Wolfe. Times Books, 2011. Print length: 320 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (6 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.
"...award-winning biologist Nathan Wolfe tells the story of how viruses and human beings have evolved side by side through history; how deadly viruses like HIV, swine flu, and bird flu almost wiped us out in the past; and why modern life has made our species vulnerable to the threat of a global pandemic. Wolfe's research missions to the jungles of Africa and the rain forests of Borneo have earned him the nickname 'the Indiana Jones of virus hunters,' and here Wolfe takes readers along on his groundbreaking and often dangerous research trips - to reveal the surprising origins of the most deadly diseases and to explain the role that viruses have played in human evolution." - Publisher.
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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.
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