It’s hard for me to gauge exactly how interesting a book like this may be to someone else, because when asked about my fantasy dream career, I say epidemiologist. And not the fun kind – the data wonk kind. I think objectively, this book is objectively “exciting” if you have a tolerance for fairly dry excitement, and a lot of details on slow, frustrating, painstaking searches for pathogens, outbreaks, sources of contamination, and underlying causes of the things that plague us. Despite the rather dramatic […]
Okay, fuckety bye.
So firstly, this was fun and liked it and I admire its enthusiasm. Any book that tries to break down the taboo veil surrounding swearing is good in my book. I do not understand the fixation that some people have about swearing, and I probably never will. But this book does a really good job laying out a general overview of, as the title tells you, why swearing is good for you. This is actually why I’m only giving it three and a half stars, […]
To the reference shelf with you
Some books seem like they were written with you in mind. I look at this cover and read the title, with words like fate, chance, and evolution, and I think this is exactly up my alley. And. . .it kind of is. No matter how hard I tried, though, I simply did not love this book. Jonathan Losos isn’t a bad writer, but I think at times he is too close to his own studies to know where to edit them down for the casual […]
Mitten Kittens, Sonic Hedgehog, and a Better Understanding of Genes
Space genes! Bloody space genes! If you’ve been keeping an eye on popular science news recently, you’ve probably come across the story of a comparative study between current astronaut Scott Kelly and his retired astronaut brother, Mark. Along with this came the breathless headlines, tweets and shares on how 7% of Scott’s DNA had changed after his time in space! They weren’t identical twins anymore! Which is insane! NO! Argh!!! The media ran riot with the idea that massive changes had occurred […]
A Quick Hit of Science
I’m not really in a hurry so much as I am overscheduled. I am also the lone non-science person in my family. I love science, but my brain doesn’t always hold onto the salient details of science. Say, for example, the difference between astrophysics and cosmology (Astrophysics is a sub-branch of astronomy to deal with physics of celestial objects and phenomena. Cosmology talks about universe as a whole which includes origin, evolution and ultimate fate of the universe.). But, I really like Neil deGrasse Tyson’s […]
Dear humans: Your insecurity is showing
This book is a study of two fascinating concepts: animal intelligence and human arrogance. Prominent biologist and primatologist Frans de Waal shares insights into animal cognition interspersed with mini-rants about the skepticism that people, even scientists, express at the thought of non-human animals displaying something that we might call intelligence. After reading this book, I’m inclined to suggest a new title: Are We Humble Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? At the heart of the skepticism is human beings’ desire to understand “what it […]
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