Science & Nature
Gods and Robots: Myths, Machines, and Ancient Dreams of Technology by Adrienne Mayor ($60, HB)
As early as Homer, Greeks were imagining robotic servants, animated statues, and even ancient versions of Artificial Intelligence, while in Indian legend, Buddha’s precious relics were defended by robot warriors copied from Greco-Roman designs for real automata. Mythic automata appear in tales about Jason and the Argonauts, Medea, Daedalus, Prometheus, and Pandora, and many of these machines are described as being built with the same materials and methods that human artisans used to make tools and statues. Adrienne Mayor gives an account of the earliest expressions of the timeless impulse to create artificial life, revealing how some of today’s most advanced innovations in robotics and AI were anticipated in ancient myth and how science has always been driven by imagination.
The Best Australian Science Writing 2018 (ed) John Pickrell ($30, PB)
Now in its eighth year, The Best Australian Science Writing 2018 draws on the knowledge and insight of Australia’s brightest authors, journalists and scientists to challenge perceptions of the world we think we know. This year’s selection includes the best of Australia’s science writing talent: Jo Chandler, Andrew Leigh, Michael Slezak, Elizabeth Finkel, Bianca Nogrady, Ashley Hay, Joel Werner, Margaret Wertheim and many more.
Honeysuckle Creek: The Story of Tom Reid, a Little Dish and Neil Armstrong’s First Step by Andrew Tink ($35, PB) Honeysuckle Creek reveals the pivotal role that the tracking station at Honeysuckle Creek, near Canberra, played in the first moon landing. Andrew Tink gives a gripping account of the role of its director Tom Reid and his colleagues in transmitting some of the most-watched images in human history as Neil Armstrong took his first step. Part biography and part personal history, this book makes a significant contribution to Australia’s role in space exploration and reveals a story little known until now.
Dinosaur Artist: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Quest for Earth’s Ultimate Trophy by Paige Williams ($33, PB)
In 2012, a New York auction catalogue boasted ‘a superb Tyrannosaurus skeleton’—a nearly complete T. bataar—a close cousin to the more-famous T. rex—that had been unearthed in Mongolia. The winning bid was over $1 million. 38-year-old Floridian, Eric Prokopi, had brought this extraordinary skeleton to market. His singular obsession with fossils fuelled a thriving business, hunting for, preparing & selling specimens to clients ranging from natural-history museums to avid private collectors like Leonardo DiCaprio. But as the T. bataar went to auction, a network of paleontologists alerted the government of Mongolia to the eye-catching lot, and an international custody battle ensued. The Dinosaur Artist is a stunning work of narrative journalism about humans’ relationship with natural history, and about a seemingly intractable conflict between science & commerce.
New this month: 2019 Australasian Sky Guide by Nick Lomb, $16.95 Complete Guide to Australian Birds by George Adams ($45, PB)
This most up-to-date guide to Australian birds is written in everyday language, with crisp, brilliant digital images taken in the wild(1400 photographs by some of Australia’s best wildlife photographers, including Colin Cock, Michael Schmid, Eric Sohn Joo Tan, Duade Patton, John Anderson, Alwyn Simple, Peter Jacobs, Andrew Bell, Tony Ashton, Nolan Caldwell, Chris Wiley, Maureen Goninan, Marlene Lyelle and George Adams to name but a few). The easily accessible information on each bird includes- common and scientific names, size, description, behaviour, preferred habitat, feeding habits, voice, status and breeding. Distribution maps are arranged next to the photographic illustrations of the bird, with binocular icons that indicate ‘hot spots’ to find particular birds.
Humble Pi: A Comedy of Maths Errors by Matt Parker ($35, PB)
We would all be better off if everyone saw mathematics as a practical ally. Sadly, most of us fear maths and seek to avoid it. This is because mathematics doesn’t have good ‘people skills’—it never hesitates to bluntly point out when we are wrong. But it is only trying to help! Mathematics is a friend which can fill the gaps in what our brains can do naturally. Luckily, even though we don’t like sharing our own mistakes, we love to read about what happens when maths errors make the everyday go horribly wrong. Matt Parker explores & explains near misses & mishaps with planes, bridges, the internet & big data as a way of showing us not only how important maths is, but how we can use it to our advantage. This comedy of errors is a brilliantly told series of disaster stories with a happy ending.
The Secret Language of Cats by Susanne Schötz
Cats do not meow randomly, nor do they growl or hiss because they have nothing better to do. Cat sounds have a purpose, and they can carry important messages, whether for us or other cats. In a longstanding research program at Lund University, Sweden, Susanne Schötz is proving that cats do actually use vocal communication—with each other & with their human caretakers. Understanding the vocal strategies used in human– cat communication will have profound implications for how we communicate with our pets, and has the potential to improve the relationship between animals & humans within several fields, including animal therapy, veterinary medicine & animal sheltering. In this book Schötz introduces the full range of feline vocalisations, explains what they can mean in different situations & gives practical tips to help us understand our cats better. ($23, PB)
The Unexpected Genius of Pigs by Matt Whyman ($23, PB)
Pigs are highly social & smart. They like to play. They’re inventive, crafty & belligerent—and incredibly singleminded. Matt Whyman embarks on a journey to uncover the heart & soul the pig, and in his bid to understand what makes a pig tick, having climbed a steep learning curve as a keeper himself, Whyman meets a veterinary professor and expert in pig emotion, as well as a spirited hill farmer whose world revolves around hogs & sows. This entertaining and informative celebration of all things porcine covers everything from evolution, behaviour & communication to friendship, loyalty & broken hearts—uncovering a surprising notion of family along the way.
Adam Spencer’s Top 100 by Adam Spencer
Australia’s funniest mathematician returns in 2018 with more rollicking romps through the world of science, technology, numbers and all things nerdy with this terrific new fully illustrated title packed full of fascinating facts, tantalising trivia, brain-busting number puzzles, & much much more ($35, PB)
Vital Science by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki ($35, HB)
Discover why people tell lies, why some planets are hotter than stars & how humans are terraforming the Earth. Is cockroach milk really the next Superfood? Why are birds so smart? Why do trees need each other to grow & how do they communicate? Why did a group of scientists voluntarily starve to death while surrounded by tonnes of food? How long does a decapitated head stay ‘alive’? What human artefacts can be seen with the naked eye from the International Space Station? Who is Bertha Benz & how did her first car trip revolutionise how we use petrol today? Finally, monitor your breathing & learn why whales are so big, why oral histories are surprisingly accurate & try the 5 tried-and-tested steps to becoming a wellness guru.
CERN & the Higgs Boson by James Gillies
In the late 1940s, a handful of visionaries were working to steer Europe towards a more peaceful future through science, and CERN, the European particle physics laboratory, was duly born. James Gillies tells the gripping story of particle physics, from the original atomists of ancient Greece, through the people who made the crucial breakthroughs, to CERN itself, one of the most ambitious scientific undertakings of our time, and its eventual confirmation of the Higgs boson. Weaving together the scientific and political stories of CERN’s development, Gillies reveals how particle physics has evolved from being the realm of solitary genius to a global field of human endeavour, with CERN’s Large Hadron Collider as its frontier research tool. ($20, PB)
Tales Teeth Tell: Development, Evolution, Behavior by Tanya M. Smith ($60, HB)
Our teeth have intriguing stories to tell. These sophisticated time machines record growth, diet & evolutionary history as clearly as tree rings map a redwood’s lifespan. The study of ancient, fossilized teeth sheds light on how our ancestors grew up, how we evolved, and how prehistoric cultural transitions continue to affect humans today. Biological anthropologist Tanya Smith offers an engaging and surprising look at what teeth tell us about the evolution of primates—including our own uniqueness. Fossil teeth, highly resilient because of their substantial mineral content, are all that is left of some long-extinct species. Smith explains how researchers employ painstaking techniques to coax microscopic secrets from these enigmatic remains. Counting tiny daily lines provides a way to estimate age that is more powerful than any other forensic technique. Dental plaque—so carefully removed by dental hygienists today—records our ancestral behaviour and health in the form of fossilized food particles and bacteria, including their DNA. Along the way Smith also traces the grisly origins of dentistry.
Now in B Format: Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society (ed) Bill Bryson, $20
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