5. Science What is Science?: Asimov's Guide to Science Let's Study Life: Evolution: Red Queen, Rise & Fall of the Third Chimpanzee Genetics: Eighth Day of Creation Let's Study Things: Maths: Fermat's Last Theorem, What is Mathematics? Physics: Elegant Universe ------===ooo===------ What is Science? Theory and experiment spinning up Up a weaving spiral weaving down Down to Downto shattering frames Frames of life framing a life. ------===ooo===------ Asimov's Guide to Science: in just 800 pages, the king of popular science takes us for a whirlwind tour through the entire world of science. Starting with the simple and the gross (the planets, elements, machines), he moves onto the fine and the subtle (proteins, micro-organisms, and life), which leads to a natural subdivision between the physical and biological sciences. Plenty of diagrams and illustrations accompany this very workmanlike text. A classic Penguin print (1987). ------===ooo===------ Let's Study Life Hey, life is exciting, life is there in a myriad of swirling forms. So let's get out there! Hunt it down! bring it back & chop it up. Or we can be more refined, studying the smaller side - bacteria, viruses, the oozing organelles; Probing the DNA & genetic code becoming our masters that way. Hobson or Jobson, life's a daring dancer worthy of the closest watch. Let's Study Life. ------===ooo===------ Evolution Evolution is an upward spiral evoking the same forms in higher ways Complexity, subtlety, and hidden parts the consequence of this turnscrew type Natural selection lurking behind the mask an ever present force for change. Evolution. One of the great ideas. ------===ooo===------ Red Queen (Sex and the Evolution of Human Nature): beginning with the biological reasons why there should be sexes, and in most cases, only two at that, Matt Ridley takes us for a grand tour of the mind & body, and their mysterious melding ground, biologically influenced behaviour. The entire animal world is prey for evolutionary lessons; peacocks, snails, chimps et al are all brought into the discussion. Ideas abound, the author drawing upon the fields of history, anthropology, and sociology to explore his theme. His long experience as a science editor is highly evident; Ridley thoroughly understanding the art of intelligent writing. Presented in 10 distinct chapters, this Penguin paperback (1994), is a thinker's delight. ------===ooo===------ Rise & Fall of the Third Chimpanzee: what is the heritage from our animal past? To answer this question, Jared Diamond undertakes a cross-disciplinary study analysing what makes us uniquely human, and tries to find the source of these peculiar characteristics. To a zoologist, we are no more than the third species of chimpanzee (the other two being common and pygmy), albeit one with a strange life cycle, so the author examines the evolution of human sexuality. Language, art, and drug use were once thought to be uniquely human, but Diamond finds animal precursors for such behaviour. Perhaps history makes us different? A few episodes of man encountering man are examined for their evolutionary lessons. The work closes with a sober look at the world we find ourselves in at the end of the 20C. Largely self-created, though still part of the past, the third chimpanzee must take care that his creation doesn't become decreation. A snazzy Vintage paperback (1992). ------===ooo===------ Genetics D N A R N A The ribosomes! The chromosomes!! The code for life In two stripes The fall of God The rise of Man! D N A R N A The ribosomes! The chromosomes!! From D to R We get big P Lot's of big P's We get a man! D N A R N A The ribosomes! The chromosomes!! ------===ooo===------ Eighth Day of Creation: a classic account of how science is really done. Based on innumerable interviews, Horace Judson tells the fascinating story of molecular genetics; how the secrets of DNA, RNA, and proteins were unravelled. The very human nature of practising science is stressed; the distinct personalities of the Braggs, Paulings, Delbrooks, Watsons & Cricks comes through quite clearly in their work. Sustained, detailed, humane, compelling this is science writing of the highest calibre. Published by Touchstone (1980). ------===ooo===------ Let's Study Things Inanimate. Cold matter. The lifeless equation. Dead as dead can be. Or is it so? Chaos. Flaming lava. The dancing charge. Motion and mirror all around. Where does life begin? Let's find out. Let's Study Things. ------===ooo===------ Maths Maths. A discipline all its own. The handmaiden of the world. The bugbear of students. Maths. Sublime and super-real. Logic transmuted. Something yet nothing. Maths. The grand adventure. ------===ooo===------ Fermat's Last Theorem: a problem that stumped the world's finest mathematicians for over 350 years. Simple to state: show that x^n + y^n = z^n has no whole number solutions for n greater than 2. Difficult to prove. Very difficult. Simon Singh tells this story in human terms; who were the personalities involved, and what motivated their individual approaches. We pass through Euler, Gauss, Galois, and others before arriving at the 20C, where the really pivotal work was done. Lots of interesting maths in this consuming story. Mini-hardback from 4th Estate (1997). ------===ooo===------ What is Mathematics?: a lucid introduction to the entire field of mathematics by Courant & Robbins. Revised by Ian Stewart. Very little knowledge is assumed; what is required is a clear head; some very powerful & mind-expanding ideas are presented, then used; the proofs of which are illustrative of the work of a real mathematician. Nine structured chapters in this Oxford University Press print (1996). ------===ooo===------ Physics There was once an old physicist from Kent Whose head was horribly bent. Asked what was wrong, He sang me a song, Saying he was the old physicist from Kent. Physics. The bent science. ------===ooo===------ Elegant Universe: the next great advance in theoretical physics is superstring theory. From its aborted promise in the 70's, to its spectacular revival in the 80's, and the hectic work in the 90's, string theory has attempted to tackle a problem that has been simmering since the 30's; how to reconcile the large and the small, how to combine Einstein's General Relativity with the bizarre world of quantum mechanics. Brian Greene, one of the world's leading string theorists, attempts this difficult task; not only to make string theory comprehensible, but to place it in such a context that the reader understands why he needs to understand. Mr BG succeeds with elan. A fine Vintage paperback (2000).