JCLC--The Reader

Book Club Pix - Science Reads
Contributed by Mary Anne Ellis, Southern History Department, Birmingham Public Library
	E=mc2: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation by David Bodanis Everyone has heard of Einstein’s famous equation, E=mc2, but what does it mean? In his book David Bodanis sets out to explain all of the parts of Einstein’s celebrated formula and how it works in layperson’s terms. Bodanis also includes biographical material on many of Einstein’s predecessors and contemporaries such as Michael Faraday, Enrico Fermi, and Marie Curie---scientists who made Einstein’s work possible or whose work was influenced by his discoveries. For the reader with much interest and not so much formal instruction, this is truly accessible reading on science and one of its most famous figures.
	A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson The title is an ambitious one, yet Bryson delivers what this title promises: nearly everything. This book is a series of meditations and speculations on various subjects such as the creation of the earth, the structure of the cosmos, astronomy, chemistry, evolution---to name only a few. Bryson writes with a sense of wonder laced with his characteristic dry wit, as when he tells the story of a chemist trying to determine whether hydrogen is combustible. He learns that it is, and also that "eyebrows are not necessarily a permanent feature of one’s face." For the reader who likes science leavened with plenty of entertaining anecdotes, this is an excellent selection.
	On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee Cooking already has its own mystique, and McGee adds another level to that mystique by giving us the kitchen as a form of laboratory. Food consists of chemicals; cooking, eating, and digesting involve chemical processes. McGee sets the scientific tone by opening with a chapter on "The Evolution of Milk," explaining, "What better subject for the first chapter than the food with which we all begin our lives?" At a time when foods are being closely examined for their anti-oxidant and cancer-fighting properties, On Food and Cooking would be a fascinating read for anyone interested in the science of food.
	A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking It has been nearly twenty years since the first edition of Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time and it continues, in updated editions, to appear on lists of science books for non-scientists. In A Brief History, Hawking discourses on such dazzling concepts as the possibility of time travel, the structure of black holes, the Big Bang, string theory, and celestial mechanics. As one of the few modern scientists whose name is consistently mentioned in the same breath with Galileo, Newton, and Einstein, Hawking’s reputation may prove daunting to some readers, but the opening of the book will dispel their fears with the story of a woman who scoffed at a scientific lecture, claiming that the world is supported on the back of a giant tortoise. And how, Hawking asks, can we be certain that the woman was wrong? For the lay reader’s science shelf, this is a must.
	Coming of Age in the Milky Way by Timothy Ferris Throughout the history of civilization, we have been fascinated by the stars and the sky. In his book Ferris chronicles this fascination beginning with ancient astronomers who climbed tall structures to be nearer to the stars, through the Greeks with their stories of Icarus flying too high and Phaeton losing control of the sun-chariot, through later ages that viewed the stars as the light of heaven shining through holes in a celestial sphere. Ferris’s book examines the motives, both mystical and practical, for the human obsession with the heavens. For students of astronomy and cosmology as well as readers who just like to look at the stars, Ferris provides a thought-provoking analysis of how we respond to our galaxy.

Book Club Pix - Science Reads