Magic Universe. The Oxford Guide to Modern Science
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Author(s): N. Calder
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198507925
Format: hardback
756pp
Price: £25.00, $40.00
Review Date: 05 December 2003
Review: Here Nigel Calder enthusiastically presents a complete view of current scientific knowledge, identifying some emphatic mid-course corrections that have altered the trajectory of research into the 21st century. Although the 118 topics are arranged in alphabetical order (‘alcohol’ to ‘volcanic explosions’), the themes are intertwined – ‘a repertoire or tricks let loose in the Big Bang’ will make you a planet or a parakeet’. Topics include: Bernal’s ladder; brain rhythms; climate change; dark energy; DNA fingerprinting; extra terrestrial life; handedness; Higgs bosons; languages; memory; prehistoric genes; space weather; and the Universe.