by
Editor's Note: Here are ten books we don't hesitate to recommend (not listed in order of preference).
1. Sensory
Exotica: A World Beyond Human Experience
by
Howard C. Hughes
MIT Press, 1999
Reviewed by Ed Voves (February 18, 2000, Issue 72)
"Trout and salmon, migratory birds, bees, and ants are guided by incredibly sophisticated sensory organs that have largely remained beyond the intellectual grasp of humans until recent times. . . . Hughes' book is an entertaining survey of current understanding of these parallel states of existence."
2. The
Art of Genes: How Organisms Make Themselves
by Enrico Coen
Oxford University Press, 1999
Reviewed by Alan I. Packer (June 23, 2000, Issue 81)
"This book is written for a general audience, but it can be enjoyed by developmental biologists on the cutting edge of the field. It may be that The Art of Genes will find its most lasting value in providing a sort of antidote to an overemphasis on genes as controlling factors in development. . . . [A] timely and beautiful book."
3. Guide to
Nontraditional Careers in Science
by Karen Young
Kreeger
Taylor
& Francis, 1999
Reviewed by Peter S. Fiske (October 27, 2000, Issue 89)
"Five years ago, books aimed at providing young scientists a broader glimpse of their career possibilities simply did not exist. However, today, a number of excellent guides are available, including The Scientist As Consultant: Building New Career Opportunities by Carl J. Sindermann and Thomas K. Sawyer, Alternative Careers in Science edited by Cynthia Robbins-Roth, Jump Start Your Career in BioScience by Chandra B. Louise, and, possibly the best yet, Karen Young Kreeger's Guide to Nontraditional Careers in Science."
4. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters
by
Matt Ridley
HarperCollins,
2000
Reviewed by Ed Voves (June 9, 2000, Issue 80)
"In both style and content, the book recalls classic reports by war correspondents or adventurous journalists accompanying explorers into unexplored regions. For Ridley, the unlocking of the genetic code is a transforming event like a decisive battle or other standout moment in history."
5. The
Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of
Creationism
By Niles
Eldredge
W.H.
Freeman and Company, 2000
Reviewed by Gordy Slack (September 1, 2000, Issue 85)
"Having done the work of answering creationist arguments, Eldredge takes an important step off the beaten track. In the final chapters he makes a plea for peace between creationists and scientists."
6. Biography
of a Germ
by Arno
Karlen
Pantheon
Books, 2000
Reviewed by Edward McSweegan (August 4, 2000, Issue 84)
"Karlen gives the reader an articulate, thoughtful tour of Bb [the corkscrew-shaped bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, an agent of what is now called Lyme disease] and its world."
7. Nabokov's Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary
Genius
by Kurt Johnson and Steve
Coates
Zoland Books,
1999
Reviewed by Jonathan D. Beard (March 3, 2000, Issue 73)
"Gracefully written, packed full of information about butterflies and Latin America, and even has enough about Nabokov's books to tempt this reviewer to read one."
8. Africa in
My Blood: An Autobiography in Letters
by Jane
Goodall, edited by Dale Peterson
Houghton
Mifflin Company, 2000
Reviewed by Jim Dawson (July 7, 2000, Issue 82)
"A collection of Goodall's letters from childhood through her first six years of work in Africa, makes clear just what she did after arriving at the Gombe Stream Chimpanzee Reserve in Tanzania in July 1960. What seeps out of the letters, particularly the earliest ones from Gombe, is Goodall's quiet but ferocious dedication to the task she has set for herself."
9. Millions of Monarchs, Bunches of Beetles, How Bugs Find Strength in
Numbers
by Gilbert
Waldbauer
Harvard University
Press, 2000
Reviewed by Jonathan Beard (April 14, 2000, Issue 76)
"Although the author writes simply and elegantly, so as to be accessible to a wide audience, few entomologists will fail to find something new in this book."
10. Erasmus
Darwin: A Life of Unequalled Achievement
by
Desmond King-Hele
Giles de la Mare Publishers Ltd.,
1999
Reviewed by Tim Tokaryk (March 31, 2000, Issue 75)
"It is hoped that through this volume, a serious attempt will be made to reissue some of the core works by Erasmus Darwin for all interested parties to judge and determine if he was truly a man of unequaled achievement."
Dean A. Haycock is a journalist who writes science articles for many magazines and newspapers. He received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Brown University.
Andrzej Krauze is an illustrator, poster maker, cartoonist, and painter who illustrates regularly for HMS Beagle, The Guardian, The Sunday Telegraph, Bookseller, and New Statesman.
