Discover Magazine: Reviews

Discover Magazine | Reviews

• Reviews: Galileo at 400, Why Sh*t Happens, and More
• Reviews: The Best New Science Books
  Neil deGrasse Tyson, Area 51, modern life vs human nature, and more
  
  
• Reviews: Geeks, Sociopaths, and God: The Hottest Books in Science
  Will geeks take over the world? Should scientists learn how to talk about God? These and more are answered by DISCOVER's latest book list.
  
  
• Reviews: The Ocean's Last Remaining Secrets
  Marine biologists in the world's only undersea lab find wonder hidden in the depths.
  
  
• Reviews: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Blood-Suckers
  From vampire bats to parasitic catfish, a new book spells out the secret lives of plasma-loving beasts.
  
  
• Reviews: Gravity Is So Last Year
  A new book seeks to reinvent Einstein's greatest gift to the world.
  
  
• Reviews: The Invention that Saved—and Destroyed—Millions of Lives
  A new book describes how German chemists find the secret to nitrogen fertilizer—and explosives.
  
  
• Reviews: E. O. Wilson Says Ants Live in Humanlike Civilizations
  They do, after all, engage in many of the hallmarks of our societies: farming, warfare, and air conditioning.
  
  
• Reviews: Burned at the Stake for Believing in Science
  16th-century Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was a brilliant thinker who steadfastly refused to reject his landmark belief in an infinite universe and other solar systems—even when it meant a death sentence.
  
  
• Reviews: Want to Know Which Electronics Suck? Ask Your Computer.
  Too many online reviews to read and not enough time? A new start-up mines hundreds of conflicting online reviews of Amazon’s electronic products and delivers its own computer-generated judgments.
  
  
• Reviews: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time
  A new book explores what we still don't know about science.
  
  
• Reviews: How to Hitchhike Across the Globe Without Leaving Your Living Room
  The 360° World Atlas turns anyone with a computer into a global traveler.
  
  
• Reviews: A Look at the World's First Computer
  The Victorian-age machine is finally up and running.
  
  
• Reviews: Are Humans Really Any Different from Other Animals?
  Our language capabilities, cultures, and abstract thinking aren't as unique as we'd like to think.
  
  
• Reviews: Eco-Chic to the Rescue!
  Sea leather, hemp, and bamboo make up this season's runway couture—but will it really help the planet?
  
  
• Reviews: A Complete History of Carbon
  A new book takes readers through the birth and unstoppable rise of this dangerous element.
  
  
• Reviews: The Truth About Traffic
  Who's controlling traffic? How? Tom Vanderbilt's new book explores the past, present, and future of the way we drive.
  
  
• Reviews: Will Loneliness Spell Society's Doom?
  A University of Chicago psychologist explores the dangers of loneliness, and how it can lead humans to a miserable life and even an early grave.
  
  
• Reviews: A First-Hand Look at the Grizzly Recovery
  Yellowstone's course “Grizzlies: From Dumps to Recovery?” lets participants head into the wild to track the bears—and learned how they were rescued from the path to extinction.
  
  
• Reviews: Smacking Down Stephen Hawking
  Leonard Susskind's new book gets personal.
  
  
• Reviews: What are Smells Made of?
  From green tea to farts, a smell expert breaks down the chemicals of odor.
  
  
• Reviews: Exactly How Smart Is Man's Best Friend?
  Just how smart is your favorite canine? A new "pooch IQ test" could help you find out—or can it?
  
  
• Reviews: Will Your iPod Turn on You?
  Jonathan Zittrain says closed systems are endangering the Internet—and us.
  
  
• Reviews: Does Your House Have Robotic Vision (Yet)?
  Buckminster Fuller's revolutionary ideas go on public display.
  
  
• Reviews: How Terrorism Paranoia Killed 1,600 Americans in 2002
  Widespread fear after 9/11 pushed people from (safe) planes to (dangerous) cars.