Volume 93 | Number 5 | September-October 2005
Lewis Wolpert
A review of Endless Forms Most Beautiful: The New Science of Evo Devo and the Making of the Animal Kingdom, by Sean B. Carroll. Evolution of the control regions of genes has made us human.
Peter Woit
A review of Sneaking a Look at God's Cards: Unraveling the Mysteries of Quantum Mechanics, by Giancarlo Ghirardi. A timely look at the perennial debates over the interpretation of the theory of quantum mechanics.
David Ehrenfeld
A review of The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the Twenty-First Century, by James Howard Kunstler. Is time just about up for industrial civilization as we've known it?
Robert L. Dorit
A review of Twenty-First Century Plague: The Story of SARS, by Thomas Abraham. This ringside account of the 2002-2003 outbreak of SARS highlights the dissembling and politicking of authorities in the affected countries.
Jaron Lanier
A review of The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe. Penrose amazes, infuriates and soars to great heights as he makes the case that we are surrounded by a sea of inviting mystery.
Roger Harris
A picture review of Wildlife Spectacles, by Russell Mittermeier and others. Stunning photographs of animals amassed in great numbers.
Christopher Brodie, Amos Esty
Short takes on three books
Lee Smolin
A review of Gravity's Shadow: The Search for Gravitational Waves, by Harry Collins. A provocative and convincing book about what really goes on in the world of big science.
Christopher Brodie
A picture review of A Dazzle of Dragonflies, by Forrest L. Mitchell and James L. Lasswell. Two entomologists take a close look at the Devil's darning needles.
Michelle Merrill
A review of The Cultured Chimpanzee: Reflections on Cultural Primatology, by William McGrew. A brief overview of the evidence that culture is not exclusively the province of human beings.
Total Records : 14
About once a month at Sigma Xi headquarters, we liven up the lunch hour with an American Scientist Pizza Lunch talk. In these informal lectures, scientists describe new research to nonscientists. The series is light on jargon but heavy on solid science. Each Pizza Lunch offers an in-depth look at its subject, whether it's bedbugs or the smart grid. Click below to read about and download these talks -- and to subscribe!
