Science book reviews

2020-08-06 An enjoyable and easy-to-read book about trees, that mixes some of the latest science with the personal experiences of the author – who has spent decades as a forestry worker. The result is a number of surprising reveals, such as the social nature of trees, plus the role of fungi in connecting trees across a wide area. Some of the observations are underlined by... Continue reading

2020-07-05 An excellent text book about Earth System Science, covering everything from minerals, erosion, plate tectonics, geologic time, oceans, atmosphere, and even other planets. It’s also focused on concepts rather than maths, making it a very accessible book for anyone looking to dig deeper into all aspects of geology and environmental science. This is a very comprehensive book, running to over 750 pages, all of... Continue reading

2020-05-19 A really interesting account, written in a popular style, of how earth and environmental science factors played a big role in shaping everything from prehistory to recent history. However, I realized part-way through that Earth Science probably wasn’t Dartnell’s strong point as some of what he mentions is more “pop fact” than anything from research. For example, he states the Snowball Earth period lasted... Continue reading

2020-01-19 While this is promoted as a textbook it’s actually quite light on detail compared to other texts I’ve read, as it aims for a general overview rather than drilling down to provide a lot of detail. The result is a decent introduction behind the science and research methods but by not covering the archaeology of any period in any detail relationships between the environment... Continue reading

2019-10-26 Found this to be an excellent little book describing main trends and mechanisms for how Earth’s climate has developed throughout the planet’s history. It was fascinating to read about how dramatically plate tectonics has affected global weather patterns. Overall, a good general overview that hit all the major key points and gave just enough information to keep them interesting, inviting further reading to find... Continue reading

2019-10-18 This is a great little book that touches on most of the main issues relating to the study of how life may have developed on Earth, and how it may also develop on other worlds both within and outside of the solar system. As such is indeed both a short introduction but also a very good one, and a great way for anyone interested... Continue reading

2019-08-01 Altogether, an interesting book about the worst mass extinction events in the fossil record, as well as en exploration of current climate change and future climate change possibilities. Written like a newspaper article, it peppers personal interludes and short interviews with information on changes in the geological past, which made for easy and accessible reading. Brannen does almost too good a job of describing... Continue reading

2019-07-28 This book was … interesting, a mix of personal encounters, with some theory of mind thrown in. Though it did tackle the question of intelligence among cephalopods it did so in a rather roundabout way. I was hoping for more focus on these creatures from a biological perspective, but instead it seemed it was more focused on the philosophy and psychology of consciousness and... Continue reading

2018-06-18 Modern culture = baaad; classic literaure, such as the Bible = goood. A specious argument IMO. Rating: 3/5 Continue reading

2018-03-03 This is an entertaining and compelling read, as well as being educational – with the caveat that it is clearly written to a personal bias. Gregor thinks nothing of including anecdotes and industry-funded studies that support his bias – while deriding anecdotes and industry-funded assertions that don’t. This is especial apparent when he discusses Mediterranean diets while ignoring the role of oily fish, and... Continue reading