www.chronon.org A selection of scientific applets, articles and book reviews, in particular questioning some of the claims that are often made in popular science books, but which aren't supported by the science en-gb Stephen Lee Tue, 3 Jul 2012 12:25:08 GMT Leibniz Nicholas Jolley gives an introduction to the main points of Leibniz philosophy.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/Leibniz.html reviews@chronon.org Book Review Wed, 13 Jun 2012 17:16:11 GMT The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption Clay Johnson claims that we're getting junk information, and just as in the case of food, we need to be careful to consume the information we need.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/The_information_diet.php reviews@chronon.org Book Review Tue, 12 Jun 2012 11:00:07 GMT Plight of the Fortune Tellers: Why We Need to Manage Financial Risk Differently Riccardo Rebonato gives his explanation.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/Plight_of_the_fortune_tellers.php reviews@chronon.org Book Review Thu, 7 Jun 2012 11:54:17 GMT The Construction of the Heavens: William Herschel's Cosmology Michael Hoskin tells of Herschel's contribution.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/The_construction_of_the_heavens.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Thu, 24 May 2012 08:14:51 GMT Letters to a Young Mathematician Ian Stewart tells readers what he would like to have known when he was younger, in the form of letters to a budding mathematician, Meg.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/Letters_to_a_Young_Mathematician.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Wed, 23 May 2012 15:12:47 GMT How the Laser Happened: Adventures of a Scientist Charles Townes tells the story.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/How_the_laser_happened.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Thu, 17 May 2012 13:04:57 GMT th Century, thinking about the meaning of quantum theory was strongly discouraged - physicists were supposed to work on practical applications (like bombs). But eventually people started to question this stance and delve into what quantum theory meant and how it was linked to other aspects of life. In How the Hippies Saved Physics: Science, Counterculture, and the Quantum Revival David Kaiser tells the story.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/How_the_hippies_saved_physics.html reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Tue, 15 May 2012 11:35:24 GMT How not to be eaten : the insects fight back Gilbert Waldbauer tells of the strategies insects use to avoid this.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/How_not_to_be_eaten.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Tue, 8 May 2012 12:36:03 GMT Economics of Good and Evil: The Quest for Economic Meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street Tomas Sedlacek finds economic concepts in a wide variety of sources - from ancient myths to the mathematical theories of today.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/Economics_of_good_and_evil.php reviews@chronon.org Book Review Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:38:38 GMT Reinventing Discovery: The New Era of Networked Science Michael A Nielsen explains how the internet is changing the way science can be done and calls for us to adopt these changes as soon as we can.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/Reinventing_discovery.html reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Wed, 25 Apr 2012 16:33:37 GMT 9 Algorithms That Changed the Future: The Ingenious Ideas That Drive Today's Computers John MacCormick sets out to give readers an inkling of the workings of the algorithms driving todays computers and the internet, without requiring prior knowledge of programming or computer science.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/Nine_algorithms_that_changed_the_future.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:49:59 GMT Canterbury Tales, but there was much more to him than that, not just the poetry he wrote, but also the important work he did in the service of the King. In Chaucer (part of the Brief Lives series) Peter Ackroyd tells of his life.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/Chaucer.php reviews@chronon.org Book Review Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:11:17 GMT The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization Jonathan Lyons explains how much medieval Christendom gained from Arabic learning.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/The_House_of_Wisdom.php reviews@chronon.org Book Review Thu, 12 Apr 2012 16:38:25 GMT The Man of Numbers: Fibonacci's Arithmetic Revolution Keith Devlin shows that he actually played a significant part in introducing the arithmetic we use today to the Western world.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/The_man_of_numbers.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Wed, 11 Apr 2012 12:28:58 GMT Seeing Further: The Story of Science and the Royal Society is a collection of short articles on a wide range of scientific topics, reflecting the range of interests of the Royal Society over its 350 year history. The articles are written by well known science writers, with editor Bill Bryson]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/Seeing_Further.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Tue, 10 Apr 2012 15:55:50 GMT Knocking on heaven's door: how physics and scientific thinking illuminate the universe and the modern world Lisa Randall looks at the place of science in society, and in particular at what some of the large scale experiments are aiming to achieve.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/Knocking_on_heaven's_door.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Sat, 10 Mar 2012 11:43:55 GMT Green Philosophy: How to Think Seriously About the Planet Roger Scruton presents his views on how to deal with environmental, and other, problems which we are faced with.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/Green_philosophy.php reviews@chronon.org Book Review Thu, 8 Mar 2012 10:03:37 GMT The necessary revolution: how individuals and organizations are working together to create a sustainable world Peter Senge shows that businesses shouldn't see the practice of sustainability as a public relations cost, but rather as vital to their staying in business in the decades ahead.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/The_necessary_revolution.html reviews@chronon.org Book Review Mon, 5 Mar 2012 12:04:00 GMT Join the club: how peer pressure can transform the world Tina Rosenberg shows just how strong peer pressure can be, but also how it can be used to guide people in a positive way.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/Join_the_club.html reviews@chronon.org Book Review Mon, 27 Feb 2012 07:23:56 GMT Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race Astronaut David Scott and Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov tell of their involvement in the space programs aimed at moon landings.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/Two_Sides_of_the_Moon.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:13:22 GMT Portuguese irregular verbs is Alexander McCall Smith's story of Professor Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld, a German professor of philology, and of the mishaps he and his colleagues encounter in their lives.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/Portuguese_irregular_verbs.php reviews@chronon.org Book Review Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:15:44 GMT The Perfumier and the Stinkhorn by Richard Mabey is a collection of short essays based on the BBC Radio 3 broadcasts The Scientist and the Romantic]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/The_Perfumier_and_the_Stinkhorn.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review Thu, 9 Feb 2012 10:09:51 GMT How is the Internet changing the way you think?: the net's impact on our minds and future edited by John Brockman gives the responses of 154 of the Edge thinkers.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/How_is_the_Internet_changing_the_way_you_think.php reviews@chronon.org Book Review Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:33:04 GMT The Prodigal Tongue: Dispatches From The Future of English Mark Abley looks at such issues.]]> http://www.CriticalPoints.org/The_prodigal_tongue.php reviews@chronon.org Book Review Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:38:15 GMT From eternity to here: the quest for the ultimate theory of time Sean M Carroll examines some of the problems related to time and the universe and discusses their possible resolutions.]]> http://www.chronon.org/Science/From_eternity_to_here.php reviews@chronon.org Science Book Review