Book Reviews May 2011

Plays and Petersburg tales Nikolai Gogol Oxford University Press, 1998 ISBN: 9780192835529 Plays and Petersburg tales is a collection of six stories and two plays by Nikolai Gogol, mostly set in the city of St. Petersburg. Continued..

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The undercover economist Tim Harford Abacus, 2007 ISBN: 9780349119854 It's sometimes hard to understand why things cost what they do - paying pounds for a coffee which costs pence to make - and why their is such a gap in wealth between different countries. In The Undercover Economist: Exposing Why the Rich Are Rich, the Poor Are Poor--and Why You Can Never Buy a Decent Used Car! Tim Harford gives explanations for such puzzles. Continued..

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Cool it Bjorn Lomborg Cyan, 2007 ISBN: 9780462099125 Global warming is considered by many to be the greatest problem facing mankind today. Bjorn Lomborg disagrees. In Cool it: the skeptical environmentalist's guide to global warming he argues that resources put into combatting global warming would be much better used for other things. Continued..

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Cycles of time Roger Penrose Bodley Head, 2010 ISBN: 9780224080361 What happened before the big bang? The idea of cyclic universes has a long history, but didn't seem to fit with what we know about the universe. Now, in Cycles of Time: An Extraordinary New View of the Universe Roger Penrose explains a new idea of how the end of one universe could be the start of another. Continued..

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The dragonfly effect Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith Jossey-Bass, 2010 ISBN: 9780470614 The social media, which have become available via the internet, offer a powerful tool to get large number of people involved in a project, in particular if you are trying to promote a good cause. However, it can be a daunting task. In The dragonfly effect: quick, effective, and powerful ways to use social media to drive social change, Jennifer Aaker and Andy Smith offer plenty of advice on how to make social media work for your cause. Continued..

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Galileo: A very short introduction Stillman Drake Oxford University Press, 2001 ISBN: 0192854569 The surpression of Galileo's work by the church is often seen as a classic case of Science versus Religion. In Galileo: A very short introduction, Stillman Drake argues that it isn't quite that simple. Continued..

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The Way of the Panda Henry Nicholls Profile Books, 2010 ISBN: 9781846683688 The giant panda is an iconic animal, but a century and a half ago it was barely known - bordering on a mythical creature. In The Way of the Panda: The Curious History of China's Political Animal Henry Nicholls tells its story. Continued..

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The Unity of Consciousness Tim Bayne Oxford University Press, 2010 ISBN: 9780199215386 In The Unity of Consciousness Tim Bayne argues that if you have two conscious experiences at the same time, then it is necessary to think of them as unified, rather than as two separate events. Continued..

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The Man Who Lied to His Laptop Clifford Nass and Corina Yen Current, 2010 ISBN: 9781617230011 Computers are not living beings right? Well according to the results described in The Man Who Lied to His Laptop: What Machines Teach Us About Human Relationships by Clifford Nass and Corina Yen, it seems that people often behave as if they were - as if computers are people too. Continued..

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The Rough Guide History of India Dilip Hiro Penguin, 2002 ISBN: 1858288428 India has a substantial part of the world's population, and as such it's history deserves greater prominence in the west. The Rough Guide History of India by Dilip Hiro is a compact book, dealing with the history of India from ancient times up to the present. Continued..

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