and 101 other questions
compiled and edited by Mick O'Hare, New Scientist
This book appeals on all sorts of levels. It is great for the curious, excellent for those interested in Science, valuable for the hoarders of trivia, and a good “dip in” book (i.e. one you can read in random chunks). I was only a few pages in when I recognised some familiar material. The reason is that I regularly read New Scientist, and the whole book is drawn from the back pages of that magazine... in particular the section where readers pose questions and other (well informed) readers answer them.
I was interested in the section on why Bond required martinis to be “shaken not stirred”... a number of complex theories were proposed and courageously tested. Other questions arise from natural curiosity (“Why are there no green mammals?”) or from keen and well informed observation (“why is the moon as bright as a cloud in the daytime sky when their albedos are quite different?”)
Some of the answer are whimsical and playful, but alongside these there is always an attempt at a good science based answer. In some cases readers propose a variety of explanations, and a sample of these is often given, leaving the reader of the book the job of deciding which is the most satisfactory account.
The material is fine for any age (unless you are worried by the martinis). The explanations range from the general (perhaps Middle School and up) and the reasonably technical.
review by Andrew Lack
by Osamu Mizutani and Nobuko Mizutani
I apologise for reviewing a great book that is hard to get. Amazon offers limited and mostly second hand supplies. It was originally published by The Japan Times Ltd. Why tell you about it? Because it has left an indelible mark on my brain. OK, confession time, I have a passion for Japanese art and culture, so that would explain why I was in Kansai Airport (where I bought this).
The writers set out to do more than explain that you bow to be polite, and accept a business card with two hands, read it and hold it while you converse. Their aim is to explain the nuances of Japanese communication, verbal and non-verbal. I'm not sure that I have even seen a work so penetrating and thought provoking about Australian culture.
As an example, they have a section on "Finishing Up", and explain that it is common to have a listener finish a sentence or idea of the speaker. The listener is prompted to do this by various sentence structures and hesitations. The goal is to show that you are both engaged on the one idea, the listener respectfully showing their interest in your thoughts. There are detailed examples (in Roman script and translation).
This is probably not a book to read through from cover to cover unless you are a linguist or cultural anthropologist, but for those interested in Japan or even in broader issues of communication structures, it is wonderfully rewarding because of the insights and detail, and the fact that it reflects on language, delivery, manner, attitudes, non-verbal cues and verbal tone.
by Michael Palin
This is not great literature, and was never intended to be. The fascinating Michael Palin has kept a diary "more or less continuously since 1969". His diaries are written largely in full sentences, so reading is not hard, but compared to (say) autobiographical or literary writing, this material has an excess of detail and a lack of flow that make reading cover to cover something of a chore.
Tear up the idea of treating this as a major work, and instead use it as a primary source reference book for the conception, growth and troubled life of the Monty Python Show and the Python Movies. I enjoyed reading about the problems of shooting the films, and about the difficulties (and final triumph) of launching the show in America.
Rather more poignant are the records of the struggles within the team to find direction, finish scripts, and manage the various ups and downs of different members, many of whom battled personal demons of one sort or another.
The book has plenty of photos covering an incredible era. Would I re-read it cover to cover? Probably not, but I'll be tempted to look up some of the better stories again.
Published by Phoenix in 2007.
by Oliver Sacks
Ever since I found myself being transported by a discussion of soul in The Man who Mistook His Wife for a Hat I have eagerly sought out Oliver Sacks' writing. Even though his books have all the trappings of academic writing (footnotes, bibliography, technical asides) they read as engaging and empathetic accounts of unusual humans.
The "anthropologist" of the title is Dr. Temple Grandin (http://www.grandin.com/), an expert on cattle behaviour who also has Asperger's Syndrome. While some of the individuals described in the book have little ability to reflect on their own condition, Dr. Grandin has contributed significantly in her own writing to an understanding of the world of those living with Aspergers. In the chapter, Oliver Sacks starts with a review of the way this particular syndrome came to be defined, then describes a day spent with Dr. Grandin. As with other accounts in the book Sachs writes about those with whom he has had direct contact, and embeds his reflection and discussion in the story of that contact.
His aim through all of these stories and reflections is to enquire about the nature of the human mind, and thus inevitably into the nature of "human".
There is no single conclusion to come from the book, but it serves as an introduction for the general reader to the investigations of neurophysiology. I am left with a sense of wonder, and greater appreciation of the complexity of the brain and mind. This book is suitable for any age that can handle the complexity of ideas and poignancy of some of the stories.
A whole lot of stuff about Birdwatching
by Sean Dooley
I have a personal passion for books you dip in to, rather than read cover to cover. Yes, I dip into dictionaries, into Fowler’s English Usage, and into my Guide to Tracking South African Animals. It was with great pleasure that I spotted this book and now commend it to you. Dipping books actually last longer than cover-to-cover books, and they can be useful when your day or evening is too full to allow yourself the luxury of stretching out for a good read.
Sean Dooley is an Australian writer and journalist. In Anoraks to Zitting Cisticola he bares his private obsession... for bird watching.
I was lucky enough to have seen The Big Twitch on television, an entertaining documentary about bird watching that Sean devised. This book has the same delightful blend of straight information and wry, self depreciating humour. He knows it is an odd obsession, with its own code of conduct, its own history of scandal and its own boulevard of stars. Sean is one of them, holding the Australian record of the most birds seen in one year.
The book is laid out as an alphabetical encyclopaedia... entries that caught my eye include “Captain Twitchpants”, Parabolic Grot” and “Armchair Ticks”. The Zitting Cisticola of the title is in fact a type of marsh warbler. Don’t think, however, that this is about ornithology. There are plenty of birds discussed, but so are the bird watchers, their clothes (anorak) and accessories (binoculars), their tribal habits and customs. If this book had been written by a mocking outsider, it would not work. As it is written by a real insider, he can entertain us with his gentle digs at the idiosyncrasies he is only too familiar with.
Recommended for Middle School and up, a different type of book but thoroughly enjoyable in its own quirky way.
by Wilfred Thesiger
I caught the ABC show “Talking Heads” the other night. It was riveting! An Australian woman, Paula Constant, talked about her incredible walk from London, through the Arabian deserts and (almost) through to Cairo. I was interested that her inspiration was Wilfred Thesiger. I have been reading Thesiger’s books for years, and we now have one of them in the OLRC.
Thesiger was an Oxford graduate who served with the SAS in the Western Desert in WW2. After the war he returned to Arabia and travelled extensively by foot and by camel. He dressed as an Arab and travelled without any European companions, relying solely on the tribal guides with whom he became fast friends. Arabian Sands details his wanderings through the “empty quarter” and meetings with many different Arabs, some still living the ancient tribal culture.
He is a careful observer, and his total immersion in the culture and the trust he built means there are wonderful stories about his own adventures as well as tales told around the campfires. As you can imagine, life in the “howling desert” is fraught with danger, not the least being the histories of revenge killings between certain tribes and families.
The book has some photographs, so at least the main characters he travels with are introduced. This is a gripping book for the older (Senior School and above) reader interested in travel, adventure, Arabian culture, or history.
by Peter Macinnis
Australian Backyard Exlorer is on the Children’s Book Council of Australia 2010 non-fiction shortlist.
The book looks at the science that confronted the early explorers of Australia. It provides projects and activities that help the reader investigate the problems early explorers faced. It is suitable for age eight and upwards. There are many ways to browse the information. For instance you can focus on the highlighted paragraphs. I hope it will inspire students to become Backyard Explorers themselves! The book has a helpful and positive environmental theme.
review by Helen Sillar
by Richard Louv
This is the first book to bring together a new and growing body of research indicating that direct exposure to nature is essential for healthy childhood development and for the physical and emotional health of children and adults. It is a comprehensive exploration of the issue, so it has much to offer to help us reflect about family time and our environment.
We have a challenge as modern “city” folk relating to the Australian bush, and this compares closely with the author’s concerns for his woods in America. A great deal has been written recently about the problems of over-protecting children. When I was at school we had a nature table on which many interesting items could be displayed. I wonder what would happen if we allowed nature tables in classrooms again?
There are suggested actions you can take to create change in your community, school, and family and discussion points to inspire people of all ages to talk about the importance of nature in their lives. This book is primarily of interest to parents and educators.
Reviewed by Helen Sillar
By Paul Hoffman
This is a haunting and fascinating biography of Paul Erdös. He was a Hungarian mathematician with an incredible output... he was interested in almost nothing else but mathematics. He moved from place to place staying with other mathematicians, payed little attention to money matters, and constantly proposed new problems to solve. He was so prolific in publishing papers (often with other authors) that there is an in-joke in Mathematics based on what is called your “Erdös number”. If you published with Erdös you get a status number of “1”. If you published with someone who published with Erdös you get a status number of “2” and so on.
Despite a number of idiosyncrasies, he was generous with his ideas and money, and was very kind to children (who he called “epsilons”). While this book does try to introduce the reader to some of his interests, including number theory and probability, it is not overloaded with technical matters. Erdös died in 1996 having published more papers than any other mathematician. This book is a warm hearted introduction to someone who lived life with a single focus, and “outsider” who contributed richly to his field and who invited collaboration with his peers.
It is a suitable read for Senior School and above. Indeed there is nothing in it to concern younger readers, except for his use (or abuse) of tablets later in his life to stay awake as much as possible (to do more Mathematics).
The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary
By Simon Winchester
This book sounds like a dry and dusty read... until you notice the twinkle in the eye of the bearded gentleman on the front cover. Simon Winchester some might know from “The Surgeon of Crowthorne” in which he describes the bizarre and troubled life of one of the contributors to the dictionary. The lives of the senior editors and the struggles the dictionary went through over fifty years of development make equally interesting reading. Winchester also provides a quick overview of the development of the English language with its characteristic layers of adoption and borrowings.
I learned a great deal, though I admit to a special interest having married a dictionary editor! For instance I was not aware that one JRR Tolkien was in fact one of the editors for the first edition. I found the writing a little uneven. Winchester is not above the use of arcane language... “gallimaufry” appears more than once. He is at his best when recounting the personal trials and joys of the many intriguing people involved in the project.
The OED was a groundbreaking creation of epic dimensions: this book engagingly explores the people, politics and perils of the project. It would suit upper Middle School students and above who are interested in human achievements and knowledge.
by Douglas R. Hofstadter
This weighty book was awarded a Pulizer Prize for non-fiction. It is a book that can be read in many ways. The author set out to give a layperson’s account of a very complex (and astonishingly powerful) theorem of the mathematician Gödel. He ended up writing a book that touches on programming, the theory of consciousness, self reference and ‘strange loops’ in the works of Bach, Escher and other artists. He uses an interconnected series of essays that all build towards his central idea. He also includes very entertaining discussions between characters like Achilles, an anteater, and a tortoise. If reading it cover to cover is too much of a challenge it can be treated as a book to dip into for intriguing and fascinating ideas. Unlike many other books of theory and philosophy it is packed with illustrations, graphics and graphical curios.
I commend this book to those who are curious, to those who are fascinated by philosophy and ideas, and for those who are attracted by things like “self referential sentences”... my favourite being “this sentence no verb”.
“How anything can be predicted”
by Ian Ayres
I have a nephew working on a PhD in data mining. This book has been a great help in my desperate attempts to at least have a clue about his speciality. It is written for the general reader, and is full of interesting stories about what is being done with large scale data sets. The world’s data warehouses are currently groaning with data picked up from our daily transactions. Storage is being discussed in terms you may not even have heard of... not gigabytes or terabytes but petabytes and exabytes.
Why do we need to know about this? Apart from curiosity (and those of us with data mining nephews), we are all aware of the astounding rise to prominence of the Google company. The world of massive data accumulation and “mining” is Google’s world. How is it possible that Google maps now shows constantly updated traffic density on Sydney’s roads... and why do they give this away free? One answer at least is that data is the new currency. Google gives away useful information to get more and more people using their services, thus providing more and more data for other uses.
I found this a most engaging read from the opening story about Aorly Ashenfelter who shocked wine connoisseurs by using data sets to predict the dollar value of particular vintages. The book is worth a solid end-to-end read but you can equally well dip into it randomly for a peek at this new world of digital wonder and ethical challenges.
The Earth from the Air 366 Days
by Yann Arthus-Bertrand
I first saw this compact coffee table book while at a friend’s house for Bible Study. I was delighted with it, and was grateful soon after to be able to purchase one for the OLRC. The book opens to a new page for each day of the year. Each page shows an aerial photograph and text explaining where it came from. The photos are arresting, engrossing and challenging. Beautiful scenes of coastlines or geographical formations invite you to praise God for His creation. Pictures of sprawling slums or urban congestion lead to other types of prayers.
We currently have this book open on the circulation desk and I for one check it every day. I suspect many coffee table books look nice but are rarely opened. This is a book to savour every day of the year, and could lead a family to interesting reflections and discussions. I purchased mine from a remainders shop, but this book and other similar books from the publisher are certainly available from www.bookdepository.co.uk who currently offer international postage free.
Captain of Innocence: France & the Dreyfus Affair
Author : Norman H Finkelstein
Around April 25th each year we remember the injustices and losses of war as well as honouring the dedication of men and women of valour and truth. We abhor the abuse of power as much as we despise traitors to a cause.
Captain of Innocence is the true story of the French government and their military leaders who conspired to convict an innocent man in one of French history’s most tellingly muddled moments. It divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s and had ramifications that carried through to World War II.
Review by Gayle Davidson
