FEATURED TITLES
MARCH 2017
50 Visions of Mathematics
By: Briain, Dara O
QA93 .A15 2014
Review from: Choice
April 01, 2015
The Institute of Mathematics and Its Applications celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2014. Visions of Mathematics is its
celebratory publication. But it is no flimsy pamphlet. This book is a collection of 50 four-page essays by mathematicians
worldwide. The chapters are diverse: e.g., infinite series ("Proof by Pizza"); drag on soccer balls ("Dimples, Grooves, and
Knuckleballs"); epidemic modeling ("Pigs Didn't Fly but Swine Flu"); forensic science ("How Does Mathematics Help at a Murder
Scene?"); the Kalman filter ("Finding Apollo"); Kaprekar's operation ("The Mysterious Number 6174"); and meteorological
modeling ("Leapfrogging into the Future"). The captivating essays are successfully written for a general audience, and the topics
selected show the pervasiveness of mathematics in our lives…
Failure: Why Science Is So Successful
By: Firestein, Stuart
BF575.F14 F567 2016 eBook
Review from: Choice
February 01, 2016
At the beginning of many elementary science textbooks is a listing of the orderly steps in the "scientific method" that
researchers supposedly follow. The only problem, writes Firestein in this sequel to his Ignorance (CH, Aug'12, 49-6848), is that
the reality is very different. Research is rife with uncertainty, blind alleys, and trial and error that inevitably lead to a great deal
of failure before success is achieved. Firestein writes that this is all to the good because it is impossible to discover the truth
without error. He quotes Isaac Asimov as saying that every scientist's response when looking at data should be, "Hmmm, that's
strange." By way of example, Firestein cites big pharma being beset by years of failure before an unexpected breakthrough on
a new drug--the cost of that drug an indicator of the years of frustration and hard work...
Zoom: How Everything Moves: from Atoms and Galaxies to Blizzards and Bees
By: Berman, Bob
QC133 .B42 2014
Review from: Choice
January 01, 2015
Berman, an astronomer and a popular astronomy/science writer, entertains his audience with a wealth of scientific information,
including many little-known facts. The book's 18 chapters present fascinating and often humorous stories dealing with the
motion of things from the bacteria pervading human bodies to the expanding universe and from molecules to auroras and
meteors. Some stories are drawn from history and some from the author's travels around the globe. The first and last chapters
focus on an astronomical observatory high in the Andes where readers are confronted with the majesty of a vast universe that
is expanding at an accelerating rate. In the end, readers face a perhaps infinite universe of which only a tiny portion is visible
to humans…
Capitalism: A Short History
By: Kocka, Jurgen
HB501 .K6313 2016 eBook
Review from: Choice
July 01, 2016
Capitalism" is a commonly used term that resists simple definition or straightforward history. Kocka (Humboldt Univ. of Berlin,
Germany) adds lucidity and erudition in this excellent overview. After an opening conceptual chapter based on classic social
science formulations, the author turns to a historical chapter on merchant capitalism during the medieval period through 1500
with Asian and Islamic as well as European coverage. He then proceeds to survey the expansion of capitalism during the early
modern period through 1800 before a chapter on the capitalist era covering developments to the present day. His treatment
is balanced, incorporating arguments of advocates as well as critics of capitalism; broad in its intellectual sweep, covering a
range of social science disciplines; and well informed by the literature in both economic and social history…
Always Hungry?: Conquer Cravings, Retrain Your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently
By: Ludwig, David
RM222.2 .L74 2016
Review from: Library Journal
January 01, 2016
Ludwig, a professor at Harvard Medical School and its School of Public Health, shows why counting calories doesn't work. The
author explains that what we eat is more important than how much and describes the effects of high and low glycemic load.
High-glycemic foods flood the body with sugar, and then cause a sugar crash. Low-glycemic foods result in the body feeling full
sooner and take longer to digest, thereby evening out metabolism and reducing or eliminating cravings.
How to Clone a Mammoth: The Science of De-Extinction
By: Shapiro, Beth
QL88 .S49 2015 eBook
Review from: School Library Journal
March 01, 2016
According to this book, the future of Shapiro's field, "ancient DNA," lies in adapting existing species to survive in threatened
environments-think of an elephant refit with the woolly mammoth's coat, relocated in the Arctic tundra. Sounds fantastic, as
in unbelievable: although de-extinction was the stuff of science fiction once, advances in genome research have made it more
realistic than cloning, the author argues. Many of her colleagues have tried- and failed-to bring back the bucardo, the dodo,
the moa, the Lazarus frog, and the carrier pigeon, to name a few whose stories Shapiro honors simply by retelling them. This
eye-opening narrative will give teens an inside look at the various facets of scientific research: discipline, ambition, imagination,
disappointment, and danger...
The Handy Chemistry Answer Book
By: Lomont, Justin P. and Ian C. Stewart
QD39.2 .S75 2014
Review from: Choice
February 01, 2014
This book is part of Visible Ink's "The Handy Answer Book Series," which covers numerous subject areas. The volume consists
of questions and answers grouped in 19 chapters, supported by illustrations/photos and chemical formulas and structures. It
begins with the history of the field, progresses through the various disciplines of chemistry, and concludes with kitchen
chemistry and chemical experiments for the home. Stewart and Lomont attribute some questions to college students, especially
science students, but other questions seem typical of those posed by students of all ages/levels/backgrounds and laypersons.
Answers appear accurate, and topics range from fairly simple to fairly complex, including some that refute common myths,
such as sleepiness induced by eating turkey, coffee as a hangover antidote, and the concept of "artificial" compared to
"natural."…
Healthcare Reform in America: A Reference Handbook
By: Kronenfeld, Jennie Jacobs and Michael R. Kronenfeld
RA395.A3 K7593 2015 eBook
Review from: Booklist
July 01, 2015
The passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), in 2010, signaled major changes in access to the health-care system. People
seeking information about this law as well as about the history of health-care legislation in the U.S. will find a useful and
comprehensive overview in this handbook. Five sections cover the background and history of health policy in the U.S.; problems,
controversies, and solutions; perspectives; profiles; and data. These broad areas include topics such as health-care reform
during WWI and WWII, the passage of Medicare, legal challenges and issues, future trends and unresolved issues, a European
perspective on the ACA, and a critique of consumer-driven health care…
George Whitefield: America's Spiritual Founding Father
By: Kidd, Thomas S.
BX9225.W4 K48 2014
Review from: Library Journal
November 01, 2014
Kidd (religion, Baylor Univ.; The Great Awakening) aims to push one of the greatest early evangelicals out of the shadows of
Jonathan Edwards and John Wesley-and into the limelight of American history. This comprehensive study of George Whitefield's
(1714-70) sermons, letters, and journals serves as the foundation of what Kidd introduces as "a scholarly biography that places
[Whitefield] fully in the dynamic, fractious milieu of the early evangelical movement." Kidd's religious scholarship and authority
allow him to achieve this, although he admits that a controversial subject like Whitefield balances him on a fine line. Arguably,
it was his open support of slavery and other shortcomings that caused Whitefield's popularity to fade before and after his final
sermon. Rather than shirk or sugarcoat these faults, the author seeks to put them into greater secular and spiritual context.
The Nurse's Reality Shift: Using History to Transform the Future
By: Neal-Boylan, Leslie
RT42 .N43 2015 eBook
Review from: Doody's Reviews
February 01, 2015
Dr. Neal-Boylan eloquently captures the essence of nursing not only by using voices of past experts, but by also by weaving
voices of today's nursing professionals throughout this book. This interwoven technique demonstrates the true nature of
nursing, as the art and science that it is, and validates the choice of those who have become nurses. The purpose is to examine
nursing's past to better understand how far nursing has evolved and to share authentic voices from nurses about the continued
inherent challenges that are pervasive today and the common threads that bind the profession. The author's approach will
have a broad reach since, as she states, "it is not a history book," but a reflection on the past to improve the future…