Blog Archives
Explaining the explainers, Robert Nola
Secular Sermons: Essays on Science and Philosophy Alan Musgrave Otago University Press, $45.00, ISBN 9781877372704 Publishers in New Zealand produce books in many areas such as literature, history, politics, biography, art; they produce almost nothing in philosophy. Philosophers in this…
Tagged with: Alan Musgrave, Issue 91, Otago University Press, Robert Nola, Spring 2010
Posted in Essays, Non-fiction, Religion, Review, Science
Posted in Essays, Non-fiction, Religion, Review, Science
Otherwise fine, Simon Upton
Poles Apart: Beyond the Shouting, Who’s Right About Climate Change Gareth Morgan and John McCrystal Random House, $39.99, ISBN 9781869790455 When I learnt that Gareth Morgan was writing a book on climate change I groaned. Out of politeness, it was…
Tagged with: Autumn 2010, Gareth Morgan, Issue 89, John McCrystal, Simon Upton
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Science
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Science
The importance of being Ernest Karen Hartshorn
The Awa Book of New Zealand Science Rebecca Priestley (ed) Awa Press, $48.00, ISBN 9780958262996 I grew up in a household with a chemistry professor for a mother, a kitchen full of mysterious jars labelled “Experiment: Do Not Eat”, and…
Tagged with: Awa Press, Issue 84, Karen Hartshorn, Rebecca Priestley, Summer 2008
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Science
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Science
Likely stories, James C Raymond
Falling for Science: Asking the Big Questions Bernard Beckett Longacre Press, $39.99, ISBN 9781877361722 Imagine yourself in Egypt in the third century BC. You believe the earth is round – what else would cause ships’ masts to appear before their…
Tagged with: Bernard Beckett, Issue 81, James C Raymond, Longacre Press, Winter 2008
Posted in Non-fiction, Science
Posted in Non-fiction, Science
Spot on the sun, David Hill
The Transit of Venus Marilyn Head (ed) Awa Press, $24.99, ISBN 978095826972 A few years back, I had to review a self-published New Zealand novel. It was seriously rotten, and I wrote that it “tried to be bad, bold and…
Tagged with: Anne Salmond, Autumn 2008, Awa Press, David Hill, Duncan Steel, Hamish Campbell, Issue 81, Marilyn Head, Paul Callaghan, Peter Adds, Richard Hall
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Science
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Science
Nuclear free-ish, Nicky Hager
Standing Upright Here: New Zealand in the Nuclear Age 1945-1990 Malcolm Templeton Victoria University Press, $49.95, ISBN 0864735405 First impressions suggest this is the kind of worthy and dense book few people will get around to reading. That would be…
Tagged with: Issue 79, Malcolm Templeton, Nicky Hager, Spring 2007, Victoria University Press
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review, Science
Posted in History, Non-fiction, Politics & Law, Review, Science
Alice-in-Wonderland worlds, David Clark
The Elegant Universe of Albert Einstein: The Collected Lectures of the Royal Society of New Zealand E=mc2 Series Broadcast on National Radio Awa Press, $24.99, ISBN 0958262926 Are Angels OK? The Parallel Universes of New Zealand Writers and Scientists Paul…
Tagged with: Autumn 2007, Awa Press, Bill Manhire, David Clark, Issue 77, Paul Callaghan, Royal Society of New Zealand, Victoria University Press
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Science
Posted in Non-fiction, Review, Science
“Girl interested in wave technology”, David Hill
Bright Star: Beatrice Hill Tinsley Astronomer Christine Cole Catley Cape Catley, $49.99, ISBN 1877340014 I can offer the usual apologia for astronomy. There’s its significance as a global employer (NASA alone pays 20,000 salaries). Its contributions to other sciences, such…
Tagged with: Cape Catley, Christine Cole Catley, David Hill, Issue 76, Summer 2006
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review, Science
Posted in Biography, Non-fiction, Review, Science
Twinkle, twinkle, David Hill
How to Gaze at the Southern Stars Richard Hall Awa Press, $24.95, ISBN 0958250995 Look at the stars! Look, look up at the skies! O look at all the fire-folk sitting in the air! The bright boroughs, the circle-citadels…
Dealing with the fallout, Nick Matwiyoff
Nuclear New Zealand: Sorting Fact from Fiction Andrew McEwan Hazard, $39.99, ISBN 187727058X In July 2002, on the 36th anniversary of the first French nuclear tests on the Mururoa Atoll, John Doom of Papeete’s Association Mururoa e Tatou announced that…
Tagged with: Andrew McEwan, Hazard, Issue 70, Nick Matwiyoff, Winter 2005
Posted in Health, Non-fiction, Science
Posted in Health, Non-fiction, Science