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Win! Book review and giveaway: War and Technology A Very Short Introduction – Alex Roland

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By Jade Fell  ‘Humans were born armed’ is the premise to the next of our Very Short Introduction series of reviews, War and Technology, which seeks to trace the combined history of, you guess it – war and technology. Some of you may take issue with the statement – how can a human be born armed? It is interesting to note however, that weapons formed from natural material and used to defend, hunt and fight, have been around before the first Homo sapiens, back to the time of archaic proto-humans. In the 19th century, Jurist Sir Henry Maine famously commented … Continue reading Win! Book review and giveaway: War and Technology A Very Short Introduction – Alex Roland

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Book review: Head in the Cloud: The Power of Knowledge in the Age of Google – William Poundstone

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It is often cited that we are living in an information age. Gone are the days of trawling through text books and library archives to find the material to complete your latest homework assignment. The internet possesses all the information you could ever need – and then some. Pick up your smart phone or connect to your computer and you have a wealth of data available at your fingertips. While it’s true that it is incredibly easy to look up facts on Google, it’s not so easy to remember any of them. Some have argued that having such a wealth … Continue reading Book review: Head in the Cloud: The Power of Knowledge in the Age of Google – William Poundstone

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Book review: This Book Thinks You’re A Scientist

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By Louise Fox Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a child, excited by science for the first time again? Well now you can with the science museum’s newest release ‘This Book Thinks You’re A Scientist’. The interactive book explores seven key scientific areas, including force and motion, electricity and magnetism, earth and space, light, matter, sound, and mathematics. Through a series of creatively and quirkily illustrated prompts, readers are encouraged to engage in their own hands-on experiments and explore science by questioning everything. It’s a great way for your children to spend the afternoon, out in the … Continue reading Book review: This Book Thinks You’re A Scientist

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Book Review: Frankenstein – Mary Shelley, with an introduction by Francine Prose

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By Jade Fell In June 1816 on a rainy evening by Lake Geneva a young girl created a story about an enthusiastic young science student who developed a technique to bring life to non-living matter, with devastating consequences. The resulting novel, Frankenstein, or The Modern Prometheus, went on to become one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. This year, to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s fateful trip to Geneva, Restless Books has released a brand new edition of the acclaimed novel, with a new introduction by Francine Prose and stunning original artwork by acclaimed Mexican artist … Continue reading Book Review: Frankenstein – Mary Shelley, with an introduction by Francine Prose

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Book Review: Fardwor, Russia! A Fantastical Tale of Life under Putin – Oleg Kashin

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By Jade Fell “I predict we will abolish suffering throughout the living world. Our descendants will be animated by gradients of genetically pre-programmed well-being that are orders of magnitude richer than today’s peak experiences.” ― David Pearce Oleg Kashin is a rather notorious Russian journalist whose open criticism of the Putin government may or may not have motivated unknown assailants to beat him to within an inch of his life back 2010. You’d think such an event would put the dampeners on a guy, but apparently Kashin was undeterred and returned full force to publish his first work of fiction, … Continue reading Book Review: Fardwor, Russia! A Fantastical Tale of Life under Putin – Oleg Kashin

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Book Review: Design Meets Disability – Graham Pullin

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By Jade Fell “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry From their humble beginnings, balanced on the noses of monks and scholars in the 13th century, eyeglasses have undergone a fantastic transformation. The handheld lorgnette donned by ladies in the 19th century gave way to the inexpensive pince-nez of the early 20th  – but It was not until the latter half of the century that eyeglasses were transformed from a mere medical necessity to something more. In Design Meets Disability, author Graham Pullin … Continue reading Book Review: Design Meets Disability – Graham Pullin

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Book Review: @War: The Rise of Cyber Warfare – Shane Harris

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By Jade Fell “The separation between the cyber and the physical worlds was disappearing. Cyberbullying was just bullying, and cyberwar was just war – the true age of cyber began when we started removing it as a descriptor.” ― Matthew Mather In April 2009 Chinese military hackers intercepted the Pentagon’s cyber security systems and gained access to huge amounts of information on the US Defense Department’s costliest weapons programme ever, plans for the United States military’s most sophisticated fighter jet yet – the $327 billion Joint Strike Fighter Project. Known as the F-35, the jet was the most complex military … Continue reading Book Review: @War: The Rise of Cyber Warfare – Shane Harris

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Book Review: Physics in a Mad World – M Shifman

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By Jade Fell “Physics is really nothing more than a search for ultimate simplicity, but so far all we have is a kind of elegant messiness.” ― Bill Bryson You should never judge a book by its cover, and the same is definitely true for size. While at first glance this book might come across as somewhat of a hefty and intimidating read, perhaps something a physics student might be assigned as weekend reading, the contents of the book is much more manageable. Split into three distinct sections, and interlaced with essays, letters, interviews and diary entries, Physics in a … Continue reading Book Review: Physics in a Mad World – M Shifman

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Review: Felix Palma’s The Map of Time

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At first glance, this doorstop of a book may seem like a hefty read, yet split into three perfectly proportioned mini-adventures with twists and turns aplenty, the pages will turn at quite a pace. The book opens in 1888 and follows Andrew Harrington, a young man from a reputable family, who has fallen in love with a Whitechapel prostitute. When she is murdered by Jack the Ripper, Harrington is lost and with the guidance of his best friend, he resorts to time travel in an attempt to save his love from her grisly fate. Appearances from real-life characters such as … Continue reading Review: Felix Palma’s The Map of Time

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Googled: The End of the World As We Know It

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*NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK WITH A NEW AFTERWORD AND EXTRA CHAPTER* Googled: The End of the World As We Know It By Ken Auletta Virgin Books £8.99 paperback/£11.99 hardback Googling was being used as a verb for searching the Internet – in the same way that Hoovering became synonymous with using a vacuum cleaner – long before it became a formal entry in English dictionaries. Unlike the British manufacturer of domestic appliances, however, the Google brand had already come to represent much more than just one activity. By the time of its acceptance into mainstream culture, the Mountain View-based company … Continue reading Googled: The End of the World As We Know It