Reading Room
The Reading Room features books and other material – old and new - that we think will be of interest to everyone who follows debates about scientific and medical issues.
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Peer Review and Manuscript Management in Scientific Journals by Irene Hames Blackwell Publishing (2007) This comprehensive yet concise book provides a thorough and complete guide to every aspect of managing the peer review process for scientific journals. Until now, little information has been readily available on how this important facet of the journal publishing process should be conducted properly. Peer Review and Manuscript Management in Scientific Journals fills this gap and provides clear guidance on all aspects of peer review, from manuscript submission to final decision. Peer Review and Manuscript Management in Scientific Journals is an essential reference for science journal editors, editorial office staff and publishers. It is an invaluable handbook for the set-up of new Editorial Offices, as well as a useful reference for well-established journals which may need guidance on a particular situation, or may want to review their current practices. Although intended primarily for journals in science, much of its content will be relevant to other scholarly areas. Irene Hames has kindly granted Sense About Science permission to reprint several parts of here book, which can be downloaded in pdf format by clicking on the links.
You can read selected reviews of this book on the Blackwell website - click here. Buy this book from Amazon (UK)
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How To Fossilise Your Hamster by Mick O'Hare Profile (2007) This book is a absolutely great! I'm sure it will do at least as well as its best selling predecessors "Does anything eat wasps?" and "Why don't penguins' feet freeze?". But do not be fooled into thinking that this is just more of the same. Whilst the contents of the previous books have been taken directly from the "Last word" column of New Scientist, "How to Fossilise Your Hamster" is a series of, often ingenious, experiments designed to allow you to discover the answers for yourself. The book does deliver on its grandiose intent of showing us "... how great science has been achieved though experimentation", although I suspect that theoretical scientists everywhere will nettled by the assertion that they don't do "real" science... Click here for our full review Buy this book from Amazon (UK)
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Better Looking, Better Living, Better Loving, by John Emsley Wiley-VCH (2007) Chemistry, with its daunting plethora of jargon and technical detail, appears to be the most feared of all the sciences, and the most alien to the layman. John Emsley confronts this view with his book, Better Looking, Better Living, Better Loving. Each topic begins with a snippet of an imaginary newspaper of the future, heralding the latest invention in the field. He goes on to demonstrate just how common chemistry really is in our everyday lives, and how much we rely on it. More importantly, he explains how it all actually works. Find out how gold is used to treat arthritis, and why red hot chilli can provide pain relief. Discover solar panels that generate power even on cloudy days, and why carbohydrates in our diet are not such a bad thing. The book is a review of how chemistry really works, and how we use it every day. From nail polish to deodorant, and self–cleaning glass to fabric softeners, chemistry surrounds us. The ways in which it all works are not simple but by means of well–chosen anecdotes and clear, concise explanations, Emsley makes those concepts accessible to his non–scientific audience. Click here for our full review Buy this book from Amazon (UK)
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The Shock of the Old, by David Edgerton Oxford University Press (2007) David Edgerton's book has two central messages about technology's place in world history. First, the new is not always as new as it seems; and second, the future – more often than not – lies in the old. We sometimes seem hypnotized by technology and innovation. As consumers, we crave the newest and the next. We see ourselves at the bleeding edge of the technological revolution, craning our necks to see what the future of transport or communication might hold; and if it's bigger, shinier or faster than last time, so much the better. Edgerton argues, how meaningful is such a retrospective that dwells so heavily on the magnificent at the expense of the mundane? In The Shock of the Old, he tries to make us admit the difference between what impresses us and what has really changed us. The book is littered with examples to isolate the innovation–centric view from the use–centric view, and it tries to show that the latter is much more accurate and illustrative when we really want to see the pattern of technology's impact on the world. Click here for our full review Buy this book from Amazon (UK)
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Power, Sex and Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life, by Nick Lane Oxford University Press (2005) In each of our cells there are hundreds of biological batteries: phenomenal structures derived from bacteria and known as mitochondria. Nick Lane's book details the good, the bad and the ugly contributions that mitochondria make to life...
Click here for our full review Buy this book from Amazon (UK)
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Bandolier's Making Sense of the Medical Evidence, by Andrew Moore and Henry McQuay Oxford University Press (2006) This handy guide is produced by the authors of Bandolier, an independent journal focusing on evidence-based healthcare. Alarmingly, we are told in the introduction that, in Bandolier's experience, something of the order of only 1% of articles published in medical journals are scientifically sound. This guide sets out to help healthcare professionals, journalists and interested members of the public, find their way through this jungle of faulty evidence...
Click here for our full review Buy this book from Amazon (UK)
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Testing Treatments, by Imogen Evans, Hazel Thornton & Iain Chalmers British Library Publishing Division (2006) How do we know whether a particular drug, therapy or operation really works, and how well? How reliable is the clinical evidence? Are clinical trials truly unbiased? And is current research fully focused on the real needs of patients? Such timely questions are raised and resolved in this probing inquiry into modern clinical research, with far reaching implications for daily medical practice and patient care. Special offer for Sense About Science supporters. To get Testing Treatments at the reduced cost of £10, follow the link below and, when asked, insert coupon code: BLTEST Get Testing Treatments for £10
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One in Three, by Adam Wishart Profile Books Ltd (2006) When I first heard about One in Three, in particular that it was a son’s personal journey into the history of science and cancer, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Sharing Adam’s situation of having a father with an incurable prostate cancer, I was concerned that this book would be too grim or too personal. However, I am delighted to say that I was wrong; this is a fascinating book of the history of medicine and cancer ... Click here for our full review Buy this book from Amazon (UK)
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The Poison Paradox, by John Timbrell Oxford University Press (2005) Stories about scary chemicals are frequently in the headlines. We are warned about the dangers of man-made chemicals, such as food additives that make us hyperactive, to poisons accumulating in our fatty tissues. At the same time, anything ‘natural’ or ‘organic’ is portrayed as benign and beneficial to our health. This simple dichotomy, of natural good and man-made bad, is not helpful when it comes to understanding chemicals, which is why ‘The Poison Paradox’ by John Timbrell is such an important read... Click here for our full review Buy this book from Amazon (UK)
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The Elements of Murder, by John Emsley Oxford University Press (2006) Did you know that Saddam Hussein had a secret weapon, thallium sulphate, and bumped off his opponents by adding it to their yoghurt, orange juice, vodka or Coca-Cola? Or that UNICEF's attempt in the 1970s to provide safe drinking water resulted in mass arsenic poisoning? John Emsley's latest book is a tour through an area of chemistry which fascinates and frightens in equal measure: the chemistry of poison... Click here for our full review Buy this book from Amazon (UK)
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Hippocratic Oaths, by Raymond Tallis Atlantic Books (2005) Poet, philosopher, novelist and physician, Professor Raymond Tallis is one of the world's foremost scientific philosophers. In this book, for the first time, he brings together his diverse intellectual interests to address profoundly important questions about our well being. |
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Facing Up: Science and its Cultural Adversaries, by Steven Weinberg Harvard University Press (2003) Both the brilliant scientist and the provocative writer are fully present in this book as Weinberg pursues his principal passions, theoretical physics and a deeper understanding of the culture, philosophy, history, and politics of science. Each of these essays, which span fifteen years, struggles in one way or another with the necessity of facing up to the discovery that the laws of nature are impersonal, with no hint of a special status for human beings. Defending the spirit of science against its cultural adversaries, these essays express a viewpoint that is reductionist, realist, and devoutly secular. |
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Science in Public, by Jane Gregory and Steve Miller Perseus Books,U.S (2000) A fascinating and insightful look at science in the media. Does the general public need to understand science? And if so, is it scientists' responsibility to communicate? Critics have argued that, despite the huge strides made in technology, we live in a "scientifically illiterate" society--one that thinks about the world and makes important decisions without taking scientific knowledge into account. But is the solution to this "illiteracy" to deluge the layman with scientific information? Or does science news need to be focused around specific issues and organized into stories that are meaningful and relevant to people's lives? In this unprecedented, comprehensive look at a new field, Jane Gregory and Steve Miller point the way to a more effective public understanding of science in the years ahead. |
Last updated: December 18 2009
