Dear Science Readers,
Welcome to the first issue of The Science Shelf Newsletter! Thanks to increasing interest in the Science Shelf book review archive, I have decided to create this occasional message about the web site and the best in science books.
In 1996, when I left my twenty-five year career as a scientist and began writing full-time, I never imagined that book reviewing would become a major focus of my work. But when I saw a notice that Publishers Weekly was looking for science reviewers, I was intrigued. Soon I was reviewing an upcoming book every few weeks and enjoying the work immensely.
It didn't take me long to recognize that the readers of the book section of my hometown newspaper, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, would also want to know about several of the titles I was reviewing in PW. Newspaper reviewing allowed me to include more detail and to be more creative -- even poetic or limericious -- in my work. Over the years, I have been able to place my reviews in Dallas, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Denver, Seattle, and Portland, among other major cities.
Since books have a much longer life than newspapers, I realized that my reviews would have value to readers for many years after first publication. Thus I created the Science Shelf archive as a place where readers can find out about books that I have read and enjoyed. This newsletter is free and will remain so. Likewise, I will never charge a fee to read the reviews. All that I ask is this: When you decide to buy one of the books reviewed here, please come back to The Science Shelf and use the links provided. That will generate a small commission and help me justify the time I spend on this site.
Now that my name is well known among publishers, I frequently get advance copies of new books, many more than I can review in depth. To show my appreciation to the authors and publishers of those books, I include some of them on my recommended list on this site -- but only after I have looked them over and determined that readers like you would find them worthwhile.
With that as preface, here are my latest recommendations, just in time for the holiday gift-giving season. Happy Reading!
Fred Bortz
P.S.: You can receive regular e-mails to keep you posted about the latest updates at The Science Shelf. If you add your e-mail address to the Science Shelf mailing list, please be assured it will be not be shared woth anyone or used for any other purpose exept to mail you information about the website.
The Ancestor's Tale: A Pilgrimage to the Dawn of Evolution by Richard Dawkins
Copies in Seconds: Chester Carlson and the Birth of the Xerox Machine by Paul Roberts
The End of Oil: On the Edge of a Perilous New World by Paul Roberts
Out of Gas: The End of the Age of Oil by David Goodstein
Why We Love: The Nature and Chemistry of Romantic Love by Helen Fisher
Beating Back the Devil: On the Front Lines with the Disease Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service by Maryn McKenna
The Mold in Dr. Florey's Coat: The Story of the Penicillin Miracle by Eric Lax
Defining the Wind: The Beaufort Scale and How a 19th-Century Admiral Turned Science into Poetry by Scott Huler
FitzRoy: The Remarkable Story of Darwin's Captain and the Invention of the Weather Forecast by John and Mary Gribbin
The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms by Amy Stewart
Pandora's Baby: How the First Test Tube Babies Sparked the Reproductive Revolution by Robin Marantz Henig
The Whale Book: Whales and Other Marine Animals as Described by Adriaen Coenen in 1585
Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil deGrasse Tyson and Donald Goldsmith
The Architecture and Design of Man and Woman: The Marvel of the Human Body Revealed by Alexander Tsiaras
Archives of the Universe: A Treasury of Astronomy's Historic Works of Discovery edited and with Introduction by Marcia Bartusiak
The Real Mars by Michael Hanlon
Bones Rock: Everything You Need to Know to be a Paleontologist by Peter Larson and Kristin Donnan
Math and the Mona Lisa: The Art and Science of Leonardo Da Vinci by Bulent Atalay
The World of Gerard Mercator: The Mapmaker Who Revolutionized Geography by Andrew TaylorI also write children's science books, which you can learn more about at "Dr. Fred's Place".
Thanks for your interest. Please e-mail me comments and suggestions about my reviews or this website.
Note: All materials on this site are the copyrighted property of Alfred B. Bortz. Individuals may print single copies of reviews or columns for their own use. For permission to publish or print multiple copies of any of the materials on this site, please contact the author by e-mail.
