Request post - 1

     

      My request for requests yesterday has yielded a few so far. Peter suggested Literary Science and I shall not shirk the challenge, but I'll begin with a little lesson in classification as taught by Harriet's science teacher: If it moves, it's Biology; if it smells, it's Chemistry; if it doesn't work, it's Physics (see recent developments at CERN - sorry P!).
     To business, and despite my non-scientific background, I can recommend a book. It's non-fiction, highly readable and very accomplished. The subtitle of Lucy Jago's The Northern Lights: How One Man Sacrificed Love, Happiness and Sanity to Solve the Mystery of the Aurora Borealis might suggest sensationalism, but it's not like that, though Kristian Birkeland's quest to prove his theory about the lights did end tragically. It's described as " a heart-wrenching mix of human interest, history and thrilling rendition of scientific quest" and it combines biography, accessible science, international politics, travel and more to fascinating effect. It's a while since I read it but it certainly held my attention.
     What about novels with a scientific background? Any recommendations?
      If you have any more requests, please say (though I expect American readers will be otherwise engaged today), and I'll be back later to see what I can do re. cakes, Jerusalem artichokes and a boy called Dafty.

Comments

[Ros]

Well, it's not exactly science, but it is code-breaking and crosswords and I've been meaning to recommend it to you: Crossword Ends in Violence(5) is one of the most fun books I've read in a long time. Website here: http://crosswordendsinviolence.wordpress.com/

[Peter the Flautist]

One of the last books my father gave to me was the one you chose to highlight today, I too thought very highly of it. I'll try to add some other suggestions before midnight!

Dark Puss

[m]

Still on code-breaking, Robert Harris's Enigma brought it down to a level I could understand! And although it's not a novel - it's about garden landscaping - I grasped more about physics from Charles Jencks's Garden of Cosmic Speculation than ever penetrated my (bored) head at school.

[Lindsay]

There is some great literature in science, fiction and non-fiction. For the former, read some of C P Snow's novels, especially The New Men or The Affair - and anything by Oliver Sachs and the popular works of Richard feymann for non-fiction. Don't be afraid, the water's lovely!

[lindsay]

All science is physics, or it is stamp collecting (the words of a greater physicist than me; greater, even, I daresay, than Dark Puss)

[Louise]

I really enjoyed 'The Calendar' by David Ewing Duncan. I think it makes particularly interesting reading this time of year.

[Nicola]

Hi Karen, re requests. You mentioned a while back that you had written a book. I wonder if you'd like to tell us more about it? Only if you want to, of course!

[Peter the flautist]

Dark Puss's human companion is a very minor cog in the great physics machine! He is of course a huge fan of Feynmann, but in the spirit of Dark Puss's request he would urge people to read the wonderful (and terrible) "The Periodic Table" by Primo Levi. If there is a better use of science in the service of literature he hasn't read it. It may also give you a good idea as to what working as a chemist is like.

DP

[Barbara MacLeod]

Perhaps there is a topic here to explore: pigeon-holing or should I say categorization. In the link given below by Roz the book being talked about is having a tough time. Is it in the shops? It appears the answer is No. Why not? The blog writer states "It’s been read with great interest by all the main fiction publishers and given the thumbs down. The main reason seems to be ‘placing it’. Is it comedy? Or a thriller? Or a detective story? Or a spy book? The problem is that it’s all of those things, so it doesn’t fit their lists. So they’ve all said ‘no’."