Best Sci-Tech Books 2002: Asking Big Questions

Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Addressing these questions—the basic elements of good exposition—is as necessary in popular science writing as it is in a seventh-grade book review. The following titles, selected as the best in science and technology for 2002, offer their answers, in different measures. Identifying the "Who": Deborah Blum's Love at Goon Park, Janet Browne's Charles Darwin: The Power of Place, and Brenda Maddox's Rosalind Franklin profile three very different personalities who were also consummate scientists. Focusing on the questions of "What," "When," and "Where": Ken Alder's The Measure of All Things, John Gordon's A Thread Across the Ocean, and Dick Teresi's Lost Discoveries all place science and scientists within specific places and eras. "How" gets to the heart of scientific methods. Albert-Lásló Barbarási's Linked puts forward a working theory of natural networks, and, even more audacious, Stephen Wolfram's A New Kind of Science offers an original, interdisciplinary model for doing research.

Sometimes, though, the most difficult question to answer, especially for lay readers, is "Why?" When the best that can happen is obscure success and the worst disastrous failure, why do science? In Seeing in the Dark, Timothy Ferris asks amateur astronomers why they are willing to stay up on frigid nights looking into their telescopes, while Scott Weidensaul's The Ghost with Trembling Wings follows biologists in arduous and almost certainly futile searches for species believed extinct.

Robinson, Andrew. Lost Languages: The Enigma of the World's Undeciphered Scripts. McGraw-Hill. 352p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-07-135743-2. $34.95.
Deciphering the dead texts of forgotten civilizations can be as technically complex as cracking the genetic code. This book's detailed illustrations enable readers to participate in the investigation and to uncover insights into ancient cultures. (LJ 3/15/02)

Ferris, Timothy. Seeing in the Dark: How Backyard Stargazers Are Probing Deep Space and Guarding Earth from Interplanetary Peril. S. & S. 400p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-684-86579-3. $26.
In this age when most cutting-edge research is conducted in high-tech labs by teams of scientists, a lone amateur can still make a real contribution to the field of astronomy. Science writer and stargazer Ferris's vivacious writing captures the inspired madness that compels a person to stay up all night, staring into the sky. (LJ 7/02)

Levin, Janna. How the Universe Got Its Spots: Diary of a Finite Time in a Finite Space. Princeton Univ. 208p. index. ISBN 0-691-09657-0. $22.95.
Crafted as a series of unsent letters to her mother, this physicist's diary of ruminations about the cosmos explores the personal side of science, as a discipline of thought, an intellectual journey, and a search for meaning.

Blum, Deborah. Love at Goon Park: Harry Harlow and the Science of Affection. Perseus. 336p. photogs. index. ISBN 0-7382-0278-9. $26.
Harlow's career was replete with ironies. His experiments were reviled by animal rights activists and his conclusions were challenged by feminists, yet his chief theory was, simply, that love nurtures good mental health. Perhaps the greatest irony was that the obsessive, alcoholic Harlow failed in his own relationships. (LJ 11/1/02)

Browne, Janet. Charles Darwin. Vol. 2: The Power of Place. Knopf. 591p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-679-42932-8. $37.50.
This second volume in Browne's biography (after Voyaging) opens when Darwin nervously published his world-changing theory of evolution by natural selection. Although there are many good Darwin biographies, this elegant book is the most grand in its scope and lavish in its detail. (LJ10/1/02)

Maddox, Brenda. Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA. HarperCollins. 380p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-06-018407-8. $29.95.
Overlooked, underappreciated, and even ridiculed by her male colleagues, Franklin was well ahead of her time, as Maddox's excellent biography clearly demonstrates. Her contribution to the discovery of the structure of DNA arguably merited a share of the Nobel prize, one example of a career marked by numerous "what ifs." (LJ 10/15/02)

Gould, Stephen Jay. The Structure of Evolutionary Theory. Harvard Univ. 1433p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-674-00613-5. $39.95.
Released just months before Gould's death, this immense historical study of evolutionary theory can be regarded as his magnum opus. It conveys, in exacting detail, why Darwinism remains at once a potent theory and a hotbed of ongoing controversy. (LJ 2/15/02)

Wilson, Edward O. The Future of Life. Knopf. 230p. index. ISBN 0-679-45078-5. $22.
Often, environmentalists propose ethical arguments for preserving biodiversity. Wilson states that case eloquently but goes farther by asking, "How much is the biosphere worth?" Long-term environmental stewardship and economic growth are, in his view, complementary goals. (LJ 1/02)

Fukuyama, Francis. Our Posthuman Future: Consequences of the Biotechnology Revolution. Farrar. 256p. bibliog. ISBN 0-374-23643-7. $25.
By altering human nature, biotechnology makes it possible to undermine the Jeffersonian principle that all human beings are created equal. Noted social philosopher Fukuyama argues persuasively that it is time to draw moral lines, lest generations to come live in a "posthuman" condition. (LJ 3/15/02)

Rigden, John S. Hydrogen: The Essential Element. Harvard Univ. 280p. illus. index. ISBN 0-674-00738-7. $28.
"The heroine of this book is nature's simplest atom, the hydrogen atom," writes Rigden. Through 23 historical vignettes, he demonstrates the beauty and importance of hydrogen in our universe and reveals how this deceptively simple atom still holds mysteries.

Thomas, Douglas. Hacker Culture. Univ. of Minnesota. 266p. index. ISBN 0-8166-3345-2. $25.95.
Communications professor Thomas maintains that the demonization of computer hackers is a product of society's ambivalence toward technology. He posits that the hacker subculture instead might more fairly be associated with a rebel spirit and a zeal for pushing technological limits. (LJ 3/15/02)

Plate Tectonics: An Insider's History of the Modern Theory of the Earth. Westview: Perseus. 424p. ed. by Naomi Oreskes with Homer Le Grand. photogs. index. ISBN 0-8133-3981-2. $35.
Plate tectonics has become a core theory for modern earth sciences. While there have been many popular books on the subject, this is unique in that its 17 essays are by living researchers who developed the theory. (LJ 2/1/02)

Olson, Steve. Mapping Human History: Discovering the Past Through Our Genes. Houghton. 292p. index. ISBN 0-618-09157-2. $25.
Genetically, racial differences among human beings are insignificant. Science journalist Olson recounts how the Human Genome Project has revealed that, despite conspicuous pheonotypic diversity among humans, we are genetic brothers and sisters.

Munson, Ronald. Raising the Dead: Organ Transplants, Ethics, and Society. Oxford Univ. 304p. index. ISBN 0-19-513299-8. $30.
The need for organs far exceeds the supply, introducing a variety of ethically complex choices for donors, recipients, physicians, insurance companies, and special interests. Some are personal choices, others are societal—but the author argues in clear, jargon-free prose that these decisions cannot be deferred. (LJ 2/1/02)

Preston, Richard. The Demon in the Freezer. Random. 256p. ISBN 0-375-50856-2. $24.95.
If, as Preston fears likely, genetically engineered smallpox has been developed for use as biological weapons, then the world faces a potentially catastrophic public health menace. As a new vaccination program begins in America, this scary but not alarmist book from the author of The Hot Zone is very timely.

Whorton, James. C. Nature Cures: The History of Alternative Medicine in America. Oxford Univ. 368p. illus. index. ISBN 0-19-514071-0. $30.
Despite allegations of quackery and the scorn of the established medical profession, alternative therapies have existed in America since their beginning and are flourishing today. Medical historian Whorton's evenhanded and fascinating study cuts through the sensationalism. (LJ 9/1/02)

Alder, Ken. The Measure of All Things: The Seven Year Odyssey and Hidden Error That Transformed the World. Free Pr: S. & S. 422p. illus. maps. index. ISBN 0-7432-1675-X. $27.
In the heady aftermath of the French Revolution, the time seemed ripe to develop a system of universal measures based upon the actual dimensions of Earth. Alder's compelling history tells how two French astronomers undertook that epic task and how, despite an error in the calculation, their work gave birth to the metric system. (LJ 8/02)

Gordon, John Steele. A Thread Across the Ocean: The Heroic Story of the Transatlantic Cable. Walker. 240p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-8027-1364-5. $26.
In the 1860s, the telegraph had revolutionized communication in America, but most believed that instantaneous communication overseas would never be possible. Laying the first transatlantic cable was a prodigious feat of engineering, which in many ways contributed to the rise of America as a global power. (LJ 9/1/02)

Teresi, Dick. Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science—from the Babylonians to the Maya. S. & S. 496p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-684-83718-8. $27.
Ancient civilizations, commonly thought to be primitive and governed by superstition, produced some magnificently advanced science. Teresi, a science journalist and cofounder of Omni magazine, traces the contributions made by various world cultures in every field from astronomy to geology and, especially, mathematics. (LJ 10/1/02)

Gigerenzer, Gerd. Calculated Risks: How To Know When Numbers Deceive You. S. & S. 310p. index. ISBN 0-7432-0556-1. $25.
Innumeracy can be hazardous to your health, as Gigerenzer demonstrates in this important study of how statistics can distort and confuse. By teaching statistical reasoning, he hopes his readers can avoid such devastating misinterpretations as the case in which a surgeon advised his "high-risk" patients to undergo mastectomies even though most would never develop breast cancer. (LJ 5/15/02)

Nash, J. Madeline. El Niño: Unleashing the Secrets of the Modern Weather-Maker. Warner. 340p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-446-52481-6. $25.95.
While it is a global, recurring climatological phenomenon, El Niño still puzzles meteorologists. In this lively account, science journalist Nash profiles the individuals who seek to unravel its secrets. (LJ 2/15/02)

Fiennes, William. The Snow Geese: A Story of Home. Random. 288p. bibliog. ISBN 0-375-50729-9. $24.95.
Having recovered from an extended illness, a restless Fiennes became inspired to trace the migratory route of snow geese, from their winter homes in Texas to their breeding grounds on Canada's Baffin Island. His narrative raises questions about why we seek home yet still feel compelled to wander. (LJ 2/1/02)

Grossman, Elizabeth. Watershed: The Undamming of America. Counterpoint: Perseus. 256p. bibliog. index. ISBN 1-58243-108-6. $26.
For much of the 20th century, damming America's rivers was a civil engineering priority that represented the control of nature. With a better understanding of riparian ecosystems, however, Grossman cogently argues that the time has come to restore free-flowing rivers by demolishing many dams. (LJ 7/02)

Weidensaul, Scott. The Ghost with Trembling Wings: Science, Wishful Thinking, and the Search for Lost Species. North Point: Farrar. 341p. illus. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-374-24664-5. $26.
Scientists have documented that the runaway rate of species extinction today is unique in the history of Earth. Still, when any shred of doubt exists, there is reluctance to declare a species extinct. Weidensaul writes of the extraordinary lengths to which biologists will go in hopes of finding just one surviving member of a lost species. (LJ 5/15/02)

Livingstone, Margaret. Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing. Abrams. 208p. illus. index. ISBN 0-8109-0406-3. $45.
Neurobiologist Livingstone explains how our ability to perceive visual nuances in a work of art resides in the neurology of our eyes and brain. The abundant color illustrations demonstrate her points, and her lively prose evokes an artistry of its own. (LJ 7/02)

Novacek, Michael. Time Traveler: In Search of Dinosaurs and Ancient Mammals from Montana to Mongolia. Farrar. 352p. illus. maps. index. ISBN 0-374-27880-6. $26.
Indiana Jones's adventures pale in comparison with those of paleontologist Novacek, whose lively memoir recalls his lifelong passion for fossil-hunting and the remote places to which he has traveled in pursuit of his calling. (LJ 2/15/02)

Barabási, Albert-László. Linked: The New Science of Networks. Perseus. 288p. ISBN 0-7382-0667-9. $26.
Chaos theory, complexity, emergence… these are all components of the new theory of networks. A leading researcher in networking details how the interconnectedness of phenomena can be mapped, organized, and expressed mathematically.

Vogel, Steven. Prime Mover: A Natural History of Muscle. Norton. 370p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-393-02126-2. $25.95.
Muscles can do the body's hard work, like lifting or pulling, as well as the subtle tasks of blinking or swallowing. Vogel, a bioengineer, looks at the amazing things that humans and animals do with the musculature with which evolution has equipped them.

Pinker, Stephen. Blank Slate: The Modern Denial of Human Nature. Viking. 528p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-670-03151-8. $27.95.
Unafraid to be politically incorrect, cognitive scientist Pinker cites genetic research in attacking the dogmas that the mind at birth is a blank slate, that people are born inherently good, and that they possess a soul independent of the body. Instead, he contends, to be fully human is to accept our biology but to live according to our ideals.

Porter, Roy. Madness: A Brief History. Oxford Univ. 192p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-19-280266-6. $22.
From exorcism and shock treatment to psychoanalysis and psychotropic drugs, treatments for mental disorders have changed dramatically over the centuries. Acclaimed medical historian Porter's concise but elegant overview challenges readers to ask themselves what constitutes insanity. (LJ 3/1/02)

Crewdson, John. Science Fictions: A Scientific Mystery, a Massive Cover-up, and the Dark Legacy of Robert Gallo. Little, Brown. 672p. photogs. index. ISBN 0-316-13476-7. $27.95.
In the world of high-profile, high-stakes research, there was no greater challenge in the early 1980s than to find the cause of AIDS. Did Gallo, who claimed the discovery, misappropriate samples from a French laboratory? Crewdson's exhaustive research suggests that he did. (LJ 3/15/02)

Wolfram, Stephen. A New Kind of Science. Wolfram Media. 1197p. illus. index. ISBN 1-57955-008-8. $44.95.
With this book, Wolfram broke many rules that would have discredited a less acclaimed scientist; he self-published, bypassing peer review, and proposed a new, far-reaching theory in a single opus. Appropriately, his massive work on emergent complexity from simple programs could challenge many basic assumptions of science. (LJ 8/02)

Brooks, Rodney A. Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us. Pantheon. 260p. index. ISBN 0-375-42079-7. $26.
Computers were the revolutionary technology of the late 20th century. Brooks, director of MIT's famed Artificial Intelligence Lab, contends that robotics will be the next technological wave and that these complex machines will force us to reconsider what it is that makes us fully human.

McPhee, John. The Founding Fish. Farrar. 320p. ISBN 0-374-10444-1. $25.
Departing from his acclaimed works on North American geology, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author ventures into biology in this story of the Atlantic shad and its native waters. "I am a shad fisherman," McPhee attests, but his examination of its natural history is more than just another fish story. (LJ 10/1/02)

Mares, Michael A. A Desert Calling: Life in a Forbidding Landscape. Harvard Univ. 318p. photogs. maps. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-674-00747-6. $29.95.
For 30 years, field biologist Mares has labored in arid lands in Iran, Argentina, and the United States, studying the adaptations of small desert mammals. Far from lifeless wastelands, deserts, he shows, are cradles for bountiful biodiversity. (LJ 4/1/02)

Schweid, Richard. Consider the Eel. Univ. of North Carolina. 181p. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-8078-2693-6. $24.95.
Most people, probably, would prefer not to "consider the eel." They are slimy, snakelike, bottom dwellers. Eel biology, however, is fascinating, and zoologists know relatively little about their behaviors. They are also considered a delicacy in some cultures, and intrepid readers may want to sample the recipes. (LJ 4/15/02)