Book Reviews October 2009

Decoding the Heavens Jo Marchant Heinemann, 2008 ISBN: 9780434018352 In 1900 a wreck was discovered off the small island of Antikythera, and divers recovered many valuable artifacts from Greece in the 1st Century BC . But amid the statues was a small lump of corroded bronze which turned out to be the most important find of them all.In Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World's First Computer Jo Marchant tells the story. Continued..

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The Book of Contemplation Usama Ibn Munqidh Penguin, 2008 ISBN: 9780140455137 In The Book of Contemplation: Islam and the Crusades the twelfth century Arab aristocrat Usama Ibn Munqidh tells of his life and his observations on life. Continued..

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The Philosophers' Quarrel Robert Zaretsky and John T Scott Yale University Press, 2009 ISBN: 9780300121933 In 1766 David Hume was instrumental in find Jean-Jacques Rousseau a place to live in Britain, freeing him from the persecution he had faced on the Continent. One might have expected a lifetime of gratitude for this action, but in fact things turned out rather differently. In The Philosophers' Quarrel: Rousseau, Hume, and the Limits of Human Understanding Robert Zaretsky and John T Scott tell the story. Continued..

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Long Life Equation Trisha Macnair New Holland, 2007 ISBN: 9781847734051 We're always hearing about things that are good or bad for us, but it's difficult to find out precisely how good or bad. Well, in The Long Life Equation: 100 Factors That Can Add or Subtract Years from Your Life Trisha Macnair gives you something mroe definite to go on. Continued..

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Buzz Emanuel Rosen Profile Books, 2009 ISBN: 9781846682483 Trying to let the world know about your product or service can be a difficult business, with advertisers needing to put in more and more effort to get their message across. What if you could get your customers to transmit your message for you? In Buzz: Real-life Lessons in Word-of-mouth Marketing, Emanuel Rosen talks about how this can be achieved. Continued..

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The Lucifer Effect Philip Zimbardo Rider, 2008 ISBN: 1844135772 We tend to think of goodness or badness as inate to a person's character. Philip Zimbardo disagrees, and in The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil he shows how the situations people find themselves in play a large part in how they behave. Continued..

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Bad Science Ben Goldacre HarperCollins, 2008 ISBN: 9780007240197 Our health is a very important matter to us, so we naturally tend to take notice when we hear of possible breakthroughs in medicine, or new dangers to our well being. But how much weight should be give to such reports. If you read Bad Science by Ben Goldacre then you will learn to be very wary about believing what you hear. Continued..

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