THE CLOUDSPOTTER'S GUIDE by Gavin Pretor-Pinney

This amazing picture was taken by my friend in the hills above Bassenthwaite in January. It shows a cloud inversion and her Brocken Spectre with a glory around it. I'm jealous because I've never seen one. If you want to know how it forms, read the display in the library, and even better, read the book. The book started out as a spoof, I think. He was trying to laugh at spotters, but discovered that clouds are amazing. The book explains all the types of cloud and how to identify them. The bit I like best is about the pilot who fell through the middle of a lightning storm. The book is easy to read - go on, you know you want to!

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN? by Thomas Nagel

This is a brilliant introduction to studying Philosophy. It is very short - only 100 pages and in big print so it is very easy to read. I read it in only two evenings. He covers issues that go well with the Physics I teach - how can we know things for certain? He also deals with issues that are more to do with how society is organised - how can we say that some things are right and some things are wrong? This book is required reading if you want to apply for Philosophy at Oxford University - such a simple book but such big ideas!

THE WORLD TREASURY OF PHYSICS, ASTRONOMY AND MATHEMATICS Edited by Timothy Ferris

 

This is an amazing compendium of short sections from other books. It contains pieces by some of the most famous physicists. You are not expected to read it from cover to cover. It is a great book for dipping into and reading a bit here and a bit there. I also like the fact that it contains sections about a more artistic understanding of Science - perhaps a more emotional response. The section of poems contains a couple by Annie Dillard, whose work I love. She is a modern American writer in the Transcedentalist tradition who sees Nature as awe-inspiring.

THE BOTANY OF DESIRE by Michael Pollan

Biology again! This book has a brilliant thesis: that you could argue that some plants have evolved to make us spread them round the world and make them successful. It is our desire for particular plants that makes us grow them and make sure that they survive. You could argue that they are "using us" in an evolutionary sense. An example is the potato. It was a weed in South America but has taken over the world. Did you know that tulip bulbs once fetched such large sums of money in Amsterdam in the 1600s that the financial markets that we use today had to be invented to fund it, and that there was a recession when the price was pushed too high and collapsed? One of the plants featured is illegal now because the desire has had big social consequences. This is the controversial bit of the book and by recommending the book, I am not saying that I agree with his views. There is excellent and fair coverage of Genetic Modification.

Chaos by James Gleick

This isn't an easy subject. It was very fashionable 20 years ago for a couple of reasons. One was the Butterfly Effect idea: "Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?". The other was the beautiful fractal patterns that come from the theory. It is based on the discovery that science is far more complicated that we thought. We normally do experiments in which we control one variable, change another and measure a third. This leads to nice straight line graphs - LINEAR results where you double one thing and the other doubles too. In the real world, this doesn't often happen. Results are NON-LINEAR. If you double one thing, the other might get stupidly big.

Actually, Chaos Theory is badly named. It predicts things. It says that there are stable states. You know that staying still is pretty stable - things tend to stay like that unless knocked. The same applies to straight line, constant speed and also to regular orbital motion. Chaos Theory suggests that things can be stable by going round and round without ever repeating themselves. The weather is a good example. It goes round and round much the same for years at a time without ever quite repeating itself. This book takes you through the discovery of this branch of Physics.

Darwin for Beginners

This is another Biology book and another in my favourite cartoon book series. I read this in September. I thought I knew a lot about Darwin but discovered quite a bit that I didn't already know. I wasn't aware that he sat on his discoveries for so long. What I liked most is that the person who was most enthusiastic about his discoveries, T.E. Huxley, said "The idea of Evolution by Natural Selection is so obvious that I can't believe I didn't think of it myself." I've felt like that myself over some teaching ideas I've been shown this term!

HOW MUSIC WORKS by John Powell

In this book, John Powell sets out to explain the Physics of music. It deals a lot with ideas about waves. I just play guitar in a rock band. I'm self taught and know no music theory. This book made clear links between the Physics that I do know and the music theory that I don't know. You should read it.