Science resource recommendations

From Brian Beesley (posted on 12th October, 2021)

1. The Ambidextrous Universe (Martin Gardner, 1954)

Starts with the behaviour of mirrors & picks a path through chemistry and organic life through the Ozma Problem (basically, how you demonstrate what you mean by "left" and "right" to an alien intelligence with whom you can exchange only radio signals) and ending up with explanation of what was at the time cutting edge research on what physicists call "the fall of parity" which led to the understanding that electromagnetism and the weak nuclear forces which control radioactive decay are intimately related (and incidentally provides the solution to the Ozma Problem).

2. Chaos - Making a New Science (James Gleick, 1987)

A very approachable explanation of the way in which the branch of mathematics known as "catastrophe theory" emerged around 1980 from problems arising from non linear systems & has applications ranging from turbulent flow of liquids through population dynamics to crowd behaviour. (BTW "non linear systems" are to mathematics as non-elephant animals are to organic life)

3. The Recursive Universe - Cosmic Complexity and the Limits of Scientific Knowledge (Martin Poundstone, 1985)

Using a computer simulation (which it is not necessary to run) as an illustration is a rather strange way of going about demonstrating how very complex behaviour can arise from the simplest of rules but it does work well & covers just about everything from the initial stages of the universe through to the emergence of life and intelligence.

From Stuart Pollard (posted on Facebook 13 Oct 2021)

The “national” Science & Technology monthly Zoom this morning is an open forum discussion.  The first topic was AI or Real Stupidity?, so an overlap with our discussion yesterday.  It was good to hear that this, presumably well informed group, agreed on many of the points raised by us yesterday.

For info, one book recommended is Hello World: How to be human in the Age of the Machine by Hannah Fry.

From Clare Carter (posted on 13 Oct 2021)

1. Entangled Life: How fungi make our worlds, change our minds and shape our futures. (Merlin Sheldrake, 2020)

This book covers a lot of ground, chapters include Mycelial Minds, Wood Wide Webs and Radical Mycology. I found it an easy but really interesting read.

2. Vaxxers: The Inside Story of the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine and the Race Against the Virus (Sarah Gilbert and Catherine Green, 2021)

The story of the development of the AstraZeneca vaccine told by two of the women most closely involved. You might have heard extracts from it on Radio 4.