It only makes sense that an accomplished writer on chemistry takes a look at a hugely successful ebook on chemistry. Here’s Deborah Blum’s review of Theodore Gray’s “The Elements.”
Originally published February 21, 2012. Copyright 2012 Carl Zimmer.
Category: Blog
I’d like to draw your attention to a new project some colleagues and I have built: a science ebook review.
For over a year now, ebooks about science have been published at a remarkable clip, but there’s been a serious gap in this growing ecosystem: a way for people who want to read new ebooks about science to find out about new projects. Because science ebooks are so new, they have a way of falling between the cracks. Conventional book reviews aren’t very interested; blogs only sporadically pay attention.
Continue reading “Introducing Download the Universe: A new science ebook review”
We can see because neurons in our eyes take in visible light and relay electric signals to the brain. But some of the neurons in our retinas detect light that we cannot actually see. In fact, people who lose all their other retinal cells except these neurons are blind. If you shine a light in their eyes and ask them to guess the color, however, they guess very well. It turns out these neurons feed this invisible light to many parts of the brain. In my latest column for Discover, I take a look at this hidden light. Check it out.
[Image: Billy Rowlinson on Flickr via Creative Commons]
Originally published February 17, 2012. Copyright 2012 Carl Zimmer.
One mission of the Loom is to champion unjustly neglected forms of life. And so I spend a lot of time blogging about the sinister powers of parasites. But I don’t want to leave you with the impression that hosts are simply helpless bags of grub. Hosts have evolved defenses to ward off parasites, and those defenses can be just as baroque and marvelous as the adaptations of their parasites.
Continue reading “Flies and booze: strictly for medicinal purposes”
For a lot of writers, there’s no greater dream than to get onto the Colbert Report or the Daily Show.
This was not exactly how my dream was supposed to go.