This post was originally published in “Download the Universe,” a multi-author blog about science ebooks edited by Carl Zimmer.

February 29, 2012

Planet Killers:  A Spine-Tingling Look at Near Earth Objects, Mass Extinctions, and the Controversial Science of Planetary Defense, by Tad Friend, Byliner Originals, 2011. ($0.99: iTunesAmazonBarnes and NobleGoogleSonyKobo)

Reviewed by Tom Levenson

Continue reading “Doomsday Deflected”

This post was originally published in “Download the Universe,” a multi-author blog about science ebooks edited by Carl Zimmer.

February 28, 2012

SMILE: The Astonishing Power of a Simple Act, by Ron Gutman. TED Books, 2011. Kindle /Nook /iBookstore

Reviewed by David Dobbs

Continue reading “SMILE: The Astonishing Destructive Power of Positive Thinking”

This post was originally published in “Download the Universe,” a multi-author blog about science ebooks edited by Carl Zimmer.

February 27, 2012

Controlling Cancer: A Powerful Plan for Taking On the World’s Most Daunting Disease, by Paul Ewald. TED Books, 2012. (Kindle/Nook/iBookstore)

Reviewed by Carl Zimmer

Continue reading “The Germ Theory of Cancer”

This post was originally published in “Download the Universe,” a multi-author blog about science ebooks edited by Carl Zimmer.

February 24, 2012

Into the Forbidden Zone: A Trip Through Hell and High Water in Post-Earthquake Japan, by William T. Vollmann. Byliner Originals, 2011. (Nook/Google Ebook/Sony eReader/iTunes bookstore/Kindle Single)

Reviewed by Maggie Koerth-Baker

Continue reading “A Guided Tour of Hell”