New Books Network

Physics and Chemistry May 16, 2022

An Infinity of Worlds

Cosmic Inflation and the Beginning of the Universe

Will Kinney

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

In the beginning was the Big Bang: an unimaginably hot fire almost fourteen billion years ago in which the first elements were forged. The physical theory of the hot nascent …

Science April 29, 2022

Carbon Queen

The Remarkable Life of Nanoscience Pioneer Mildred Dresselhaus

Maia Weinstock

Hosted by Ana Georgescu

Carbon Queen: The Remarkable Life of Nanoscience Pioneer Mildred Dresselhaus (MIT Press, 2022) follows Mildred Dresselhaus (or Millie, as everyone calls her) from her childhood in New York City to her …

Ideas Roadshow Podcast April 27, 2022

Covid and the Embrace of the Biological World

Pandemic Perspectives 8

Patricia Churchland

Hosted by Howard Burton

In this Pandemic Perspectives Podcast, Ideas Roadshow founder and host Howard Burton talks to renowned UC San Diego neurophilosopher Patricia Churchland about the importance of communicating science, the wonders of …

Environmental Studies April 19, 2022

No Standard Oil

Managing Abundant Petroleum in a Warming World

Deborah Gordon

Hosted by Caleb Zakarin

In No Standard Oil: Managing Abundant Petroleum in a Warming World (Oxford University Press, 2021), Deborah Gordon shows that no two oils or gases are environmentally alike. Each has a …

Scholarly Communication April 13, 2022

The Science of Science

Dashun Wang and Albert-László Barabási

Hosted by Daniel Shea

Listen to this interview of Dashun Wang, Professor at the Kellogg School of Management and McCormick School of Engineering at Northwestern University, and also with Albert-László Barabási, Robert Gray Dodge …

Scholarly Communication March 31, 2022

Science Research Writing

For Native and Non-Native Speakers of English

Hilary Glasman-Deal

Hosted by Daniel Shea

Listen to this interview of Hilary Glasman-Deal, teacher of STEMM communication at the Centre for Academic English, Imperial College London, and author ofScience Research Writing For Native and Non-Native Speakers …

Language March 23, 2022

Language Vs. Reality

Why Language Is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists

N. J. Enfield

Hosted by Malcolm Keating

Nick Enfield’s book, Language vs. Reality: Why Language is Good for Lawyers and Bad for Scientists (MIT Press, 2022), argues that language is primarily for social coordination, not precisely transferring …

Scholarly Communication March 21, 2022

The Scientist’s Guide to Writing

How to Write More Easily and Effectively Throughout Your Scientific Career, 2nd ed.

Stephen B. Heard

Hosted by Daniel Shea

Listen to this interview of Stephen Heard, Professor of Biology at the University of New Brunswick. We talk about his book The Scientist’s Guide to Writing: How to Write More Easily …

How to Be Wrong March 10, 2022

Intellectual Humility

A Discussion with Glenn Sauer

Glenn Sauer

Hosted by John Traphagan

Today’s episode of How To Be Wrong welcomes Glenn Sauer, who is Donald J. Ross Sr. Chair in Biology and Biochemistry and Professor of Biology at Fairfield University, where he …

Princeton UP Ideas Podcast February 15, 2022

So Simple a Beginning

How Four Physical Principles Shape Our Living World

Raghuveer Parthasarathy

Hosted by Mark Klobas

The form and function of a sprinting cheetah are quite unlike those of a rooted tree. A human being is very different from a bacterium or a zebra. The living …

Scholarly Communication February 11, 2022

Retraction Watch

A Discussion with Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky

Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky

Hosted by Daniel Shea

Listen to this interview of Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky, cofounders of Retraction Watch. We talk about lots of things, retracting very few. Ivan Oransky : "Accountability in science certainly …

History of Science February 10, 2022

Helmholtz and the Conservation of Energy

Contexts of Creation and Reception

Kenneth L. Caneva

Hosted by Corinne Doria

In 1847, Herman Helmholtz, arguably the most important German physicist of the nineteenth century, published his formulation of what became known as the conservation of energy--unarguably the most important single …

Mathematics February 10, 2022

Bernoulli's Fallacy

Statistical Illogic and the Crisis of Modern Science

Aubrey Clayton

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

There is a logical flaw in the statistical methods used across experimental science. This fault is not a minor academic quibble: it underlies a reproducibility crisis now threatening entire disciplines …

Systems and Cybernetics February 8, 2022

Patterns of Connection

Essential Essays from Five Decades

Fritjof Capra

Hosted by Kevin Lindsay

Welcome to the first Systems and Cybernetics episode of 2022! After a short break over the holidays to rest and spend time with family (and, of course, read!), it’s time …

Drugs, Addiction and Recovery February 7, 2022

Fentanyl, Inc.

How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic

Ben Westhoff

Hosted by Emily Dufton

Ben Westhoff is an award-winning investigative journalist whose best-selling 2019 book Fentanyl, Inc.: How Rogue Chemists Are Creating the Deadliest Wave of the Opioid Epidemic (Grove Press, 2019), was one of the …

Science February 4, 2022

The Last Stargazers

The Enduring Story of Astronomy's Vanishing Explorers

Emily Levesque

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

Humans from the earliest civilizations through today have craned their necks each night, using the stars to orient themselves in the large, strange world around them. Stargazing is a pursuit …

History of Science January 11, 2022

Flashes of Creation

George Gamow, Fred Hoyle, and the Great Big Bang Debate

Paul Halpern

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

Today, the Big Bang is so entrenched in our understanding of the cosmos that to doubt it would seem crazy. But as Paul Halpern shows in Flashes of Creation: George …

Scholarly Communication December 31, 2021

Exploring Science Literacy and Public Engagement with Science

Ayelet Baram-Tsabari

Hosted by Avi Staiman

Listen to this interview of Ayelet Baram-Tsabari. We talk about the accessibility of science using Google to scholars and students in languages beyond English and how scholars can de-jargonize their …

Science December 29, 2021

Sticky

The Secret Science of Surfaces

Laurie Winkless

Hosted by Galina Limorenko

In Sticky: The Secret Science of Surfaces (Bloomsbury, 2022), physicist Laurie Winkless brings the amazing world of surface science to the popular science market for the first time. Atoms and …

History of Science December 28, 2021

The Astronomer's Chair

A Visual and Cultural History

Omar W. Nasim

Hosted by Corinne Doria

The astronomer's chair is a leitmotif in the history of astronomy, appearing in hundreds of drawings, prints, and photographs from a variety of sources. Nineteenth-century stargazers in particular seemed eager …