Not Exactly Rocket Science Blog
Download Not Exactly Rocket Science Blog PDF/ePub or read online books in Mobi eBooks. Click Download or Read Online button to get Not Exactly Rocket Science Blog book now. This website allows unlimited access to, at the time of writing, more than 1.5 million titles, including hundreds of thousands of titles in various foreign languages.
Not Exactly Rocket Science
In this collection of essays from the blog Not Exactly Rocket Science, award-winning writer Ed Yong takes a look at some of the quirkiest, most interesting and most ground-breaking scientific research from the last year. From Mexican-waving bees to snow-making bacteria, from the neuroscience of jazz to the psychology of voting, the clear, vivid and engaging writing makes the most complicated ideas come alive for any sci-curious reader."Few blogs make a smooth transition from computer to paper. Not Exactly Rocket Science is one of them. Ed Yong writes elegantly yet engagingly about all manner of biology, from yawning dogs to viruses of viruses. Turn off the laptop for a while, and crack open this book. You will be pleased you did."- Carl Zimmer, blogger at the Loom and author of Microcosm and Parasite Rex
The Tangled Tree
In this New York Times bestseller and longlist nominee for the National Book Award, “our greatest living chronicler of the natural world” (The New York Times), David Quammen explains how recent discoveries in molecular biology affect our understanding of evolution and life’s history. In the mid-1970s, scientists began using DNA sequences to reexamine the history of all life. Perhaps the most startling discovery to come out of this new field—the study of life’s diversity and relatedness at the molecular level—is horizontal gene transfer (HGT), or the movement of genes across species lines. It turns out that HGT has been widespread and important; we now know that roughly eight percent of the human genome arrived sideways by viral infection—a type of HGT. In The Tangled Tree, “the grandest tale in biology….David Quammen presents the science—and the scientists involved—with patience, candor, and flair” (Nature). We learn about the major players, such as Carl Woese, the most important little-known biologist of the twentieth century; Lynn Margulis, the notorious maverick whose wild ideas about “mosaic” creatures proved to be true; and Tsutomu Wantanabe, who discovered that the scourge of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a direct result of horizontal gene transfer, bringing the deep study of genome histories to bear on a global crisis in public health. “David Quammen proves to be an immensely well-informed guide to a complex story” (The Wall Street Journal). In The Tangled Tree, he explains how molecular studies of evolution have brought startling recognitions about the tangled tree of life—including where we humans fit upon it. Thanks to new technologies, we now have the ability to alter even our genetic composition—through sideways insertions, as nature has long been doing. “The Tangled Tree is a source of wonder….Quammen has written a deep and daring intellectual adventure” (The Boston Globe).
The Art of Public Writing
Author: Zachary Michael Jack
language: en
Publisher: Parlor Press LLC
Release Date: 2020-10-28
Today’s professionals recognize the need to elevate written communication beyond argument-driven pedantry, political polemic, and obtuse pontification. Whether the goal is to write the next serious work of best-selling nonfiction, to develop a platform as a public scholar, or simply to craft clear and concise workplace communication, The Art of Public Writing demystifies the process, showing why it’s not just nice, but necessary, to connect with those inside and outside one’s area of expertise. Drawing on a diverse set of examples ranging from Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species to Steven Levitt’s Freakonomics, Zachary Michael Jack offers invaluable advice for researchers, scholars, and working professionals determined to help interpret field-specific debates for wider audiences, address complex issues in the public sphere, and successfully engage audiences beyond the Corner Office and the Ivory Tower.