by Ruth Winter
Suzanne Mantell says in her article in the September 4 Publishers Weekly that ever since Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time captured the #1 spot on the best-seller lists seven years ago, top scientists have been viewed as glamorous and marketable commodities. Whether they can actually turn out a book for lay consumption, Mantell goes on to write, physicists, cosmologists, biologists, and their ilk have been receiving... invitations to regale a lay readership with stories about quarks, quasars, neurons, and other marvels. Among the titles that she thought were promising for the Fall were Michael Guillen's Five Equations that Changed the World: The Power and Poetry of Mathematics. She called it "short, easy-to-read biographies of people famous in physics famous for their formulation of equations that caused something to happen." Guillen is a Harvard instructor and science editor of ABC-TV. He can be reached at 212-456-5913.
Patricia Barnes-Svarney, upstate New York free-lance, is the editorial director of The New York Public Library Science Desk Reference, published by Macmillan USA; several NASW members also helped with various chapters. The book contains basic reference information on the sciences, including astronomy, earth science, environmental science, physics, chemistry, scientific measurement, time, and science symbols. Besides the basics, each chapter lists major discoveries in the field, famous scientists, common terms and useful science resources. The book also includes controversy, and "entertainment" in the form of sidebars that mention the interesting, controversial, and unknown. There are references, for instance, to global warming and to worm holes. The book has been taken by three book clubs including Book-of-the-Month. Barnes-Svarney's number is 607-748-0892. The PR for the book is Sharon Heede, 212-654-8234.
B. Blake Levitt, a former feature writer for the New York Times and now a Connecticut free-lance, is the author of Electromagnetic Fields: A Consumer's Guide To The Issues And How To Protect Ourselves, published by Harvest Books. She writes, "Recent legal judgments support what some environmental activists have long said: Those ubiquitous fields can pose a serious challenge to our health and environment as well as housing values and community development plans." Levitt describes why and where electromagnetic fields (EMFs) occur, which illnesses may have a strong connection to them, and why our doctors' knowledge is limited. She can be reached at 203: 868-7437. The PR for Harvest Books is Hannah Robinson 619-231-6616.
Tabitha Powledge, a Maryland free lance, has written a book for ages 12 and up, Your Brain: How You Got It and How It Works. It was published by Scribner's. School Library Journal called it "a comprehensive, interesting, and informative overview of brain structure and function." Powledge's phone number is 301:373-5466 and she can be reached on CompuServe at 76556,13. To obtain a press copy, call 212-702-2000.
Meredith Small writes that her book, What's Love Got To Do With It? The Evolution of Human Mating, has been published by Anchor Books, and review copies can be obtained by a letter faxed on letterhead to Anchor at 212-782-8911, attention Tracy George, publicity.
Other books of interest:
After Death: A New Future for Human Consciousness by Darryl Reanney, published by William Morrow. Before his death in early 1994, Reanney ran his own biotechnology company in Australia and taught molecular biology in colleges. His recently published well-written and intriguing book looks at the physical, biological, and religious aspects of death and concludes that "death as the end" is an illusion created by our flawed sense of time. Using the evolutionary perspective to suggest that highly evolved states of consciousness transcend time, and therefore death, he restores the idea of everlasting life and shows how modern biology and physics support rather than deny the existence of immortality. You still can't call Reanney but the PR person for the book is Suzanne Flatley at (212) 261-6561.
Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason and the Human Brain, by Antonio Damasio, a Professor of Neurology at The University of Iowa and adjunct professor at the Salk Institute, challenges current notions about moral behavior and the ability to distinguish right from wrong. In his book published by Avon, he tells the story of a patient who had a small part of his brain removed because of a tumor. After surgery, he performed magnificently on all tests of intellectual ability. He spoke flawlessly, could perform mathematical calculations, had an excellent memory, and in many ways seemed unchanged. Yet he was consistently unable to learn from mistakes or make decisions that were best from him. The PR for the book is Gilly Hailparn 212-261-6905.
Neuroscience, Memory, and Language, published by the Library of Congress, contains eleven papers from symposia cosponsored by the Library and the National Institute of Mental Health. The symposia was held to mark the Decade of the Brain. The book points out that scientists have learned nearly 90 percent of what they know about the brain in the past 10 years, thanks to revolutionary advances in molecular biology, biomedical imaging, structural chemistry, immunology, psychology, and computer science. Nobel Laureate Gerald Edelman wrote in the book: "A knowledge of brain science will provide one of the major foundations of the new age to come. That knowledge will spawn cures for disease, new machines that are based on brain function, further insights into our nature and how we know. There is no better ground for hope in things human." For a copy, contact Sherry Levy-Reiner, Project Coordinator, Decade of the Brain, at 202-707-1513.
Sea Grant's Guide to Coastal Science Experts is a directory of the top marine science researchers, educators and interpreters around the United States. For a copy, contact Ben Sherman, National Media Relations Coordinator, Sea Grant, 301-314-9187.
Antibiotic Resistance Transfer in the Mammalian Intestinal Tract, by University of Illinois Microbiologist Abigail Salyers published by R.G. Landers Co., provides an extensive overview of antibiotic resistance, and she covers the eight bacteria causing today's problems. Salyers said "The current plague of resistant strains is taking its toll not by causing widespread death and destruction but by driving up health-care costs and diverting precious medical resources." She says market forces in the 1970s led to a glut of antibiotics, giving rise to a false optimism that clinicians could cure infectious diseases. Salyers said that a possible transfer of resistance may be created by foods such as cheese, yogurt, cured meats and some types of pickles. For more information and interviews with Salyers, contact Jim Barlow of The University of Illinois News Bureau 217: 333-5802 and jbarlow@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu.
The Story of Math, by Lloyd Motz and Jefferson Hane Weaver, published by Avon, traces the history of mathematics from ancient Greece to modern calculus. The authors introduce readers to Euclid, Pythagoras, Descartes, and later to the modern age geniuses such as Newton, Gauss, and Einstein. They focus on the men behind the theorems creating a lively history from what may be considered by some dry and academic. For more information contact Adam Handelsman, Avon publicist at 212-261-6904.
Please send information about your books directly to Ruth Winter, 44 Holly Drive, Short Hills, NJ 07078-not to NASW headquarters.
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