June’s paperbacks are still pouring in. Worth a read are: Nicholas Courtney’s lovely biography of Francis Beaufort (measurer of fierce wind) in Gale Force 10 (Headline, £7.99). Patricia Fara’s Newton (Picador, £8.99) is excellent, and Olivia Judson’s Dr Tatiana’s Sex Advice to All Creation (Vintage, £7.99) is a quirky glance at evolutionary biology, both entertaining and shocking. Dan Greenberg’s sharp insights into the fabric of science itself, who funds what, why and how, and the changes coming are in Science, Money and Politics (University of Chicago Press, £14/$20). For explanations as clear as glass, go to Mark Buchanan’s Small World (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £7.99) for network theory and power laws. Then head for Mars. The planet is at its closest to Earth for 73,000 years, and until late August it will be gettng a bit brighter every night until it outshines the stars. Charles Sheffield describes Oliver Morton’s Mapping Mars (Fourth Estate, £8.99) as: “The best book on Mars that money can buy.” So go buy.
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