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marcellamonteiro's review against another edition
5.0
Short, easy-to-understand, great ideas by a vast number of experts in different areas. Must read!
lindsaysofia_25's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
4.5
This is such a cool idea, I'm very excited to read the other books from this editor! I feel like I learned so much and became genuinely interested in areas of science I didn't really think about before. I did find that some of the psychology essays became redundant but otherwise there was a lot of diversity in the topics presented. Unfortunately, there was one essay, "Sex" by Helena Cronin, that came off rather TERF-y and made quite a few faulty and bad faith arguments.
oleksandr's review against another edition
4.0
This is a collection of short definitions/vingettes for many interesting terms, collected by Edge.org. The articles are on the extremely broad array of subjects: economics, physics, linguistics, psychology, medicine, environment, etc. They are collected in this book but also can be accessed for free on the website. Here are several articles I found interesting to name just a few:
The Genetic Book of the Dead
Mating Opportunity Costs
Sex
Fundamental Attribution Error
The Menger Sponge
Ansatz
The Gaia Hypothesis
Russell Conjugation
The Genetic Book of the Dead
Mating Opportunity Costs
Sex
Fundamental Attribution Error
The Menger Sponge
Ansatz
The Gaia Hypothesis
Russell Conjugation
littlefrank's review against another edition
3.0
This book is almost the definition of a mixed bag.
On the plus side there are dozens of articles about scientific ideas. Some of them are interesting, but some seem self-indulgent. Inevitably, the interesting ones seem to finish quickly and leave you wanting to know more, so I guess it can act as an introduction and a jumping-off point for further research.
The less interesting ones seem to go on for ages, and some are pretty much impenetrable. I can't imagine wanting to re-read it, so maybe take it out of a library, make some notes and go elsewhere for the real meat of the topics.
On the plus side there are dozens of articles about scientific ideas. Some of them are interesting, but some seem self-indulgent. Inevitably, the interesting ones seem to finish quickly and leave you wanting to know more, so I guess it can act as an introduction and a jumping-off point for further research.
The less interesting ones seem to go on for ages, and some are pretty much impenetrable. I can't imagine wanting to re-read it, so maybe take it out of a library, make some notes and go elsewhere for the real meat of the topics.
sstorm548's review against another edition
2.0
In retrospect, the weaknesses of this book should have been obvious to me. With several hundred idea essays in one book, each written by a different author and given only a few pages, there is a large amount of chaff. I found the majority of the essays to be duds - ideas poorly described, poorly chosen, or both. They're difficult to skim since each essay is already in essence a summary. The end result was that this book was a slog with occasional bright spots.
Reading other people's reviews, it's clear that these ideas were new to many people. Very few were new to me since I've read popular science widely for most of my life. Not that that makes me smarter than the average reader, but I think it's an important data point - I'd recommend that others like me steer clear of this book. If you're looking for a great way to find new concepts (as I was), your time is better spent looking through the table of contents and tracking down more in-depth work on anything especially appealing.
Reading other people's reviews, it's clear that these ideas were new to many people. Very few were new to me since I've read popular science widely for most of my life. Not that that makes me smarter than the average reader, but I think it's an important data point - I'd recommend that others like me steer clear of this book. If you're looking for a great way to find new concepts (as I was), your time is better spent looking through the table of contents and tracking down more in-depth work on anything especially appealing.
christianhartman's review against another edition
4.0
Keep spreading the gospel of scientific literacy, few things would be as world-changing. Brilliant.
shimizee's review against another edition
2.0
In a collection of 200 brief essays by 200 personalities you cannot expect a common style, approach or level of interest. There are great texts about important concepts, such as Pinker's beautiful reflection on the second law of thermodynamics, and there are disappointing contributions about obscure ideas. Anyway the book succeeds in portraying the depth and richness of current natural and social sciences.
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