The Raptor and the Lamb: Predators and Prey in the Living World

  • Christopher McGowan
Penguin, £8.99

“Christopher McGowan clearly loves animals and their adaptations, and this is a thoroughly enjoyable popular account, written for the reader who likes something meatier than a TV wildlife spectacular… McGowan is at his best with the sheer physicality of hunting: the magnificence of top predators such as falcons, lions, cheetahs and hunting dogs, or the effects of viscosity on motion at the scale of the plankton. In its objectivity and refusal to be emotional, the text becomes very moving — for example, in the account of ‘suicide’ by an African buffalo cornered by five lions. John R. G. Turner, Nature 396, 130–131 (1998)

Cosmology and Controversy: The Historical Development of Two Theories of the Universe

  • Helge Kragh
Princeton University Press, $19.95, £1.95

“The book recounts in often riveting detail how scientific interest in the theory of cosmology was awakened by Einstein nearly 80 years ago and how almost simultaneously the observation of the redshifts of distant galaxies by Slipher ushered in much wider involvement in the subject.” Hermann Bondi, Nature 384, 323–324 (1996)

Figments of Reality: The Evolution of the Curious Mind

  • Ian Stewart &
  • Jack Cohen
Cambridge University Press, £9.95

“Figments will not appeal to everyone. It will hold few charms for everyone homozygous for the humourless mutagene, or without much imagination. But science without humour and imagination seems rather pointless — just like books without pictures or conversation were to Alice. We need imagination to frame hypotheses, to wonder what is around the next corner, to ask “What if …. And anyone without a sense of humour should be a merchant banker, not a scientist — the pay is better, for a start.” Henry Gee, Nature 389, 452–453 (1997)

The Heavens on Fire: The Great Leonid Meteor Storms

  • Mark Littmann
Cambridge University Press, $15.95, $19.95

“Littmann tells his story with real flair, and expansively enough to teach a great deal of meteor, comet and meteorite astronomy in the process. There is considerable technical detail, mostly in side-bars, so the book is altogether satisfying both as a quick, informative read and also as a reference source.” Owen Gingerich, Nature 397, 33 (1999)

Nature Wars: People vs. Pests

  • Mark L. Winston
Harvard University Press, $15.95, £9.95

“In an articulate and accessible writing style, Winston explains the pesticide dilemma, the threat that our reliance on synthetic pesticides poses to both human health and safety and to the preservation of what is left of the natural environment ... Winston's discussion of these controversial issues ... will be helpful to anyone who hopes to develop an informed opinion about our continuing war with nature.” Lawrence M. Hanks, Nature 390, 573 (1997)

The Search for the Giant Squid

  • Richard Ellis
Penguin, $14.95

“A gold-mine of fact and fantasy, for we scientists who work on cephalopods and for all of us who love monsters.” Martin Wells, Nature 396, 641–642 (1998)