Everyone loves a good book over the holiday period, but if you’re stuck for choice, why not check out the December issue of Physics World magazine, which contains our annual bumper reviews section.
There’s a cracking autobiography by quasicrystal pioneer Paul Steinhardt, a wonderfully written examination of the power of mathematics in physics by Graham Farmelo, the strange crossover between psychics and physics, and more besides.
Plus don’t miss Margaret Harris’s great feature on airborne wind energy – a potentially powerful new green-energy source – and Edwin Cartlidge on the potential of muons as a means to inspect cannisters of nuclear waste.
Remember that if you’re a member of the Institute of Physics, you can read the whole of Physics World magazine every month via our digital apps for iOS, Android and Web browsers. Let us know what you think about the issue on Twitter, Facebook or by e-mailing us at pwld@ioppublishing.org.
Here’s a run-down of the full issue.
• Empowering new scientific voices – Rose Mutiso and Jessamyn Fairfield say that public engagement not only makes science more accessible but also helps it to be more diverse and collaborative
• Winning starts – The story of Research Instruments and its founder, Mike Lee, is a fascinating lesson in adaptability. It also comes with a wonderful coda, as James McKenzie explains
• Paper tools – Feynman diagrams reveal why the tools theorists use are as important as the theories themselves, writes Robert P Crease
• Harnessing the wind – From Caribbean islands to the windswept coasts of northern Europe, a new way of generating renewable energy is taking shape. But will it ever reach the mainstream energy sector? Margaret Harris explores the promise and the challenges of airborne wind energy
• Muons: probing the depths of nuclear waste – Having used them to look through rock, physicists are now exploiting muons to peer inside canisters of radioactive waste. The ability could prove very handy for nuclear inspectors, as Edwin Cartlidge reports
• Occult arts and sceptical sciences – Philip Ball reviews Physics and Psychics: the Occult and the Sciences in Modern Britain by Richard Noakes
• Kamchatka or bust: an unlikely quest – Hamish Johnston reviews The Second Kind of Impossible: the Extraordinary Quest for a New Form of Matter by Paul J Steinhardt
• Mathematical mindset – Matin Durrani reviews The Universe Speaks in Numbers: How Modern Maths Reveals Nature’s Deepest Secrets by Graham Farmelo
• A relative journey – Ian Randall reviews Einstein on the Run: How Britain Saved the World’s Greatest Scientist by Andrew Robinson
Physics at the movies – the science behind the scenes: the November 2019 special issue of Physics World is now out
• Extremely absurd and incredibly fun – James Kakalios reviews How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe
• Beyond biology – JV Chamary reviews Superior: the Return of Race Science by Angela Saini
• The tempestuous genius of Fritz Zwicky – Andrew Robinson reviews Zwicky: the Outcast Genius Who Unmasked the Universe by John Johnson Jr
• Making a difference – Jude Dineley catches up with three early-career scientists whose work outside the lab is helping improve the academic environment for others
• Once a physicist – Havovy Cama is the global purchasing skills-development and training manager at Cummins, where she develops online e-learning resources for purchasing professionals
• Dark digits – Inspired by this year’s revolutionary image of a black hole, Physics World reader Michael Metcalf has created a variant of a traditional sudoku so that it begins with a central shadow surrounded by a bright region.
