Book Reviews

Birds, bees and platypuses

After fifteen years of writing about science in magazines and newspapers, Michael Gross picked out a selection of his favourite articles for this book. Michael ... (full review)

The time traveller

The phrase 'once upon a time' is often the opening line to a fairy story. We enter a world where everything is possible, and its ... (full review)

Molecules that changed the world

The discovery in 1828 that urea could be chemically synthesised marked the end of vitalism. As the chemist, Friedrich Woehler, remarked at the time, he ... (full review)

Irish Mammals

The closest most of us get to an Irish mammal is grabbing a house mouse from the jaws of a cat. The only badgers we ... (full review)

The Hook Peninsula

The Hook is best known for the lighthouse, but as Billy Cofer reveals in this detailed study of the area, there is a lot more ... (full review)

Wexford - A Town and its Landscape

Wherever Billy Colfer goes he seems to absorb every detail of his surroundings. While teaching in Wexford he even noticed how the slight variations in ... (full review)

Cold waters, emerald seas

The temperate seas are not just extensive, they are packed with life.John Collins, when not running his pharmacy shop in Kinsale, spends his time diving ... (full review)

Rock Around Ireland A guide to Irish geology

Books Ireland, May 2008: "This very attractive and copiously illustrated book, number 2 in the Science Spin discovery series, is an excellent introduction to the ... (full review)

Creatures of Accident The Rise of the Animal Kingdom

How do complex creatures evolve from simple ones? This is a book seeking to answer this question and dispel the idea that complexity can only ... (full review)

Three centuries of Irish science

There is nothing new about science in Ireland, yet, until quite recently, not many Irish scientists made it into the history books. Most of our ... (full review)