Food facts
A review of the book Molecules, microbes, and meals by Alan Kelly. The book is engaging in parts when there is a story to tell, such as how milk becomes cheese, but in others it’s just a materials science textbook with terrible puns. The bigger and more interesting story of our food remains untold.
Surprisingly smart
The Fundamentals of smart materials is a collection of essays written mainly by the editor Mohsen Shahinpoor. Eighteen of the 24 chapters are authored by him. Topics include piezoelectric materials, magnetostrictive materials, shape memory alloys, mechanochromic materials, thermochromic materials, chemomechanical polymers as well as self-healing materials. Read the book review.
Every star tells a story
Book review by Michael Gross of A history of the Universe in 21 stars (and 3 imposters). In his beautifully packaged book, Giles Sparrow merges the old and the new way of telling stories about stars. Read the book review.