Science Literacy Week Starts Monday

September 18, 2014 | Miriam

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Science Literacy Week Web Banner
The intellectually curious and science-buffs of all ages should be on the lookout for the library's Science Literacy Week displays in more than 30 branches. As well as displays, the library has organized a fabulous array of science lectures, including a number of talks on astronomy. We asked two of our speakers, Professors John Percy and Michael Reid, both at U of T's Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, to share some of their favourite titles with library users. Don't miss their lectures, too:

The Lifecycle of Stars Mon Sep 22, 2014 | 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm Yorkville branch
With Michael Reid.
 
The Amazing Universe Thu Oct 09, 2014 | 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm Steeles branch
With John Percy.
 
Crab Nebula eso9948f
Crab Nebula in Taurus. Credit: ESO (European Southern Observatory).
John Percy Recommends

The book nobody read : chasing the revolutions of Nicolaus Copernicus by Owen Gingerich, is about Gingerich's quest to track down as many first- and second-editions of Copernicus' revolutionary book. It got superb reviews.

Canadian writer Terence Dickinson's NightWatch : a practical guide to viewing the universe is a classic that has sold over 600,000 copies.

Neutrino hunters : the thrilling chase for a ghostly particle to unlock the secrets of the universe by my colleague Ray Jayawardhana has already won awards.  He was interviewed about it on TVO's The Agenda in the summer. His book Strange new worlds : the search for alien planets and life beyond our solar system is arguably the best book available on one of the hottest (and most interesting) topics in modern astronomy.

Toronto author Dr. Sharon Moalem's Inheritance : how our genes change our lives, and our lives change our genes was very favorably reviewed in the New York Times and his first book Survival of the sickest : a medical maverick discovers why we need disease was a NYT best-seller.

 

Birth of stars
Credit: NASA/James Webb Space Telescope


Michael Reid Recommends 

Non-fiction. The demon-haunted world : science as a candle in the dark by Carl Sagan. 

A brief history of time by Stephen Hawking.

Black holes and time warps : Einstein's outrageous legacy by Kip Thorne.  

Fiction. Contact by Carl Sagan (film and book). 

Rendezvous with Rama by Arthur C. Clarke. Nightfall by Isaac Asimov.

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