reviews
SPQR: A History of
Ancient Rome
Mary Beard
Profile Books • 978 1 8466 8380 0
This one is clearly for the history
buffs, especially those with a strong
leaning towards academia. Covering
over 1 000 years of Roman history in
some 600 pages, this is no light read
nor does it skim over the complex and
confounding story that is the rise and
fall of this once great empire. You will
not find a clearer and more thorough
coverage of Rome than this – and it's
readable too.
Sex on Earth
Jules Howard
Bloomsbury • 978 1 4081 9343 3
National Geographic describes this
one as a 'refreshingly self-aware
exploration of the most intimate
moments in nature', which pretty well
sums it up. The subtitle is: A Journey
Through Nature's Most Intimate
Moments, confirming the NG was
probably on the right track with its
assessment. Covering everything from
pandas and pelicans (both featured
on the cover) to just about every other
creature that engages in mating and
sexual reproduction, this book strips
away any illusions one might have
held about the nature of sex, its role in
evolution as a primary driver and why
just about everything more evolved
ODYSSEY 86
•
DIGIMAG
than an amoeba engages in this
activity. Great for the naturalists and
anyone wanting to really understand
why sexuality and humanity will never
be divorced, no matter how far we
evolve.
The Great
Scientists in BiteSized Chunks
Nicola Chalton &
Meredith MacArdle
Michael O'Mara Books • 978 1 7824 3414 6
This great little books, with its rather
cute Victorian-feel dust cover, spans
2 500 years of scientific discoveries
and the great scientists behind them.
Some you will obviously know – like
Newton or Einstein – but there are
plenty of surprises too, like Aryabhata,
who weirdly outlined trigonometry in
verse or 15th century rabbi Abraham
Zacuto, whose prediction of a lunar
eclipse saved the life of Christopher
Columbus. This is one of those books
which will either appeal or not, but if
the former, there many gems to be
found within these pages.
Stress Gone!
Bridget Edwards
Expand Your Mind Publishers
978 1 7720 4306 8
The subtitle of this one is: How to
Identify and Reduce Stress Easily.
Given the current circumstances of
planet Earth and that of the great
majority of its human occupants,
the claims of both title and subtitle
might be an over-reach. However,
there cannot be any harm in pointing
out, to those very few who do not
already know this intimately, that
stress can have extremely serious and
deleterious effects on one's health,
well-being and state of mind and
consciousness. That being said, there
are no doubt some lessons to be
learnt in this book for everyone, even
those among us who are working
hard at reducing our stress levels – or
at least on their degree of reactivity to
the all-pervading stresses that seem
to be multiplying and invading every
corner of just about everyone's life.
To All The People
Of the Planet
Brett Austin
Reach Publishers • 978 0 6206 4469 3
On one level this is a book about a
grossly overweight man who starting
eating and living correctly and
consequently lost 45kgs, thereby
claiming back his self-esteem, his life
and his sense of purpose. On another
level it is a missive to everyone on
a better way of living that may well
be generally applicable. Chapters
include, You Are What You Eat,
Perseverance is 100% Self Control
and Tune In To a Powerful Frequency.