Anyone read any of these books?
I'm going to give a shot at winnign them (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/competition/2009/aug/18/royal-society-science-book-prize). And if I do <fingers crossed> which one should I read first?

What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life by Avery Gilbert (Crown Publishers)

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre (Harper Perennial) I think this one will be first on my list.

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes (HarperPress)

Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World's First Computer by Jo Marchant (William Heinemann)

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow (Penguin)

Your Inner Fish: The Amazing Discovery of Our 375-million-year-old Ancestor by Neil Shubin (Penguin)

Maybe it's just me, but I thought this was extremely funny.

Your Inner Fish... [by] Penguin

...The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives... (Penguin)...

LOL, ever seen a penguin walk?

Anyone read any of these books?
I'm going to give a shot at winnign them (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/competition/2009/aug/18/royal-society-science-book-prize). And if I do <fingers crossed> which one should I read first?

What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life by Avery Gilbert (Crown Publishers)

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre (Harper Perennial) I think this one will be first on my list.

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes (HarperPress)

Decoding the Heavens: Solving the Mystery of the World's First Computer by Jo Marchant (William Heinemann)

The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives by Leonard Mlodinow (Penguin)

Your Inner Fish: The Amazing Discovery of Our 375-million-year-old Ancestor by Neil Shubin (Penguin)

No not yet, this is great. These all seem most interesting, most notably, Your Inner Fish, first on my list, then Decoding the Heavens and The Drunkard`s Walk. :m:

why those ones?

why those ones?

Those particular titles match what I generally read anyway. Having just completed "The Untold History of the Potato" by Steven Carroll. :eek:

The Inner Fish would be interesting giving our gills stage in human fetal development.
Decoding the Heavens would be interesting in revisiting what we now take for granted, ie: typing this and hitting "Submit Reply"

The Drunkards Walk seems interesting in that the thousands of little events that make up our each and every day, could be utterly random? What is the point? Is there a point? Is the point the point? :D A bit of food for though to wrangle with. Also I have read all Richard Dawkins`s books, "The Blind Watchmaker" etc, without forming a definitive POV, perhaps there is something compelling in this book?