New books

acoustics

Acoustic Microscopy: Fundamentals and Applications. R. Gr. Maev. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2008. $179.00 (273 pp.). ISBN 978-3-527-40744-6 Buy at Amazon

astronomy and astrophysics

Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics. Vol. 46. R. Blandford, J. Kormendy, E. van Dishoeck, eds. Annual Reviews, Palo Alto, CA, 2008. $84.00 (585 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8243-0946-6 Buy at Amazon

Astronomical Data Analysis Software and Systems XVII. R. W. Argyle, P. S. Bunclark, J. R. Lewis, eds. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series 394. Proc. conf., London, Sept. 2007. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 2008. $77.00 (757 pp.). ISBN 978-1-58381-658-5  Buy at Amazon

The Evolution of Galaxies Through the Neutral Hydrogen Window. R. Minchin, E. Momjian, eds. AIP Conference Proceedings 1035. Proc. mtg., Arecibo, Puerto Rico, Feb. 2008. AIP, Melville, NY, 2008. $199.00 (349 pp.). ISBN 978-0-7354-0558-5  Buy at Amazon

Frontiers of Astrophysics: A Celebration of NRAO’s 50th Anniversary. A. H. Bridle, J. J. Condon, G. C. Hunt, eds. Astronomical Society of the Pacific Conference Series 395. Proc. symp., Charlottesville, VA, June 2007. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, San Francisco, 2008. $77.00 (390 pp.). ISBN 978-1-58381-660-8  Buy at Amazon

Jets From Young Stars III: Numerical MHD and Instabilities. S. Massasglia, G. Bodo, A. Mignone, P. Rossi, eds. Lecture Notes in Physics 754. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008. $79.95 (178 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-76966-8  Buy at Amazon

The Metal-Rich Universe. G. Israelian, G. Meynet, eds. Cambridge Contemporary Astrophysics. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2008. $150.00 (470 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-87998-9  Buy at Amazon

atomic and molecular physics

Relativistic Collisions of Structured Atomic Particles. A. Voitkiv, J. Ullrich. Springer Series on Atomic, Optical, and Plasma Physics 49. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008. $179.00 (284 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-78420-3  Buy at Amazon

biological and medical physics

Aspects of Physical Biology: Biological Water, Protein Solutions, Transport and Replication. G. Franzese, M. Rubi, eds. Lecture Notes in Physics 752. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008. $89.95 (233 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-78764-8  Buy at Amazon

Bioactive Conformation II. T. Peters, ed. Topics in Current Chemistry 273. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008. $259.00 (233 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-49079-1  Buy at Amazon

Biophotonics. L. Pavesi, P. M. Fauchet, eds. Biological and Medical Physics, Biomedical Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008. $189.00 (336 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-76779-4  Buy at Amazon

Biophysical Analysis of Membrane Proteins: Investigating Structure and Function. E. Pebay-Peyroula, ed. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2008. $193.00 (347 pp.). ISBN 978-3-527-31677-9  Buy at Amazon

Chemical Biophysics: Quantitative Analysis of Cellular Systems. D. A. Beard, H. Qian. Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2008. $80.00 (311 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-87070-2  Buy at Amazon

Enzyme Kinetics: Principles and Methods. 2nd rev. ed. H. Bisswanger. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2008. $193.00 (301 pp.). ISBN 978-3-527-31957-2  Buy at Amazon

Evolution from Cellular to Social Scales. A. T. Skjeltorp, A. V. Belushkin, eds. NATO Science Series B: Physics and Biophysics. Proc. inst., Geilo, Norway, Apr. 2007. Springer, Dordrecht, the Netherlands, 2008. $179.00, $74.95 paper (186 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4020-8760-8, ISBN 978-1-4020-8759-2 paper  Buy at Amazon

Health Physics in the 21st Century. J. J. Bevelacqua. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, Germany, 2008. $160.00 (562 pp.). ISBN 978-3-527-40822-1  Buy at Amazon

Mathematical Methods in Biomedical Imaging and Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). Y. Censor, M. Jiang, A. K. Louis, eds. CRM Series 7. Edizioni Della Normale/Birkhäuser, Boston, 2008. $39.95 paper (526 pp.). ISBN 978-88-7642-314-7  Buy at Amazon

Organic Computing. R. P. Würtz, ed. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008. $149.00 (355 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-77656-7  Buy at Amazon

popularizations

The Age of Everything: How Science Explores the Past. M. Hedman. U. Chicago Press, Chicago, 2008 [2007, reissued]. $16.00 paper (249 pp.). ISBN 978-0-226-32293-3  Buy at Amazon

The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life. A. K. Dixit, B. J. Nalebuff. W. W. Norton, New York, 2008. $27.95 (483 pp.). ISBN 978-0-393-06243-4  Buy at Amazon

The Best American Science Writing 2008. S. Nasar, ed. Harper Perennial, New York, 2008. $14.95 paper (316 pp.). ISBN 978-0-06-134041-3  Buy at Amazon

Chasing Science at Sea: Racing Hurricanes, Stalking Sharks, and Living Undersea with Ocean Experts. E. Prager. U. Chicago Press, Chicago, 2008. $22.50 (162 pp.). ISBN 978-0-226-67870-2  Buy at Amazon

Euler’s Gem: The Polyhedron Formula and the Birth of Topology. D. S. Richeson. Princeton U. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2008. $27.95 (317 pp.). ISBN 978-0-691-12677-7  Buy at Amazon

Hexaflexagons, Probability Paradoxes, and the Tower of Hanoi: Martin Gardner’s First Book of Mathematical Puzzles and Games. M. Gardner. The New Martin Gardner Mathematical Library 1. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2008. $50.00, $14.99 paper (193 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-75615-0, ISBN 978-0-521-73525-4 paper  Buy at Amazon

How Math Explains the World: A Guide to the Power of Numbers, from Car Repair to Modern Physics. J. D. Stein. HarperCollins, New York, 2008. $24.95 (264 pp.). ISBN 978-0-06-124176-5  Buy at Amazon

Hubble: Imaging Space and Time. D. DeVorkin, R. W. Smith. National Geographic, Washington, DC, 2008. $50.00 (223 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4262-0322-0  Buy at Amazon

Landscapes of Mars: A Visual Tour. G. L. Vogt. Springer, New York, 2008. $39.95 (138 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-75467-3  Buy at Amazon

Language of the Earth. 2nd ed. F. H. T. Rhodes, R. O. Stone, B. D. Malamud, eds. Blackwell, Malden, MA, 2008 [1981]. $34.95 (328 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4051-6067-4  Buy at Amazon

The Lightness of Being: Mass, Ether, and the Unification of Forces. F. Wilczek. Basic Books, New York, 2008. $26.95 (270 pp.). ISBN 978-0-465-00321-1  Buy at Amazon

Mars: A Cosmic Stepping Stone. K. Nolan. Copernicus Books, New York, 2008. $27.50 (379 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-34164-4  Buy at Amazon

The Noble Lie: When Scientists Give the Right Answers for the Wrong Reasons. G. Greenberg. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2008. $25.95 (243 pp.). ISBN 978-0-470-07277-6  Buy at Amazon

Origami, Eleusis, and the Soma Cube: Martin Gardner’s Mathematical Diversions. M. Gardner. The New Martin Gardner Mathematical Library 2. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2008. $50.00, $14.99 paper (234 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-75610-5, ISBN 978-0-521-73524-7 paper  Buy at Amazon

Science on the Air: Popularizers and Personalities on Radio and Early Television. M. C. LaFollette. U. Chicago Press, Chicago, 2008. $27.50 (314 pp.). ISBN 978-0-226-46759-7  Buy at Amazon

Snowflakes. K. Libbrecht. Voyageur Press, Minneapolis, MN, 2008. $20.00 (512 pp.). ISBN 978-0-7603-3498-0  Buy at Amazon

Sun in a Bottle: The Strange History of Fusion and the Science of Wishful Thinking. C. Seife. Viking, New York, 2008. $25.95 (294 pp.). ISBN 978-0-670-02033-1  Buy at Amazon

Super Crunchers: Why Thinking-By-Numbers Is the New Way to Be Smart. I. Ayres. Bantam Books, New York, 2008 [2007, reissued]. $14.00 paper (307 pp.). ISBN 978-0-553-38473-4  Buy at Amazon

This Book Warps Space and Time: Selections from The Journal of Irreproducible Results. N. Sperling, ed. Andrews McMeel, Kansas City, MO, 2008. $12.99 paper (283 pp.). ISBN 978-0-7407-7713-4  Buy at Amazon

Totality: Eclipses of the Sun. 3rd ed. M. Littmann, F. Espenak, K. Willcox. Oxford U. Press, New York, 2008 [1999]. $34.95 (341 pp.). ISBN 978-0-19-953209-4  Buy at Amazon

The Universe Before the Big Bang: Cosmology and String Theory. M. Gasperini. Astronomers’ Universe. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008. $29.95 (208 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-74419-1  Buy at Amazon

Unmasking Europa: The Search for Life on Jupiter’s Ocean Moon. R. Greenberg. Copernicus Books/Springer, New York, 2008. $27.50 (277 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-47936-1  Buy at Amazon

The Very First Light: The True Inside Story of the Scientific Journey Back to the Dawn of the Universe. Rev. ed. J. C. Mather, J. Boslough. Basic Books, New York, 2008 [1996]. $17.95 paper (353 pp.). ISBN 978-0-465-00529-1  Buy at Amazon

society and government

The Allure of Machinic Life: Cybernetics, Artificial Life, and the New AI. J. Johnston. Bradford Books. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2008. $40.00 (461 pp.). ISBN 978-0-262-10126-4  Buy at Amazon

The Crime of Reason: And the Closing of the Scientific Mind. R. B. Laughlin. Basic Books, New York, 2008. $25.95 (186 pp.). ISBN 978-0-465-00507-9  Buy at Amazon

Stuck in the Shallow End: Education, Race, and Computing. J. Margolis et al. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2008. $24.95 (201 pp.). ISBN 978-0-262-13504-7  Buy at Amazon

Will Terrorists Go Nuclear? B. M. Jen­kins. Prometheus Books, Amherst, NY, 2008. $26.95 (457 pp.). ISBN 978-1-59102-656-3  Buy at Amazon

space and planetary science

Fitness of the Cosmos for Life: Biochemistry and Fine-Tuning. J. D. Barrow, S. C. Morris, S. J. Freeland, C. L. Harper Jr, eds. Cambridge Astrobiology 2. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2008. $125.00 (501 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-87102-0  Buy at Amazon

The Search for Life Continued: Planets Around Other Stars. B. W. Jones. Springer-Praxis Books in Popular Astronomy. Praxis/Springer, New York, 2008. $29.95 paper (277 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-76557-0  Buy at Amazon

Titan: Exploring an Earthlike World. 2nd ed. A. Coustenis, F. W. Taylor. Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics 4. World Scientific, Hackensack, NJ, 2008 [1999]. $55.00 (393 pp.). ISBN 978-981-270-501-3  Buy at Amazon

Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto and How to Observe Them. R. W. Schmude Jr. Astronomers’ Observing Guides. Springer, New York, 2008. $34.95 paper (230 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-76601-0  Buy at Amazon

statistical physics and thermodynamics

Entropy and the Time Evolution of Macroscopic Systems. W. T. Grandy Jr. International Series of Monographs on Physics 141. Oxford U. Press, New York, 2008. $110.00 (209 pp.). ISBN 978-0-19-954617-6  Buy at Amazon

Meeting the Entropy Challenge. G. P. Beretta, A. F. Ghoniem, G. N. Hatsopoulos, eds. AIP Conference Proceedings 1033. Proc. symp., Cambridge, MA, Oct. 2007. AIP, Melville, NY, 2008. $225.00 (382 pp.). ISBN 978-0-7354-0557-8  Buy at Amazon

Monte Carlo and Quasi-Monte Carlo Methods 2006. A. Keller, S. Heinrich, H. Niederreiter, eds. Proc. conf., Ulm, Germany, Aug. 2006. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008. $139.00 paper (698 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-74495-5  Buy at Amazon

Thermodynamics and Fluctuations Far from Equilibrium. J. Ross. Springer Series in Chemical Physics 90. Springer, New York, 2008. $159.00 (209 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-74554-9  Buy at Amazon

texts and education

Applying Cognitive Science to Education: Thinking and Learning in Scientific and Other Complex Domains. F. Reif. Bradford Books. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 2008. $38.00 (471 pp.). ISBN 978-0-262-18263-8  Buy at Amazon

Biophysical Chemistry. J. P. Allen. Wiley-Blackwell, Hoboken, NJ, 2008. $129.95 (492 pp.). ISBN 978-1-4051-2436-2  Buy at Amazon

A Course of Pure Mathematics. 10th ed. G. H. Hardy. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2008 [1992]. $45.00 paper (509 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-72055-7  Buy at Amazon

Electronic Imaging in Astronomy: Detectors and Instrumentation. 2nd ed. I. S. McLean. Springer-Praxis Books in Astronomy and Planetary Sciences. Praxis/Springer, New York, 2008 [1997]. $99.00 (552 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-76582-0  Buy at Amazon

Energy and Climate Change: Creating a Sustainable Future. D. A. Coley. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2008. $135.00, $50.00 paper (656 pp.). ISBN 978-0-470-85312-2, ISBN 978-0-470-85313-9 paper  Buy at Amazon

Fundamentals of Physical Volcanology. E. A. Parfitt, L. Wilson. Blackwell, Malden, MA, 2008. $69.95 paper (230 pp.). ISBN 978-0-632-05443-5  Buy at Amazon

Game Theory: An Introduction. E. N. Barron. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2008. $105.95 (415 pp.). ISBN 978-0-470-17132-5  Buy at Amazon

The Intelligible Universe: An Overview of the Last Thirteen Billion Years. 2nd ed. J. A. Gonzalo. World Scientific, Hackensack, NJ, 2008 [1993]. $86.00, $46.00 paper (351 pp.). ISBN 978-981-279-410-9, ISBN 978-981-279-411-6 paper  Buy at Amazon

Ionic Transport Processes: In Electrochemistry and Membrane Science. K. Kontturi, L. Murtomäki, J. A. Manzanares. Oxford U. Press, New York, 2008. $110.00 (289 pp.). ISBN 978-0-19-953381-7  Buy at Amazon

Laser Fundamentals. 2nd ed. W. T. Silfvast. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2008 [2004]. $80.00 paper (642 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-54105-3  Buy at Amazon

The Light Fantastic: A Modern Introduction to Classical and Quantum Optics. I. R. Kenyon. Oxford U. Press, New York, 2008. $120.00, $60.00 paper (630 pp.). ISBN 978-0-19-856645-8, ISBN 978-0-19-856646-5 paper  Buy at Amazon

Materials for Engineers. W. F. Hosford. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2008. $85.00 (278 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-89997-0  Buy at Amazon

Mathematical Techniques: An Introduction for the Engineering, Physical, and Mathematical Sciences. 4th ed. D. W. Jordan, P. Smith. Oxford U. Press, New York, 2008 [2002]. $64.95 paper (976 pp.). ISBN 978-0-19-928201-2  Buy at Amazon

The Natural Laws of the Universe: Understanding Fundamental Constants. J.-P. Uzan, B. Leclercq. Springer-Praxis Books in Popular Astronomy. Praxis/ Springer, New York, 2008. $29.95 paper (135 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-73454-5  Buy at Amazon

Particles and Nuclei: An Introduction to the Physical Concepts. 6th ed. B. Povh, K. Rith, C. Scholz, F. Zetsche (translated from German by M. Lavelle). Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008 [2006]. $59.95 paper (397 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-79367-0  Buy at Amazon

Quantization Noise: Roundoff Error in Digital Computation, Signal Processing, Control, and Communications. B. Widrow, I. Kollár. Cambridge U. Press, New York, 2008. $85.00 (751 pp.). ISBN 978-0-521-88671-0  Buy at Amazon

Theories of Molecular Reaction Dynamics: The Microscopic Foundation of Chemical Kinetics. N. E. Henriksen, F. Y. Hansen. Oxford Graduate Texts. Oxford U. Press, New York, 2008. $90.00 (378 pp.). ISBN 978-0-19-920386-4  Buy at Amazon

Understanding Lasers: An Entry-Level Guide. 3rd ed. J. Hecht. Understanding Science and Technology. Wiley, Hoboken, NJ, 2008 [1994]. $70.00 paper (478 pp.). ISBN 978-0-470-08890-6  Buy at Amazon

theory and mathematical methods

Analytical and Hybrid Methods in the Theory of Slot-Hole Coupling of Electrodynamic Volumes. M. V. Nesterenko, V. A. Katrich, Y. M. Penkin, S. L. Berdnik. Springer, New York, 2008. $149.00 (146 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-76360-6  Buy at Amazon

Discontinuous Galerkin Methods for Solving Elliptic and Parabolic Equations: Theory and Implementation. B. Rivière. Frontiers in Applied Mathematics 35. SIAM, Philadelphia, 2008. $55.00 paper (190 pp.). ISBN 978-0-898716-56-6  Buy at Amazon

Frames and Bases: An Introductory Course. O. Christensen. Applied and Numerical Harmonic Analysis. Birkhäuser, Boston, 2008. $49.95 (313 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8176-4677-6  Buy at Amazon

Matrix-Based Multigrid: Theory and Applications. 2nd ed. Y. Shapira. Numerical Methods and Algorithms. Springer, New York, 2008 [2003]. $79.95 (318 pp.). ISBN 978-0-387-49764-8  Buy at Amazon

The Princeton Companion to Mathematics. T. Gowers, J. Barrow-Green, I. Leader, eds. Princeton U. Press, Princeton, NJ, 2008. $99.00 (1034 pp.). ISBN 978-0-691-11880-2  Buy at Amazon

Representations, Wavelets, and Frames: A Celebration of the Mathematical Work of Lawrence W. Baggett. P. E. T. Jorgensen, K. D. Merrill, J. A. Packer, eds. Applied and Numerical Harmonic Analysis. Birkhäuser, Boston, 2008. $79.95 (322 pp.). ISBN 978-0-8176-4682-0  Buy at Amazon

Riemannian Geometry and Geometric Analysis. 5th ed. J. Jost. Universitext. Springer, Berlin, Germany, 2008 [2005]. $69.95 paper (583 pp.). ISBN 978-3-540-77340-5  Buy at Amazon