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13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most…
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13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time (original 2009; edition 2008)

by Michael Brooks

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9683721,717 (3.66)35
Essays. History. Science. Nonfiction. HTML:

Spanning disciplines from biology to cosmology, chemistry to psychology to physics, Michael Brooks thrillingly captures the excitement of scientific discovery.Science's best-kept secret is this: even today, thereare experimental results that the most brilliant scientists cannot explain. In the past, similar "anomalies" have revolutionized our world. If history is any precedent, we should look to today's inexplicable results to forecast the future of science. Michael Brooks heads to the scientific frontier to confront thirteen modern-day anomalies and what they might reveal about tomorrow's breakthroughs.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

.… (more)
Member:lyzadanger
Title:13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time
Authors:Michael Brooks
Info:Doubleday (2008), Hardcover, 256 pages
Collections:Your library, Books I've Read, Science and Nature
Rating:****
Tags:read, readin2008, science, physics, cosmology, biology, chemistry, ladd

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13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time by Michael Brooks (2009)

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» See also 35 mentions

English (36)  Croatian (1)  All languages (37)
Showing 1-5 of 36 (next | show all)
This book is great, but not for the reasons many reviewers describe. This book takes the reader along a quick trip to cover a number of areas where science is either undergoing a shift or where the phenomenon poses puzzles that are paradoxical. While doing so the book sets an accessible dialogue about how science and knowledge production works. The book is an educational piece for people that are not involved in science or the production of knowledge by experiment. I have not found other books that are as effective at bringing lay insight participation into the process of science. ( )
  yates9 | Feb 28, 2024 |
The title of the book says it all. The author reviewed and discussed a number of areas where science still hasn't progressed far enough to answer all the questions which remain open. Among the areas he discusses are cosmological conundrums, cold fusion possibilities, medical questions involving placebos and homeopathy, and several biological areas. It just goes to prove that the more we learn, the more unknowns we discover. ( )
  rsutto22 | Jul 15, 2021 |
An amazing book about what science should be (and too rarely is) -- the exploration of results that don't make sense, and finding the actual reason why something is the way it is. The author describes some results or unexplained phenomena (ranging from "why does death exist" to the cold fusion experiments to the meaning of free will to whether fundamental constants vary with time...), how people try to explain these, and the problems people have faced with the rest of the scientific establishment when looking for answers. ( )
  octal | Jan 1, 2021 |
This is an amazing book. I've listened to the entire audiobook twice and certain sections 3 or 4 times. ( )
  James_Patrick_Joyce | Oct 24, 2020 |
Interesting but a little out of date. ( )
  duke_1138 | May 7, 2019 |
Showing 1-5 of 36 (next | show all)
De auteur, een Britse wetenschapsjournalist, probeert met dit boek een opsomming en uitleg te geven van dertien bijzondere wetenschappelijke mysteries die nog steeds niet volledig zijn opgelost. Onderwerpen zoals koude kernfusie, homeopathie, het heelal en ons leven passeren de revue. Aan de hand van diverse bestaande theorieën op het gebied van de (natuur)wetenschappen en verwijzingen naar grote geleerden uit de geschiedenis wordt aangetoond dat er nog geen eenduidige verklaringen zijn voor bepaalde experimenten en waarnemingen van de wereld om ons heen. Hebben wij mensen überhaupt wel een vrije wil? Wat is precies 'donkere energie'? En is er nu wel of geen overtuigend bewijs dat er 'ooit' leven was op Mars? Deze en vele andere vragen worden beantwoord in dit intrigerende boek. De auteur neemt de lezer mee in een bijzondere reis langs tot op heden onverklaarde raadsels van onze wereld. Hoewel het boek vol staat met specialistische termen, leest het prettig. Je raakt gefascineerd. Het is dan ook een aanrader voor lezers met belangstelling voor de natuurwetenschappen.
added by karnoefel | editNBD / Biblion
 
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Epigraph
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not "Eureka!," but "That's funny..." - Isaac Asimov
Dedication
To Mr. Sumner, for lasting inspiration and fascination. I hope this repays some of my debt. 

Also to Philippa, Millie, and Zachary for inspiration every day.
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I am standing in the magnificent lobby of the Hotel Metropole in Brussels, watching three Nobel laureates struggle with the elevator.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Essays. History. Science. Nonfiction. HTML:

Spanning disciplines from biology to cosmology, chemistry to psychology to physics, Michael Brooks thrillingly captures the excitement of scientific discovery.Science's best-kept secret is this: even today, thereare experimental results that the most brilliant scientists cannot explain. In the past, similar "anomalies" have revolutionized our world. If history is any precedent, we should look to today's inexplicable results to forecast the future of science. Michael Brooks heads to the scientific frontier to confront thirteen modern-day anomalies and what they might reveal about tomorrow's breakthroughs.

From the Trade Paperback edition.

.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary
Thirteen intriguing
Scientific mysteries
That don't make any sense.
(passion4reading)
From errant spacecrafts
To sex and death on Earth: more
Questions than answers.
(passion4reading)

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