Book Reviews
Our review section enlists some of the most influential leaders in academia, industry, and government to engage with important recent books. The topics coveredโincluding climate, computing, space, energy, ethics, medicine, and now fictionโreflect the diverse interests of our community. We often cover important books, such as scholarly monographs, edited volumes, and university press publications, that you won't find anywhere else.
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Winter 2025
When Nuance Is the Enemy
Read MorePete Nelson reviews Christopher Reddyโs book Science Communication in a Crisis: An Insiderโs Guide for the Winter edition of Issues.
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Winter 2025
Attempting a Democratic Technology
Read MoreJohn M. Logsdon reviews Amy Paige Kaminskyโs book about the development of and justification for NASAโs space shuttle program.
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Fall 2024
Sound Therapy
Read MoreSusan Fitzpatrick reviews a recent book that explores the connections between music, cognition, and health.
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Fall 2024
The Puzzle of Pricing the Future
Read MoreReview of Discounting the Future: The Ascendancy of a Political Technology by Liliana Doganova.
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Summer 2024
Go to Hell, Robots!
Read MoreEric Trump reviews a new translation of the classic Czech play that introduced the word โrobot,โ along with newly commissioned essays about the play.
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Summer 2024
Like the Web Is Part of the Spider
Read MoreJosh Trapani reviews โa work of fiction based on fact,โ by Benjamรญn Labatut, about the life of John von Neumann.
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Summer 2024
AIโs Wave
Read MoreCarl Mitcham and Lukas Fuchs review a recent book by Mustafa Suleyman about the implications of artificial intelligence and what policy tools could help make the technology socially beneficial.
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Spring 2024
The Science-Politics Power Struggle
Read MoreHelen Pearson reviews a new book by public policy expert Geoff Mulgan on the complex relationship between science and politics.
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Spring 2024
Design for a โMessโ
Read MoreThe world needs substantive, workable, prescriptive solutions to help navigate the hard choices humanity must make to redesign how people interact with each other and operate in the world. Does a new book by Don Norman provide these solutions?
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Winter 2024
Economists Being Economists
Read MoreReview of Power and Progress: Our Thousand-Year Struggle Over Technology and Prosperity by Daron Acemoglu and Simon Johnson.
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Winter 2024
Stories and Basic Science Collide
Read MoreAvital Percher reviews โCollision: Stories From the Science of CERN,โ edited by Rob Appleby and Connie Potter.
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Winter 2024
In Plain Sight
Read MoreMaryann Feldman reviews โAmericaโs Hidden Economic Engines: How Community Colleges Can Drive Shared Prosperity,โ edited by Robert B. Schwartz and Rachel Lipson.