June  2014  Open  Day  -­‐  Faculty  of  Life  Sciences  recommended  reading  

Biological Sciences Review A team of editors dominated by staff from the Faculty of Life Sciences produce the Biological Sciences Review for A level (and equivalent) students. It contains a lively mix of authoritative articles and topical columns, all directly relevant to A-level, Scottish Higher and first year undergraduate students. Websites www.bsr.manchester.ac.uk www.hoddereducation.co.uk/Product?Product=9781471803260

New Scientist Weekly science and technology news magazine. Website www.newscientist.com

Scientific American Monthly science and technology news magazine. Website www.scientificamerican.com

Magazines  

Books  Title: The Compatibility Gene Author: Daniel Davies ISBN: 0241956757 Daniel M Davis (University of Manchester) tells the story of the crucial genes that define our relationships, our health and our individuality. We each possess a similar set of around 25,000 human genes. Yet a tiny, distinctive cluster of these genes plays a disproportionately large part in how our bodies work.

Title: Lab Coats in Hollywood: Science, Scientists, and Cinema Author: David Kirby ISBN: 0262518708 David Kirby (University of Manchester) examines the interaction of science and cinema: how science consultants make movie science plausible, how filmmakers negotiate scientific accuracy within production constraints, and how movies affect popular perceptions of science.

Title: Mutants: On the Form, Varieties and Errors of the Human Body Author: Armand Marie Leroi ISBN: 0006531644 Armand Marie Leroi takes us to the extremes of human mutation to explain how we become what we are.

Title: Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters Author: Matt Ridley ISBN: 185702835X The genome is the collective recipe for the building and running of the human body. These 100,000 genes are sited across 23 pairs of chromosomes. Genome is divided into 23 chapters, a chapter for each chromosome.

Title: Bad Science Author: Ben Goldacre ISBN: 000728487X Full spleen and satire, Ben Goldacre takes us on a hilarious, invigorating and ultimately alarming journey through the bad science we are fed daily by hacks and quacks.

Title: The Epigenetics Revolution: How Modern Biology is Rewriting Our Understanding of Genetics, Disease and Inheritance Author: Nessa Carey ISBN: 1848313470 The Epigenetics Revolution traces the thrilling path this discipline has taken over the last twenty years. It deftly explains such diverse phenomena as how queen bees and control their colonies, why some plants need a period of cold before they can flower and why we become addicted to drugs, and much more.

 

Title: The Selfish Gene Author: Richard Dawkins ISBN: 0199291152 Professor Dawkins articulates a gene's eye view of evolution - a view giving centre stage to these persistent units of information, and in which organisms can be seen as vehicles for their replication.

Title: A Short History of Nearly Everything Author: Bill Bryson ISBN: 0552997048 A Short History of Nearly Everything is Bill’s quest to find out everything that has happened from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization - how we got from there, being nothing at all, to here, being us.

Title: The Richness of Life Author: Stephen Jay Gould ISBN: 0099488671 In The Richness of Life, Steven Rose and Paul McGarr have selected from across the full range of Gould's writing, including some of the most famous of his essays and extracts from his major books. An introduction by Steven Rose sets both the essays, and Gould's life, in context.

Title: The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal Author: Jared Diamond ISBN: 0060845503 In this fascinating, provocative, passionate, funny, endlessly entertaining work, renowned Pulitzer Prize-winning author and scientist Jared Diamond explores how the extraordinary human animal, in a remarkably short time, developed the capacity to rule the world . . . and the means to irrevocably destroy it.