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Why not sign up for me free weekly email at authory.com/BrianClegg/s... ? Friday's features a 5 star book review, an odd interview, strange goings on in France and a failed prediction. #newsletter #bookreviews #sciencestories

Brian Clegg@brianclegg.bsky.social · 2w ago

A remarkable read - get it #booksky !

Review: Meet the Neighbors: Steven Benner ***** -With a distinctive personal style Benner tells us how Viking's results have been misinterpreted and how we could easily get better evidence for possible microbial life on Mars. Excellent popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2026/07/meet... #bookreview #popsci

Is there a filter on Bluesky to stop me seeing food that people have made? I was thankful when they stopped doing that on Twitter about 10 years ago - keep up people. It's not just pointless, but it makes me hungry too.

In our most compact ever interview, physicist Christophe Galfard tells us about the importance of science and why he chose his writing style… but won't say what's next. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2026/07/chri... #interviews

Christophe Galfard - Five Way Interview

Christophe Galfard holds a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from the University of Cambridge, where he was Stephen Hawking's graduate student fr...

popsciencebooks.blogspot.com

Review: The Selfish Gene (50th anniversary): Richard Dawkins **** - Though a reasonable-sized paperback has become a 500+ page monster, we have to recognise the importance of the book, despite its message not being as clear as it once was. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-... #bookreview

The Selfish Gene (50th anniversary edition) - Richard Dawkins ****

Remarkably for those who came across it in the early days, this classic of popular science writing is now 50 years old - and like many of us...

popsciencebooks.blogspot.com

Meet the Neighbors - Steven Benner *****

I love popular science books, but it's a quiet sort of love: it's not often a book like this gets me really excited - but Meet the Neighbour...

popsciencebooks.blogspot.com

Princeton University Press@princetonupress.bsky.social · 2w ago

I do get excited when a new book by a favourite author is due out and have been known to preorder it, but having waited well over 2,000 years, I think I can wait til it's published...

For the first time in #paperback, the landmark one-volume edition of the complete writings of #Plato. Featuring a new foreword by Rebecca Newberger Goldstein. The Collected Dialogues of Plato, edited by Edith Hamilton & Huntington Cairns, arrives 18 August. Preorder yours: bit.ly/4b7h41s

The Collected Dialogues of Plato edited by Edith Hamilton and Huntington Cairns. For the first time in paperback, the landmark one-volume edition of the complete writings of Plato.

Why, when I drive in France, I carry in my glove compartment a miniature equivalent of the mythical bale of hay in London cabs (or should that be ma petite botte de foin?): brianclegg.blogspot.com/2026/07/my-l... #roadsafety #frenchroads

Brian Clegg@brianclegg.bsky.social · 3w ago

Predictions can be difficult, especially about the future...

Ten years ago I was doubtful about a prediction that 'thе biggеѕt bаnkѕ in thе world in 2025 will bе technology companies' - and, it turns out, that was very reasonable doubt: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2026/07/a-ba... #banking #ITcompanies #technology

From BBC News. So, if 13.5% are outside of London and 34.7% in London, where are the rest? My pie chart is in pain…

Review (fantasy): Evil Goods - Marcus Bone *** - Humorous fantasy is very hard to get right. Initially tries too hard, but settles down to a passable adventure for some 2D characters: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2026/07/evil-goods-marcus-bone.html #bookreview #FantasyBooks #humour #booksky

Evil Goods - Marcus Bone ***

Writing a humorous novel is difficult enough - combine it with fantasy and you are taking on a challenge that seems near-impossible. Leaving...

brianclegg.blogspot.com

Review (mystery): The Charles Paris Mysteries **** - Simon Brett - if you don’t mind some rather 70s attitudes, well-written and engaging mysteries in a bargain download: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-... #bookreview #murdermystery

The Charles Paris Mysteries Books 1-6 - Simon Brett ****

All too often, bargain basement murder mystery collections aren't worth reading - but I was pleasantly surprised by this collection of six o...

brianclegg.blogspot.com

Brian Clegg@brianclegg.bsky.social · last mo.

A fundamental particle that's been around for over 13.7 billion years? Surely deserves a biography:

Review by Peet Morris: The Electron: a biography - Brian Clegg ***** The historical detail of our ideas about electricity and the electron's role in the atom make this an engaging insight into the life and work of this fundamental particle. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-... #bookreview

Brian Clegg@brianclegg.bsky.social · 4w ago

Space has inspired many a scientist and science communicator:

Interview: Science communicator Trisha Muro tells us about micro-examples of science in everyday life, how 'space stuff' inspired her passion for science and exciting future space missions. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2026/07/tris... #interviews #spacescience #sciencewriting

A banking forecast revisited

REVISIT SERIES An updated post from July 2016 When I look back at old blog posts, it's particularly interesting when the post in question ha...

brianclegg.blogspot.com

Review: The Chip Age: Rakesh Kumar ***- A solid job, informing the reader on basics of semiconductor electronics and chip making, the issues around chips used for AI, the bottlenecks in the supply chain and geopolitical influences popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-... #bookreview #IT #booksky

The Chip Age - Rakesh Kumar ***

The introductory chapter of this book, called 'there is something about chips' encourages a response of 'especially with salt and vinegar', ...

popsciencebooks.blogspot.com

A long read for you: a full chapter from a book that won't be published. It's a travel/science writing crossover taking a tour of William Fox Talbot's home and digging a little into the history of photography: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-... #sciencehistory #photography #travel

The foxy photographer

This is a (much) longer than usual read. It's a chapter from a book I've been attempting to get together for a long time - but the crossover...

brianclegg.blogspot.com

Trisha Muro - Five Way Interview

Trisha Muro is a lifelong space nerd, former high school physics teacher, and perpetual science communicator who loves helping people see - ...

popsciencebooks.blogspot.com

KimBo@zapperfan7.bsky.social · 4w ago

Interesting, but it's not a battery, it's a compressed gas store - and it hasn't just been 'switched on': they've 'secured land, planning consent, and a grid connection and has been awarded a 10-year capacity contract. It is expected to come online in 2028'. www.pv-magazine.com/2026/07/01/e...

Energy Dome to build 23 MW/200 MWh carbon battery in Ireland - pv magazine Global

The project has secured land, planning consent, and a grid connection and has been awarded a 10-year capacity contract. It is expected to come online in 2028.

pv-magazine.com

GET A GRIP Ireland is building a battery that contains no lithium. No cobalt. No rare-earth metals. Instead, it stores energy using carbon dioxide. The project is designed to hold 200 megawatt-hours of electricity, making it one of Europe’s largest long-duration energy storage systems.

Delighted to have received a thank-you gift from Steve, a former student, and all at Roger Bacon High School in Cincinnati, Ohio after sending them a bookplate to go in my Roger Bacon book www.brianclegg.net/firstscienti...