The Science Society

Stephen William Hawking is an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist and author and a Professor at the University of Cambridge.

Hawking has a rare early-onset, slow-progressing form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which has gradually paralysed him during his adult life. He famously communicates now using a single cheek muscle.

Despite this, Hawking is one of the most famous and recognisable scientists in the world, and is one of the most vocal popular scientist writers.

His book A Brief History of Time appeared on the Sunday Times best-seller list for a record-breaking 237 weeks.

Here we summarised his most popular books and pulled out the best quote from each.

“‘Why is the universe the way we see it?’ The answer is then simple: If it had been any different, we would not be here!”

A Brief History of Time (1988)

A Brief History of Time is Hawking’s most famous book. In it Hawking describes in non-technical terms what the structure, origin, development and eventual fate of the universe is and will be.

“When you’re faced with the possibility of an early death, it makes you realize that life is worth living and there are a lots of things you want to do.”

Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays (1993)

This book is a diverse collection of Hawking’s lectures and essays. They are mainly about the makeup of black holes, and why he thinks they might be nodes from which other universes grow.

“If you understand how the universe operates, you control it, in a way.”

My Brief History (2013)

My Brief History is Hawking’s memoir published. It recounts his journey from post-war London boyhood to his international acclaim and celebrity as a science celebrity.

“Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”

A Briefer History of Time (2005)

A Briefer History of Time is an update and rewrite of Hawking’s 1988 A Brief History of Time. This book presents quantum mechanics, string theory, the big bang theory, and other topics in an accessible fashion to the general public.

“Philosophy has not kept up with modern developments in science … Scientists have become the bearers of the torch of discovery in our quest for knowledge.”

The Grand Design (2010)

The Grand Design examines the history of scientific knowledge about the universe leading all the way up to 11 dimension M-theory.

“God made the integers; all else is the work of man.”

God Created the Integers: The Mathematical Breakthroughs That Changed History (2005)

God Created the Integers is an anthology, edited by Hawking, of excerpts from thirty-one of the most important works in the history of math. The title is a reference to a Leopold Kronecker quotation.

“For the majority of Americans, spending more for better food is less a matter of ability than priority”

Michael Pollan, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto

While it is true that many people simply can’t afford to pay more for food, either in money or time or both, many more of us can. After all, just in the last decade or two we’ve somehow found the time in the day to spend several hours on the internet and the money in the budget not only to pay for broadband service, but to cover a second phone bill and a new monthly bill for television, formerly free.

Michael Pollan’s book, In Defense of Food, is one that attempts to address, in a simple way, the question of what we “should” eat. The book is not a guide to certain foods that will make you healthy but much more of an examination of both the philosophy and the science of what food has become in the United States. Pollan takes the stance that our amazingly complex approach to food and food products is very likely getting us into more trouble than it is saving us from. Published in 2008, it rose to the top of the New York Times best-seller list for nonfiction and stayed at the top for six weeks.

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Karl Popper was arguably the greatest ever philosopher of science.

Popper was born in Vienna and as a student at the University of Vienna was attracted by Marxism before becoming disillusioned by what he saw as “pseudo-scientific” Marxist philosophy, and from then on remained a supporter of social liberalism .

After emigrating to New Zealand to escape Nazism, he later was made a Professor at the London School of Economics, where he stayed for the rest of his career.

He is most famous for his work on the philosophy of science, particularly in his conviction that to be called scientific a statement should be falsifiable, but was also a noted political philosopher, his stance in which was strongly influenced by his experience of communist, socialist and fascist ideologies early in his life.

Unsurprisingly, Popper left us with a huge number of inspiring one-liners. Here are our favourites.

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Educating kids in science is crucial to help them succeed in the world. But science doesn’t have to be work. It can be fund, exciting and interesting.

And what better way to do that than with science toys and kits.

There’s many of them out there, but here’s the science society’s top science toys this year.

Happy playing!

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Entrepreneurship and innovation are the drivers of the global economy, but occur mainly at ‘hot spots’ where new technologies germinate and pools of capital, expertise, and talent foster the development of new industries, and new ways of doing business. How do these clusters emerge? What is the role of governments, universities, major corporations, investors, and the individual entrepreneur?

If you want to get a handle on these centres which are changing the future of the world, you could do worse than check out these books below.

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New advances in medical science, including the unravelling of the human genome, insights of bioinformatics, among other are providing us great insights to the aging process that happens inside all of our bodies and cells.

Practical immortality may now be within our reach thanks to this cutting-edge scientific research and amazing medical breakthroughs, which are coming at such astonishing speed we can hardly keep up.

Understanding how this new science will affect your life and the structure of society is a pressing challenge for all of us.

Here are our favourite books on the topic.

Wishing you a long and healthy life!

The Blue Zones: 9 Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who’ve Lived the Longest by Dan Buettner

A long healthy life begins with good genes, sure, but it also depends on good habits – such as exercise, diet and relationships.

In Blue Zones, National Geographic Explorer Dan Buettner uncovers the secrets of ‘Blue Zones’ – regions around the world where centenarians are enjoying remarkably long and full lives. Buettner reports on the health, fitness, diet, and aging of people in these regions, and prescribes lifestyle, nutrition, outlook, and stress-coping practices that could add ‘years to your life, and life to your years’.

Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever by Ray Kurzweil & Terry Grossman

In Fantastic Voyage, the authors take the reader on a breath-taking story of the cutting-edge science regarding aging and youth: from diet to supplements, genetics to detoxification, and the hormones involved with them.

The rewards of this research into genomics, biotechnology, and nanotechnology, (but as spectacular as science fiction) are practically in our grasp. Fantastic Voyage teaches us how we can use these great new technologies to live longer than we previously imaginable.

Long for This World: The Strange Science of Immortality by Jonathan Weiner

Long for this world is a fast-paced scientific adventure from one of the best scientific journalists in the world. Is there a secret to eternal youth? And has it, finally, been found?

The author takes the reader through the strange world of the science and, yes, the pseudoscience, of radical life extension. It is a guaranteed page-turner for anyone that is mortal today and isn’t looking forward to death. Count me in!

The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity by Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott

The 100-Year Life is a wake-up call that describes what to expect in a world in which more and more of us live to be 100. In such a world, the traditional ‘three-stage approach’ to our working lives – education, work and retirement – will have to change.

Rather than focusing on the science of making such a proposition a reality, like some of the other books covered here, the authors here consider the choices and options that we will all face in society. It is fundamentally a call-to-action for everyone – individuals, politicians, firms, and governments – offering a clear argument that a 100-year life can be both a wonderful as well as an inspiring one.

Evolving Ourselves: How Unnatural Selection and Nonrandom Mutation are Changing Life on Earth by Juan Enriquez & Steve Gullans

Evolving Ourselves chronicles the worrying story about how human society is altering the nature of human life. What is the cause of the unprecedented rise of genetic conditions such autism, asthma, and allergies? What biological traits does our world select for, and what is the significance of that to us? Will our children, as a result of this, be a completely different species?

The authors explore where our remarkable new technologies for altering our bodies and our environment are taking us. They also introduce the wild possibility that this might ultimately be the cause our own extinction.

Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever by Ray Kurzweil &‎ Terry Grossman

In Transcend, Ray Kurzweil and Terry Grossman present a cutting edge and accessible program to transcend the supposed limits to human life span. Based on the vanguard in the nutrition and health sciences they distil insights from thousands of studies down to the practical tools you need now in order to live long enough to take advantage of the biotechnology and nanotechnology revolution that promises to cure all ills.

Their easy-to-follow program could help you transcend you genetic boundaries and live long enough to live forever.

Ending Aging: The Rejuvenation Breakthroughs That Could Reverse Human Aging in Our Lifetime by Aubrey de Grey

In Ending Aging, Dr. Aubrey. de Grey describes the details of the biotechnology that he believes will eliminate aging-derived decay, and ultimately death entirely. He explains that the aging of the human body results from an accumulation of different types of damage, but that this damage can periodically be repaired, leading to essentially indefinite extension of human lifetime.

By demystifying this complex science, the authors systematically dismantle the fatalist presumption that medical science will never conquer this ultimate challenge.

Eternity Soup: Inside the Quest to End Aging by Greg Critser

In Eternity Soup, science writer Greg Critser describes today’s exploding multibillion-dollar anti-aging industry, a product of the latest scientific research, entrepreneurial drive, and the human desire to live forever.

Critser walks us through every facet of the anti-aging landscape: home to zealots, skeptics, charlatans, as well as ingenious clinicians and academics.

Eternity Soup is a hugely illuminating and provocative consideration of the long-dreamed-about world that may just now be finally becoming reality.

Chasing Life: New Discoveries in the Search for Immortality to Help You Age Less Today by Sanjay Gupta

Chasing Life is not an anti-aging book, but a ground-breaking guide to function aging: living longer than many have ever thought possible.

Here, Dr. Sanjay Gupta blends dramatic accounts of incredible discoveries from around the world with practical advice on how you can apply them for optimal health and longevity. Gupta’s insights are often both provocative and counterintuitive and will revolutionize the way you think about aging, helping you live a longer and healthier life for years to come.

Aging is a Treatable Disease by Walter Parks

In Aging is a treatable disease Walter Parks describes seven programmes that you can begin practising today to dramatically improve and extend your health.

There is growing evidence of the importance of whole food plant based diets for general health as well as to limit some of the most severe diseases that are present in the diets of most of us.

The primary culprits? That is the current diet that predominates in the world: which is high in sugar, high in fat, low in fiber and low in vitamins and antioxidants.

There is a lot of argument is this area. And before real conclusions can be made there’s already a hundred and one diet guides about how to live up to this philosophy.

But how true is it? How do we know that a plant-based diet can cure your ails?

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Time's up

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Around this time of year many of us are watching our waistlines, looking for meal plans, exercises and workouts to help trim off a few pounds.

Often evidence found by scientists doesn’t match with the experience of people who’ve managed to lose weight themselves.

What about when Golden Girl Betty White attributed long life to hot dogs, french fries and a nightly glass of vodka? Who should you trust? – the people like Betty White who’ve really done it themselves, or the data from the scientists who in contrast have never really ‘walked the walk’.

Here are 5 reasons why you should listen to the scientific data over an individual’s understanding.

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We’ve written before about the evidence that food can affect your health (Vitamin C, preservatives and sugar). But your metabolism itself plays a huge role in your health and can dictate weight loss, energy levels and life span. It increases with exercise and eating, but your basal metabolism (the rate that your body uses energy even when you are at rest) uses by far the most calories of anything you do. Scientists are therefore very interested in what defines these rates.

That energy is used to power your breathing and your blood circulation, to control your body temperature, for cell growth and brain and nerve function, and all the other general functions of your body.

From Whales to worms, different animals have hugely different metabolic rates. Typically larger organisms have higher ones, and take longer to mature and live longer altogether.

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