You can take these science books to the beach

Aug. 5, 2008 — -- Still looking for that perfect summer beach book? Science might offer the answer — pitch your umbrella, relax in the waves and delve into the latest from the frontiers of science.

•Stop worrying about sharks at the beach with The Science of Fear: Why We Fear Things we Shouldn't and Put Ourselves in Greater Danger by Daniel Gardner (Dutton, $24.95). The author shares insights from psychology and neuroscience into how our gut instincts scare us stupid about the wrong things. "We have, in effect, two minds working semi-independently of each other," Gardner writes, our gut instincts and our rational minds. Both are error-prone, sadly, leading to exaggerated worries over crime (falling) and disasters (rare), but apathy over climate change (likely) and measles (which kills almost 300,00 children worldwide annually). Gardner intersperses talks with scientists with episodes from news events to make his points. "There's Never Been a Better Time to Be Alive," sums up his final chapter.

•Or if your trashy thriller isn't giving you enough scares, ponder Armageddon with A Nuclear Family Vacation: Travels in the World of Atomic Weaponry by Nathan Hodge and Sharon Weinberger (Bloomsbury, $24.95), an unusual travel book that took the married military writers from the U.S. atom labs to Soviet test sites in Kazakhstan to Iran's Esfahan Uranium Conversion Facility. "Nuclear history is still being written" in labs worldwide where nuclear capabilities, not just Iran's, are being upgraded. Perhaps for a sequel they'll travel to North Korea, they write.

•If it's a mystery you are after, you might try 13 Things That Don't Make Sense: The Most Baffling Scientific Mysteries of Our Time (Doubleday, $23.95) by Michael Brooks. The New Scientist writer tackles the big ones, such as the Dark Energy pulling the universe apart at an accelerating rate; the perplexing, such as the apparent illusory nature of "Free Will," where neuroscientists find we only become conscious of our actions after our unconscious has already started them; and (of course) sex. "There are better ways to reproduce," he confides. Each chapter tackles the questions separately, perfect for drying off from a dip in the pool or arming yourself with cocktail party chatter at a Mensa event.