I look back 10 years to uncover some advice on checking a great source for lessons on how to write well: it is, of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/five... #stories #fictiontips #masterpiece

Review: Ghosted: Alice Vernon **** - An entertaining read on the nature of ghost hunting, a topic that teeters on the border between science and self-deception. Would benefit from a more scientific approach, but still engaging. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/ghos... #bookreview #ghosthunting

To celebrate the new look for my book Conundrum I've set up a free bonus challenge - a four part puzzle to test your mental muscles. Can you crack four Christmas-themed clues to establish the address, time and date of a secret meeting? brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/crac... #puzzles #ciphers

How not to do science example. I saw several fat squirrels on my morning walk (real data, but insignificant sample). Anecdotally, animals are good at predicting bad winters. So their feeding up tells me this winter in the UK will be harsh. #dataisnotthepluralofanecdote

Conundrum, my book of codes, ciphers and challenges, has been given a shiny new cover ready for the Christmas season. The ultimate trial of knowledge and cunning, Conundrum features 200 cryptic puzzles and ciphers. Find out more: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/crac... #puzzlesolving #giftbook

Graphs are really useful to help visualise what's happening to changing data - but it's always important to check what's written against the axes to make sure what you see is what you get: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/bewa... #datavisualisation #dodgygraphs

Headlines are dangerous things if mishandled. I am now worried about palaeontologists suffering mating injuries. Here's the real story: www.qub.ac.uk/home/News/Al...

Review (mystery): If P. G. Wodehouse had set out to write a murder mystery, it would have been a lot better than this one... but there is no doubt that Faith Martin gives a Wodehouse-lite feel to this cosy 1920s village-set murder mystery. brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/murd... #bookreview

Review: Everything Evolves: Mark Vellend ***- An interesting topic of how evolution applies to things like economics and politics, but doesn't go into enough depth in these, and seems mistaken in calling evolution a science in its own right. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/ever... #bookreview

Review (SF): Halcyon Years: Alastair Reynolds ***** - Though it takes a while for our hero to get anywhere, this future-set gumshoe noir (with detective Yuri Gagarin) is quite possibly Reynolds' best novel yet - and that's saying something. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/halc... #bookreview

Review by Andrew May - The Pale View Data Point: Jon Willis ***** - A refreshing contrast with other astrobiology books, using the only data point we have for the nature of life on a planet: our own Earth. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #bookreview #astrobiology #popularscience

I have a very bad feeling about this...

Interview: Historian of science Michael Gordin tells us why he and Diana Buchwald felt there was room for another book on Einstein, why fascination with Einstein remains high, and new areas of Einstein research. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/mich... #interview #einstein #historyofscience

Review: Discordance: Jim Baggott **** - An in-depth exploration of the emergence of the Hubble tension, where two ways of calculating the constant produce different values. Sterling effort, but a lot of data nit-picking involved. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/disc... #bookreview #astronomy

Review (mystery): Devices and Desires: P. D. James **** - Slight oddity in the James canon, this slightly old-fashioned 1989 novel has Dalgleish sidelined and takes a sudden twist where it feels a spy thriller author took over. brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/devi... #bookreview #murdermystery

Very much enjoyed chatting with Matt on The Interplanetary Podcast about my new @iconbooks book The Multiverse www.brianclegg.net/multiverse.h... - listen at podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/3... , soundcloud.com/matt-interpl... or wherever you get your podcasts #multiverse #sciencepodcast

Monty Python understood p-hacking

Review by Andrew May: The Multiverse: Brian Clegg **** - Trip through wild cosmological ideas using ‘bait-and-switch’: appearing to cover an exciting sci-fi-like topic while explaining serious & difficult physics popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #bookreview #popularscience #multiverse

Review (mystery): Guilty by Definition - Susie Dent *** - I enjoyed this lexicographical mystery set in an OED clone, but use of obscure concealed messages didn't quite work, and the writing lacked impetus: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/guil... #bookreview #mysterynovel

After being invited to apply for Editor in Chief for what appears to be an academic journal, despite zero academic experience, I wonder quite what is going on: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/just... #sciencejournals #academicpublishing #papermills

Review: Royal Observatory Greenwich: a history in objects ***** - Impressive collection of illustrated articles based on objects located in the observatory, picturing it, or are relevant to it, across the first 10 Astronomers Royal. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/roya... #bookreview #astronomy

Interview: Science writer and news editor Michael Banks tells us why physics appealed to him, the importance of relating physics to everyday life, and where to keep your toothbrush safe from toilet flush aerosols. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/mich... #interviews #physics #everydayscience

Review: God: the Science, the Evidence - Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies *** - A translated French bestseller using scientific evidence to support the existence of a creator - and other things - in a very oddly structured book. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/god-... #bookreview #god

I get irritated by the headline 'Science fiction's "warp drive" is speeding closer to reality' and indulge in a bit of a rant: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-wa... #warpdrive #hype #badsciencecommunication

Review: The War on Science: Laurence Krauss (Ed.) **** - Not as it might seem on fighting climate change deniers, but rather universities, governments and pressure groups attempting to undermine the scientific method. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #philosophyofscience #rationality

"I say I say I say, my dog's got no gnosis." "No nose? How does it smell?" [*angrily*] "He lacks any and all immanent knowledge or transcendent insight, such as was sought by Clement of Alexandria, Marcion or Simon Magus. What has smell to do with it?" "I'm sorry, I misheard."

It was two OUP books.

Any Rick Wakeman fans, I've two tickets for his concert in Aylesbury on Sunday 12th October at 7:30pm - Six Wives and King Arthur at under list price (£50 per ticket): www.ticketswap.com/listing/rick...

Interview: Science writer and educator Sarah Bearchell tells us about the hard work involved in writing a book, how the UK could be more self-sufficient in food and a renewed interest in engineering. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/sara... #foodsecurity #sciencecommunication

I have a brief encounter with Grok's Ani chatbot and get a better idea why the appeal is more than appearances might suggest: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-br... #chatbots #conversations

Review: Positive Tipping Points: Tim Lenton *** - An attempt to go beyond climate crisis rhetoric to offer solutions. Unfortunately, it's hard to imagine the required tipping point, driven by the likes of Extinction Rebellion, coming. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/posi... #bookreview #climate

After a lengthy trip to France involving a considerable amount of use of public EV chargers, I think we have some significant lessons to learn from our European neighbour: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/fren... #greenheretic #electricvehicles #carchargers

Review: The Shape of Wonder: Alan Lightman and Martin Rees **** - A genuinely interesting reflection on what it is to be a scientist and why their work is important, but it's not clear who forms the target audience. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #scientists #philosophyofscience

Interview: Marine biologist Sönke Johnsen tells us what got him interested in the ocean, why the subsurface ocean is the least-known habitat and why, despite being an author, he likes the motto 'Study nature, not books.' popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/sonk... #interviews #marinebiology

Review by @DrAndrewMay - Entropy: a very short introduction: James Binney **** - Some fascinating insights, but primarily an effective crash course in entropy for serious readers, not a popular science exploration. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/entr... #bookreview #popularscience #physics

Review (murder mystery): Death in Holy Orders - P. D. James **** This relatively late (2001) addition to the Dalgliesh mysteries was one of her best. Great sense of place if a little over-long. brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/09/deat...

Review: Seven Brief Lessons on Physics (Anniversary Edition): Carlo Rovelli *** - I can’t agree with the Guardian that this is one of the best books of the 21st century, but a useful tasting menu of a book for pop sci beginners popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/seve... #bookreview #popularscience

In a updated post from 2015 I look at the relationship between the important thermodynamics concept of entropy and the chance of a monkey with a typewriter producing my book: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/09/what... #entropy #writingbooks

Review (fantasy) - Fiends in High Places: D. C. Farmer *** - some engaging points in a plot featuring a kind of fae immigration control, but the attempt to combine fantasy and humour is heavy-handed brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/09/fien... #bookreview #UrbanFantasy

Review: The BBC: After the licence fee? *** - though some are corporate speak, the collection of essays on the Beeb’s future and how to fund it is interesting brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-... #bookreview #UKbroadcasting

Recently, physicist and science communicator Sabine Hossenfelder @hossenfelder.bsky.social has been removed from her post for criticising theories online. Even if you don't like her style, this is not the right thing to do brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/09/can-... #freespeech #sciencecommunication

What does making coffee have in common (physics wise) with volcanic lightning? This is where you'll find out:

A rarity: a genuinely different take on Albie E:

Interview: Journalist @lizkalaugher.bsky.social tells us of a light switch analogy for the scientific method, why a book about zebras became about zoonotic diseases and the best way to reduce the risk of more of these. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/liz-... #interview #environment #health

Review: Tales of Militant Chemistry: Alice Lovejoy *** - Not as the subtitle suggest about Hollywood, but Kodak and Agfa's chemistry, primarily war work. More of a magazine story: making it a book meant too detailed. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/tale... #bookreview #popularscience #chemistry

Review - Where the Axe is Buried (SF): Ray Nayler *** 15 September 2025 - Sold as a sci-fi thriller, some interesting ideas about the future of politics, but is quite heavy going and rarely thrilling. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/wher... #bookreview #sciencefiction #futurepolitics

Review (murder mystery): The Killer Question - Janice Hallett ***** - Once more we get a story told in messages that manages to both engage and enthrall - I am, as always, in awe of Hallett's cleverness. Excellent twists too. brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-... #bookreview #murdermystery

Interview: Journalist Michael Grunwald tells us why getting agriculture right is essential for the climate, the dangers of biofuel and the importance of growing more food using less land. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/mich...

Review: Physics Around the Clock: Michael Banks ***** 11 September 2025 - Makes scientific concepts approachable by tying into aspects of everyday life. While some is predictable, many surprising delights included. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/phys... #bookreview #popularscience

Review: Free Creations of the Human Mind - Diana Kormos Buchwald and Michael Gordin ***** - A very different approach to a scientific biography taking deep dives into six aspects of Einstein's mind - refreshing and interesting. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/09/free... #bookreview #popularscience