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JOHN BATCHELOR SHOW
 
Hour One
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 1, Block A: Thor Hanson, Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle  (1 of 2)
BioScience  “From basic research about bird biology and the evolutionary origins of feather to falconry, couture, and bioinspiration in industrial design, the book treats us to a series of engaging essays about feathers, both on and off the bird.... Hanson weaves his prior encounters with birds and his experiences as a scientist into the text, offering lively anecdotes about his student days and subsequent life as a professional grant-seeking field biologist. He is particularly adept at portraying how science really works…. Hanson's prose is polished, lively, and evocative. The outcome is a book that is easy and entertaining to read, yet one that is able to satisfy our intellectual curiosity.... In Feathers, Hanson is remarkably successful at offering something for everyone. Readers from young adults to professional ornithologists and from those interested in nature to those more interested in human culture will enjoy this book.... Ultimately, Feathers is a book to read for pleasure, but along the way, we gain knowledge and insight into nature and our relationship with it.”
Frank B. Gill, author of Ornithology   “Thor Hanson has captured the wonders of feathers in gripping prose that will likely change forever how you look at birds and their colorful adornments. This is rich and engaging ornithology at its best.”
Garth Stein, author of The Art of Racing in the Rain   “If you feel a sudden need to read about dinosaurs, flyfishing, muttonbirds, and showgirls, this is your book! Absolutely fascinating history, and a terrific read, Feathers is another Thor Hanson classic!”
Peter Matthiessen, National Book Award winning author of The Snow Leopard and Shadow Country  “A fascinating book about the most remarkable—and beautiful—of all avian evolutionary adaptations, with wonderful accounts of ornithological investigations and the solving of biological quandaries and questions, all of it unusually well-written. Highly recommended.” 
Wall Street Journal  “[Hanson] has produced a winning book about the extraordinary place of feathers in animal and human history…. like all true birdwatchers, Mr. Hanson knows it isn't just the bird at the far end of the binoculars but the human being at the near end that matters, and he is writing as much about the human urge to understand, appreciate and appropriate the wild world as he is writing about feathers, which he calls, in his subtitle, a ‘natural miracle.'.... Feathers is an earthbound book, but this does not keep the author—or the reader—from looking up in wonder.”
New York Times  “[A] fine book.... Mr. Hanson's pleasure in feathers is infectious.... [Feathers] is gracious, funny, persuasive and wide ranging. Feathers, Mr. Hanson reminds us, teach a remarkable amount about evolution, insulation, engineering, archaeology and fashion. Better still, as this book shows, they allow not only birds but the human imagination to take flight.”
New Scientist   “[A] sparkling history.... Well-written science adds gravity to the more featherweight content of witty anecdotes — from interviews with feather-clad Las Vegas showgirls to plucking roadkill in the name of biology. The skilful way Hanson combines the two makes this book popular natural history at its best.”
Seattle Times   “[D]elightful.... [A] fascinating inquiry into one of those common things that are easy to overlook until someone shows what a miracle it is.... Birds, the only animals with feathers today, wear these magic coats of stunning variety whose forms so perfectly fit their functions. Hanson's book reveals much about that marvelous magic.”
Library Journal (starred review)
“[E]njoyable, wide-ranging, and well-researched.... Highly recommended for birders and science buffs.”
Maclean's  “[E]ngaging.... For all the intriguing science, what really livens up Hanson's passionate discussion of his ‘natural miracle' are the stories he tells.”
Nature  “Thor Hanson's storytelling is enhanced by his infectious excitement.... Hanson's tale is comprehensive, accurate, timely and engaging.... Feathers is a compelling introduction to one of nature's wonders.”
Science   “Hanson writes in a colorful, conversational, and non-technical manner that conveys his enthusiasm for the subject.... The book offers a readable introduction to feathers and what they mean for birds and mankind.”
Bird Watcher's Digest  “To read Feathers is to meet up with an enthusiastic old friend who simply cannot wait to tell you about something he just discovered. Deceptively conversational and fast moving, disguising the true depth of information it conveys with buoyant, good-humored prose, Feathers is a book not only intellectually accessible to anyone with an interest in the subject but also one that should be considered a must-read by bird watchers and naturalists of all levels of interest or experience.”
Audubon  “[C]aptivating.... Beginning with the evolution of birds, Hanson, a biologist, explains competing theories with ease, and unfolds the human fascination with feathers in terms of science, commerce, tools, folklore, art, and aerodynamics with panache. Anecdotes infuse the fascinating survey.”
Montana Outdoors  “[A] delight. As the name makes clear, it's all about feathers—their evolution, use by birds, and extremely high value to humans, from quill pens and trout flies to women's hats and Aztec emperor headdresses.”
Robert Michael Pyle, author of Wintergreen and Mariposa Road   “Feathers is simply a splendid book! Even for one biased toward butterfly scales, their closest competitors in the animal raiment line, feathers in all their glory can only be seen as astonishing. With elegance and wit, Thor Hanson captures not only their awesome esthetics, but also the astonishing evolution, historical and cultural impact, and sheer wonder of avian plumage. Rendered in exquisite detail with delicate touch, like a feather-painting of old, this is the best kind of natural history—quilled by a real field biologist who is also a fine writer.”
Bernd Heinrich, Emeritus Professor of Biology, University of Vermont; author of Winter World and Mind of the Raven   “Feathers are truly remarkable. In this book Hanson shows how they are the key to many of the most fascinating and diverse aspects of bird biology, how they have affected our understanding of evolution, and how they have and are enriching our everyday lives. This is science written in clear and entertaining prose; a great read.”
Thor Hanson is a conservation biologist, Switzer Environmental Fellow, and member of the Human Ecosystems Study Group. His first book, The Impenetrable Forest: My Gorilla Years in Uganda, won the 2008 USA Book News Award for nature writing. Hanson lives with his wife on an island in Washington State.   https://www.amazon.com/Feathers-Evolution-Natural-Thor-Hanson/dp/0465028780/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1498089189&sr=1-1&keywords=THOR+HANSON+FEATHERS
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 1, Block B: Thor Hanson, Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle  (2 of 2)
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 1, Block C:  Hanika Rizo, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington; in re:  “Preservation of Earth-forming events in the tungsten isotopic composition of modern flood basalts”  How much of Earth's compositional variation dates to processes that occurred during planet formation remains an unanswered question. High-precision tungsten isotopic data from rocks from two large igneous provinces, the North Atlantic Igneous Province and the Ontong Java Plateau, reveal preservation to the Phanerozoic of tungsten isotopic heterogeneities in the mantle. These heterogeneities, caused by the decay of hafnium-182 in mantle domains with high hafnium/tungsten ratios, were created during the first ~50 million years of solar system history, indicating that portions of the mantle that formed during Earth’s primary accretionary period have survived to the present.  http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6287/809.full  (1 of 2)
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 1, Block D:   Hanika Rizo, Department of Terrestrial Magnetism, Carnegie Institution of Washington; in re:  “Preservation of Earth-forming events in the tungsten isotopic composition of modern flood basalts” http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6287/809.full  (2 of 2)
 
Hour Two
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 2, Block A:  Lawrence M. Krauss and Richard Dawkins, A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing  (1 of 2)
The theoretical physicist Krauss, author of several books about physics, including The Physics of Star Trek (1995), admits up front that he is not “sympathetic to the conviction that creation requires a creator.” The book isn’t exclusively an argument against divine creation, or intelligent design, but, rather, an exploration of a tantalizing question: How and why can something—the universe in which we live, for example—spring from nothing? It’s an evolutionary story, really, taking us back to the Big Bang and showing how the universe developed over billions of years into its present form. Sure to be controversial, for Krauss does not shy away from the atheistic implications of a scientifically explainable universe, the book is full of big ideas explained in simple, precise terms, making it accessible to all comers, from career physicists to the lay reader whose knowledge of the field begins and ends with a formula few understand, E=mc². —David Pitt
"In A Universe from Nothing, Lawrence Krauss has written a thrilling introduction to the current state of cosmology—the branch of science that tells us about the deep past and deeper future of everything. As it turns out, everything has a lot to do with nothing—and nothing to do with God. This is a brilliant and disarming book." — Sam Harris, author of The Moral Landscape
"Astronomers at the beginning of the twentieth century were wondering whether there was anything beyond our Milky Way Galaxy. As Lawrence Krauss lucidly explains, astronomers living two trillion years from now, will perhaps be pondering precisely the same question! Beautifully navigating through deep intellectual waters, Krauss presents the most recent ideas on the nature of our cosmos, and of our place within it. A fascinating read."  —Mario Livio, author of Is God A Mathematician? and The Golden Ratio
"In this clear and crisply written book, Lawrence Krauss outlines the compelling evidence that our complex cosmos has evolved from a hot, dense state and how this progress has emboldened theorists to develop fascinating speculations about how things really began."  —Martin Rees, author of Our Final Hour
“A series of brilliant insights and astonishing discoveries have rocked the Universe in recent years, and Lawrence Krauss has been in the thick of it. With his characteristic verve, and using many clever devices, he’s made that remarkable story remarkably accessible. The climax is a bold scientific answer to the great question of existence: Why is there something rather than nothing.” —Frank Wilczek, Nobel Laureate and Herman Feshbach professor at MIT, author of The Lightness of Being
"With characteristic wit, eloquence and clarity Lawrence Krauss gives a wonderfully illuminating account of how science deals with one of the biggest questions of all: how the universe's existence could arise from nothing. It is a question that philosophy and theology get themselves into muddle over, but that science can offer real answers to, as Krauss's lucid explanation shows. Here is the triumph of physics over metaphysics, reason and enquiry over obfuscation and myth, made plain for all to see: Krauss gives us a treat as well as an education in fascinating style." —A. C. Grayling, author of The Good Book
"We have been living through a revolution in cosmology as wondrous as that initiated by Copernicus. Here is the essential, engrossing and brilliant guide." —Ian McEwan
“Nothing is not nothing. Nothing is something. That's how a cosmos can be spawned from the void -- a profound idea conveyed in A Universe from Nothing that unsettles some yet enlightens others. Meanwhile, it's just another day on the job for physicist Lawrence Krauss.”  —Neil deGrasse Tyson, Astrophysicist, American Museum of Natural History
"Lively and humorous as well as informative . . . As compelling as it is intriguing.” (Publishers Weekly)
“[An] excellent guide to cutting-edge physics . . .  It is detailed but lucid, thorough but not stodgy… [an] insightful book… Space and time can indeed come from nothing; nothing, as Krauss explains beautifully. …A Universe from Nothing is a great book: readable, informative and topical.” (New Scientist)
"Krauss possesses a rare talent for making the hardest ideas in astrophysics accessible to the layman, due in part to his sly humor… one has to hope that this book won't appeal only to the partisans of the culture wars – it's just too good and interesting for that. Krauss is genuinely in awe of the "wondrously strange" nature of our physical world, and his enthusiasm is infectious.” (San Francisco Chronicle, Huffington Post, AP)
“How physicists came up with the current model of the cosmos is quite a story, and to tell it in his elegant A Universe From Nothing, physicist Lawrence Krauss walks a carefully laid path… It would be easy for this remarkable story to revel in self-congratulation, but Krauss steers it soberly and with grace… His asides on how he views each piece of science and its chances of being right are refreshingly honest…unstable nothingness, as described by Krauss… is also invigorating for the rest of us, because in this nothingness there are many wonderful things to see and understand.” (Nature)
"In A Universe From Nothing, Lawrence Krauss, celebrated physicist, speaker and author, tackles all that plus a whole lot else. In fewer than 200 pages, he delivers a spirited, fast-paced romp through modern cosmology and its strong underpinnings in astronomical observations and particle physics theory.Krauss’s slim volume is bolder in its premise and more ambitious in its scope than most. He makes a persuasive case that the ultimate question of cosmic origin – how something, namely the universe, could arise from nothing – belongs in the realm of science rather than theology or philosophy." (Globe & Mail)
“An eloquent guide to our expanding universe… There have been a number of fine cosmology books published recently but few have gone so far, and none so eloquently, in exploring why it is unnecessary to invoke God to light the blue touchpaper and set the universe in motion.” 
(Financial Times)
"His arguments for the birth of the universe out of nothingness from a physical, rather than theological, beginning not only are logical but celebrate the wonder of our natural universe. Recommended." (Library Journal)
“Krauss possesses a rare talent for making the hardest ideas in astrophysics accessible to the layman, due in part to his sly humor… one has to hope that this book won't appeal only to the partisans of the culture wars – it's just too good and interesting for that. Krauss is genuinely in awe of the "wondrously strange" nature of our physical world, and his enthusiasm is infectious.” (Associated Press)
"With its mind-bending mechanics, Krauss argues, our universe may indeed have appeared from nowhere, rather than at the hands of a divine creator. There's some intellectual heavy lifting here—Einstein is the main character, after all—but the concepts are articulated clearly, and the thrill of discovery is contagious. 'We are like the early terrestrial mapmakers,' Krauss writes, puzzling out what was once solely the province of our imaginations." (Mother Jones)
"The author delivers plenty of jolts in this enthusiastic and lucid but demanding overview of the universe, which includes plenty of mysteries—but its origin isn’t among them. A thoughtful, challenging book." (Kirkus)
"People always say you can't get something from nothing. Thankfully, Lawrence Krauss didn't listen. In fact, something big happens to you during this book about cosmic nothing, and before you can help it, your mind will be expanding as rapidly as the early universe." (Sam Kean, author of The Disappearing Spoon)
"A very interesting read from a foremost physicist of our time." (Santa Barbara Independent)
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 2, Block B:  Lawrence M. Krauss and Richard Dawkins, A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather than Nothing  (2 of 2)
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 2, Block C:  Andrew Curry, “Slaughter at the bridge: Uncovering a colossal Bronze Age battle”    About 3200 years ago, two armies clashed at a river crossing near the Baltic Sea. The confrontation can’t be found in any history books—the written word didn’t become common in these parts for another 2000 years—but this was no skirmish between local clans. Thousands of warriors came together in a brutal struggle, perhaps fought on a single day, using weapons crafted from wood, flint, and bronze, a metal that was then the height of military technology. 
Struggling to find solid footing on the banks of the Tollense River, a narrow ribbon of water that flows through the marshes of northern Germany toward the Baltic Sea, the armies fought hand-to-hand, maiming and killing with war clubs, spears, swords, and knives. Bronze- and flint-tipped arrows were loosed at close range, piercing skulls and lodging deep into the bones of young men. Horses belonging to high-ranking warriors crumpled into the muck, fatally speared. Not everyone stood their ground in the melee: Some warriors broke and ran, and were struck down from behind.  (1 of 2)   http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/03/slaughter-bridge-uncovering-colos...
Andrew Curry   @spoke32   Freelance writer covering culture, science and politics in Europe and beyond.   Berlin
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 2, Block D: :  Andrew Curry, “Slaughter at the bridge: Uncovering a colossal Bronze Age battle”   (2 of 2)
 
Hour Three
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 3, Block A: David Roberts, The Lost World of the Old Ones: Discoveries in the Ancient Southwest  (1 of 4)
“A funny, witty and highly personal account.” (Sandra Dallas - Denver Post)
“Full of insights . . . Roberts captivates the reader with the thrill of finding artifacts.” (Durango Herald)
“Engaging . . . enjoyable reading.” (Alex Heard - Pasatiempo)
“Stimulating, provoking, mournful. . . . [Roberts] has a deep and infectious passion for the landscapes, history and people of the Southwest.” (Gerard Helferich - Wall Street Journal)
“An utterly fascinating, beautifully written and elegiac exploration.” (Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times best-selling author)
“[H]as the pull and excitement of a suspense novel and appeals to a wide range of readers interested in this region’s deep past and great beauty.” (Booklist, Starred review)
“The rare sequel that stands alone yet also takes its rightful place as a classic alongside its predecessor volume.” (Mitchell Zuckoff, author of Lost in Shangri-La)
“Part ethnographer, part archaeologist―with healthy doses of skeptical enquirer, curiosity seeker, and professional mountain climber mixed in―this talented writer navigates the secret canyons and hidden watercourses of the American Southwest in search of a lost civilization.” (Alex Beam, author of American Crucifixion: The Murder of Joseph Smith and the Fate of the Mormon Church)
About the Author: A veteran mountain climber, David Roberts is the award-winning author of Alone on the Ice, The Lost World of the Old Ones, and True Summit, and twenty-six other books about mountaineering, exploration, adventure, and Western history and anthropology. He lives in Massachusetts.  https://www.amazon.com/Lost-World-Old-Ones-Discoveries/dp/0393352331/ref=la_B004MO65OA_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1498089025&sr=1-2
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 3, Block B:  David Roberts, The Lost World of the Old Ones: Discoveries in the Ancient Southwest  (2 of 4)
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 3, Block C:  David Roberts, The Lost World of the Old Ones: Discoveries in the Ancient Southwest  (3 of 4)
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 3, Block D:  David Roberts, The Lost World of the Old Ones: Discoveries in the Ancient Southwest  (4 of 4)
 
Hour Four
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 4, Block A:   Rachel Glennerster, Reconciliation in Sierra Leone    http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6287/766.full   Since the end of World War II, there have been 259 armed conflicts in 159 locations (1). Sierra Leone's civil war began 25 years ago, at a time when roughly 25% of all countries worldwide were experiencing civil war (2). How can individuals and groups recover from such violent conflicts? On page 787 of this issue, Cilliers et al. (3) provide rigorous evidence on the efficacy of one postwar reconciliation strategy that was implemented in 100 communities in Sierra Leone (4).  http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6287/787  (1 of 2)
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 4, Block B:  Rachel Glennerster, Reconciliation in Sierra Leone    http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6287/766.full   Since the end of World War II, there have been 259 armed conflicts in 159 locations (1). Sierra Leone's civil war began 25 years ago, at a time when roughly 25% of all countries worldwide were experiencing civil war (2). How can individuals and groups recover from such violent conflicts? On page 787 of this issue, Cilliers et al. (3) provide rigorous evidence on the efficacy of one postwar reconciliation strategy that was implemented in 100 communities in Sierra Leone (4).  http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6287/787  (2 of 2)
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 4, Block C:  Jere Longman, “Man vs Marathon.”  BESIDE THE DEAD SEA, Israel — At sunrise, the sky and the water seemed metallic, silver-blue, the color of speed. A sign along Highway 90 said, “Lowest Place on Earth.”
Yannis Pitsiladis, scientist and provocateur, had come here for the same reason that pilgrims wheezing with bronchitis and emphysema have headed to this low-altitude divide between Israel and Jordan. He had come for the oxygen.
A quarter-mile below sea level at the Dead Sea, where the barometric pressure is high, there is about 5 percent more oxygen to breathe. The naturally enriched air had been shown to increase exercise capacity in those with chronic lung disease. Would it do the same, Pitsiladis wondered, for the world’s fastest distance runners? Part One:  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/15/sports/two-hour-marathon-yannis-pitsiladis.html
Friday 23 June 2017 / Hour 4, Block D:  Jere Longman, “Man vs Marathon.”  BESIDE THE DEAD SEA, Israel — At sunrise, the sky and the water seemed metallic, silver-blue, the color of speed. A sign along Highway 90 said, “Lowest Place on Earth.”
Yannis Pitsiladis, scientist and provocateur, had come here for the same reason that pilgrims wheezing with bronchitis and emphysema have headed to this low-altitude divide between Israel and Jordan. He had come for the oxygen.
A quarter-mile below sea level at the Dead Sea, where the barometric pressure is high, there is about 5 percent more oxygen to breathe. The naturally enriched air had been shown to increase exercise capacity in those with chronic lung disease. Would it do the same, Pitsiladis wondered, for the world’s fastest distance runners?  . . .     Part Two: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/16/sports/two-hour-marathon-kenenisa-bekele.html