The happy map and science books

Via Juan, behold the Happy Map (PDF file). While on the happy subject, a study out of Princeton concludes once your income goes above an additional 12,000 dollars a year, it has little effect on your life's happines. Maybe if you're a tenured professor with a six-figure income, a subsidized mortgage, and help for the kids' college tuition but I believe they'll find a lot of volunteers willing to prove them wrong.

I don't know what science methodology was used for the happy map or the money study, but Russel Seitz, physicist, reviews 5 science books in today's WSJ, and here they are, from oldest to most recent:



The only one I've read from Dr. Seitz's list is Longitude, and it's excellent. After reading it, I bought The Husband the illustrated edition as a gift:

This edition has all the unabridged text, and wonderful photos and maps that really bring to life the story. Please note that the print is very small, particularly for the illustrations, so you might want to remember when purchasing it.

Another excellent by the same author is Galileo's Daughter:

The difficult life of Sister Maria Celeste is beautifully told, and is based on the translation of 124 surviving letters to Galileo by his daughter.

Not listed by Dr. Seitz, but another interesting book on the subject of science and technology in history, is Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel

While many will argue about Diamond's thesis, the book is a fascinating, enjoyable, read.

Starting this week, you can find all my book reviews and picks at my new page, Fausta's buys.

(technorati tags books,Science )
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