I’ve been a fan of popular science since I started reading about cats, especially the big ones—tigers, jaguars, snow leopards—when I was 6 years old. After reading Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene I sought out his other books on biology like An Ancestor’s Tale. I struggled with and benefited from Stephen Hawking’ s A Brief History of Time, but please don’t quiz me on it. Yet, big books of popular science are not meant to be this readable or as interesting as This is Life: How the Science of the Cosmos Explains What We Are by Christophe Galfard. Here is my review:
Physicist Christophe Galfard Takes on Who We Are in ‘This Is Life’
I was also busy with record reviews. The best album I heard this month is Punching the Clown by the rather hard to describe American band Lambchop. I try to describe them here:
Lambchop’s ‘Punching the Clown’ Is Worth the 4-Year Wait
Another standout American songwriter is Joan Wasser who records under the name Joan As Police Woman. I really enjoyed reviewing Real Life Evolution, which is a reimagining of her debut record from exactly twenty years ago.
Joan As Police Woman Reimagines the Past and Present
Finally, a hidden treasure from Toronto, Avi Engel, makes high-concept art-folk that pleases the ear, but look inside for the deeper message.
John Alan Urquhart 
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