Science and the City

Posted on 11 November 2017 by Laurie Winkless

Science is secretly at work behind the scenes of major cities of the world and will continue to be so Technological advances in fields as diverse as quantum mechanics, electronics, and nanotechnology are proving increasingly important to city life, and the urban world will turn to science to deliver solutions to the problems of the futurethan 50 percent of the world s population now lives in cities, and that proportion is growing fast Can engineering provide the answer to a viable megacity future SCIENCE AND THE CITY starts at your front door and guides you through the technology of everyday city life how new approaches to building materials help to construct the tallest skyscrapers in Dubai, how New Yorkers use light to treat their drinking water, how Tokyo commuters footsteps power gates in train stations Uncovering the science and engineering that shapes our cities, Laurie Winkless reveals how technology will help us meet the challenges of a soaring world population from an ever increasing demand for power, water, and internet access, to simply how to get about in a megacity of tens of millions of people Laurie Winkless is a physicist with an undergraduate degree from Trinity College, Dublin, and a master s degree in space science from University College London She has worked at the National Physical Laboratory, specializing in functional materials and is an expert on thermoelectric energy harvesting, which involves using material science to capture and convert waste heat into electricity This is her first book, written while living in her favorite city, London. New Read eBook Science and the City Author Laurie Winkless – kino-fada.fr I really expected to like this book, and learn a lot from it These are two of my absolute favorite topics in the whole wide world science, and cities I did like the style for the most part, and the structure was good enough But overall, I m very disappointed.The main problem I have are the truly troubling inaccuracies When I read science related books or any media where I know something about the topic I rate my confidence on the new to me topics by how the book covers the topics I do kn I really expected to like this book, and learn a lot from it These are two of my absolute favorite topics in the whole wide world science, and cities I did like the style for the most part, and the structure was good enough But overall, I m very disappointed.The main problem I have are the truly troubling inaccuracies When I read science related books or any media where I know something about the topic I rate my confidence on the new to me topics by how the book covers the topics I do know Finding a half dozen full on errors therefore pretty much ruins a book for me These are statements in this book that I a fellow lapsed scientist or any number of experts could have caught and fixed, so it just seems sloppy But I wouldn t say this without being specific Here is the litany of errors that I spotted Talking about poll...Here s another example of the Problem With Reader Not Book situation My uncle recommended Science and the City to me enthusiastically and in theory I can see why The trouble is, its topic substantially overlaps with the academic research I ve been doing for the last six years and therefore the casual tone really grates on me To be honest, I think it would even covering a much less familiar area, simply because I m used to much less informal non fiction Winkless is evidently making her book Here s another example of the Problem With Reader Not Book situation My uncle recommended Science and the City to me enthusiastically and in theory I can see why The trouble is, its topic substantially overlaps with the academic research I ve been doing for the last six years and therefore the casual tone really grates on me To be honest, I think it would even covering a much less familiar area, simply because I m used to much less informal non fiction Winkless is evidently making her book accessible as widely as possible, paradoxically reducing its appeal in my case All of my academic training rebels against this sort of interjection I am totally cheering them on this Or this Please note that while I promise to try to avoid going full tunnel nerd on you, I may not manage it Or, Maybe you think you already know, but I m here to tell you, you re probably wrong Essentially, the writing style is not to my taste as I don t like non ficti...I couldn t finish this book it got on my nerves and I gave up halfway through The subject is fascinating, the structure is great, just like the level of detail but I found the style of the writing insufferable While I appreciate being explained complex topics in laymen s terms, reading this book I felt like I m treated as an 8 year old The writing is girly , full of needless chatter and clutter and remarks intended funny I feel like the target audience for the book wasn t properly iden I couldn t finish this book it got on my nerves and I gave up halfway through The subject is fascinating, the structure is great, just like the level of detail but I found the style of the writing insufferable While I appreciate being explained complex topics in laymen s terms, reading this book I felt like I m treated as an 8 year old The writing is girly , full of needless chatter and clutter and remarks intended funny I feel like the target audience for the book wasn t properly identified or maybe I m not part of it Either way, I m surprised the editors at Bloomsbury didn t pick up on this Some people might be okay with the writing, maybe even like it I simply couldn t stand it I had high hopes for this book and got so excited when I ordered it The thing I did liked about this book is how it made me hyperread on every page there were two three things to Google and it led me to countless Wikipedia articles and Wiki How Tos I otherwise wouldn t have read If only the style of writing style was...Science and the City was the perfect non fiction read for me I usually avoid non fiction like the plague because most of the time, even if the topic is something I m interested in, the books are dry and forcing my way through them is a chore This book, on the other hand I laughed out loud at least once per chapter Laurie Winkless won me over as a lifelong fan the moment she referenced Dara O Briain one of my favorite comedians, hands down butthan that, she included so much of her own Science and the City was the perfect non fiction read for me I usually avoid non fiction like the plague because most of the time, even if the topic is something I m interested in, the books are dry and forcing my way through them is a chore This book, on the other hand I laughed out loud at least once per chapter Laurie Winkless won me over as a lifelong fan the moment she referenced Dara O Briain one of my favorite comedians, hands down butthan that, she included so much of her own humor and love of the subject matter that I couldn t help but be drawn in I come from an advanced science educational background so the level of explanation was also important to my reading of SATC as the author herself calls it The explanations of phenomena I already understand to a muchdetailed degree t...This book Science and the City by Laurie Winkless delves into all of the science behind every one of our daily lives Every single thing you take for granted in the city has lots of science behind it, and studies that will make them better for the city of tomorrow In fact, in every chapter, there is one section about the cities of the future when it comes to the things that the chapter was talking about It even has little factoids that you never even thought would exist Like, did you know t This book Science and the City by Laurie Winkless delves into all of the science behind every one of our daily lives Every single thing you take for granted in the city has lots of science behind it, and studies that will make them better for the city of tomorrow In fact, in every chapter, there is one section about the cities of the future when it comes to the things that the chapter was talking about It even has little factoids that you never even thought would exist Like, did you know that a traffic jam has its own scientific word and category of science jamiton and jamology, respectively Me neither That is what is so great about this book no vampires, no kids that think they re fathers are Poseidon, nothing of that sort just straight up science about things you probably never really thought could be improved but are now excited about like concrete And there s another oh No spoilers But this book goes through everything from wastewater to h...I m officially quitting I liked the topic, but unfortunately the tone of the book is a little too bubbly combined with the amount of information being simultaneously too much and too little There is a general overview of so many disparate ...Sometimes overexplains to tedium I understand the concept behind why going up a slope isdifficult for a train or anything I get this is a science book for public but a little too soft for me Author obsessed with puns and the dorkiness of puns and whether the puns are intended or not On t...Picked the book from the library shelf of new books thinking to glance over it Read every word and slowly because of breaks to visit Wikipedia for aditional information How Ms Winkless made a great deal of technical information totally intriguing A great many asides and a talent for tr...Superb. For me, This book is like a storybook that explained literally Everything in our daily life scientifically I like how the author narrate the story It just like you can absorb all of those highly advanced science and engineering stuffs without any difficulties.This book is trying to do a LOT in just 260 pages As a result, it jumps all over the place and spends too little time on far too many topics The second to last chapter is a bizarre mish mash that should probably come with the header all the random things I learned during researching that I got to attached to and wouldn t let my editor cut, and skips around from urban farming ok to rocket escape velocities huh to cryptocurrency I m sorry, this is a book about the physics of cities, righ This book is trying to do a LOT in just 260 pages As a result, it jumps all over the place and spends too little time on far too many topics The second to last chapter is a bizarre mish mash that should probably come with the header all the random things I learned during researching that I got to attached to and wouldn t let my editor cut, and skips around from urban farming ok to rocket escape velocities huh to cryptocurrency I m sorry, this is a book about the physics of cities, right That being said, for as many times as I found my mind wandering while reading this, I also learned some cool facts or factoids as the author insists on calling them, ugh did you know they make giant glass windows by pouring liquid glass into liquid tin, and letting the glass float to the surface and harden I didn t That s awe...I never give 5 stars that word amazing is not something I use lightly But for writing style alone that is, the translation of all the STEM into intelligent, engaging, personable narrative Winkless earned all 5, hands down Even just her overall organizing structure, the streamlining of the magnificent, overwhelming tangle of a city into discrete, logical, familiar chunks skyscrapers, bridges, etc was a feat worth reading The clever title chapters one word each Up, Switch, Drive I never give 5 stars that word amazing is not something I use lightly But for writing style alone that is, the translation of all the STEM into intelligent, engaging, personable narrative Winkless earned all 5, hands down Even just her overall organizing structure, the streamlining of the magnificent, overwhelming tangle of a city into discrete, logical, familiar chunks skyscrapers, bridges, etc was a feat worth reading The clever title chapters one word each Up, Switch, Drive, Connect, etc conveyed the core concept as well as underscoring this book would be concise and approachable Throughout, she was not shy about sharing her uber nerdiness, another ...This was a really good book Each chapter takes a part of the infrastructure of the city and describes how it works The beginning of each chapter starts with the basics and towards the end the author gets into some of the newest technological innovations taking place in the field The real value of the book is that the author takes concepts which are useful to know, but typically thought of as boring like pipes and makes them exciting She succeeds at this because she doesn t get too caught u This was a really good book Each chapter takes a part of the infrastructure of the city and describes how it works The beginning of each chapter starts with the basics and towards the end the author gets into some of the newest technological innovations taking place in the field The real value of the book is that the author takes concepts which are useful to know, but typically thought of as boring like pipes and makes them exciting She succeeds at this because she doesn t get too caught up in the details and she clearly loves her topic and lea...

11 November 2017

Laurie Winkless