New books & media
DOI: 10.1063/PT.3.4639
x + y: A Mathematician’s Manifesto for Rethinking Gender
x + y: A Mathematician’s Manifesto for Rethinking Gender, Eugenia Cheng, Basic Books, 2020, $28.00
Women face more barriers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics than men. To get at the root of the problem, Eugenia Cheng explores personal characteristics in her new book, x + y. She argues that society values ingressive behaviors, such as being competitive and independent, more than congressive ones, such as being collaborative and caring toward others. But if we focus less on whether those characteristics have masculine and feminine connotations and instead redefine successful people to include those with predominantly congressive behaviors, the representation of women and other underrepresented groups in science may improve. —
Tycho Brahe and the Measure of the Heavens
Tycho Brahe and the Measure of the Heavens, John Robert Christianson, Reaktion Books, 2020, $22.50
A new biography aims to restore early modern Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe to what the author, historian John Robert Christianson, asserts is his rightful place as a “world-class figure of the late Renaissance.” Richly illustrated and based on a detailed analysis of Tycho’s surviving texts, Tycho Brahe and the Measure of the Heavens also draws on significant new scholarship written in the Nordic languages. Christianson deftly depicts Tycho’s tumultuous relationship with his one-time assistant Johannes Kepler, while paying careful attention to the context of Tycho’s position in the Danish and Bohemian courts and the sociopolitical ramifications of the Reformation. Ultimately, Christianson argues that Tycho’s empirical methods had a “profound and enduring” effect on the history of science. The book is required reading for scholars of early modern astronomy. —
Anti-vaxxers: How to Challenge a Misinformed Movement
Anti-vaxxers: How to Challenge a Misinformed Movement, Jonathan M. Berman, MIT Press, 2020, $19.95 (paper)
Written by renal physiologist and science educator Jonathan Berman, Anti-vaxxers is a how-to guide for those looking to counter rising anti-vaccine sentiment across the globe. Nevertheless, much of the book describes the intertwined history of vaccinations and anti-vaccine movements; surprisingly, Berman shows that anti-vaccine sentiment has existed since the first vaccine was developed in the 19th century. Today the movement is fueled by social media, “fake news,” and other disinformation. Berman argues that “community-based” strategies that consider the identity and values of parents and groups targeted by anti-vaxxers are the most likely to succeed in convincing them of vaccine safety. The book will be of interest to science-minded parents and policymakers alike. —
More about the authors
Alex Lopatka, alopatka@aip.org
Ryan Dahn, rdahn@aip.org
