Scientific Readings

Here you find a list of interesting technical books, articles, papers and other publications I have read about various scientific arguments, except for computer and information science, with a short comment and description.

Index:

• My preferred scientific readings:
• Magazines and periodicals
  Every month I read many magazines and periodicals. For the most interesting ones, I put an entry in this document and I archive a copy in binders for later retrieval.
• Chronological history of interesting readings.
• 1999
• 1998
• 1997

Chronological history of interesting readings:

1999

December 1999

• End of the Millennium Special Issue: WHAT SCIENCE WILL KNOW IN 2050
  Scientific American, December 1999
  Today's top scientific authorities speculate on the great questions that further research will answer within the next five decades.

November 1999

• The Fate of Life in the Universe
  Lawrence M. Krauss and Glenn D. Starkman
  Scientific American, November 1999
  Observations suggest that the universe will continue expanding forever, growing ever cooler and more diffuse. Does this fact mean that all life must ultimately perish? Or could a sufÞciently advanced and ingenious intelligence still achieve true physical immortality? Thermodynamics may hold the key.

• Vision: A Window on Consciousness
  Nikos K. Logothetis
  Scientific American, November 1999
  The subjective nature of consciousness makes it hard to study at the neurological level. Certain visual illusions based on ambiguous images, however, offer investigators the chance to see how brain activity alters as the conscious mind switches from perceiving one form to another.

October 1999

• TRENDS IN EDUCATION: The False Crisis in Science Education
  W. Wayt Gibbs and Douglas Fox
  Scientific American, October 1999
  The largely mythical decline in the quality of science education in U.S. public schools is leading--yet again--to rushed and ineffective reforms. Nevertheless, educational experts agree, it is possible to prepare children better for their technological future.

July 1999

• The U.S.-Russian Space Relationship: symbolism at any cost?
  J.Oberg
  IEEE Spectrum, July 1999
  U.S. ties to the International Space Station - and even Mir - are snarled by conflicting engineering methods, technological politics, and financial brinksmanship.

April 1999

• A New Eye Opens
  G.Stix
  Scientific American, April 1999
  On the highest mountain in the pacific basin, a 10 year odyssey will culminate in the capture of first light for the first Gemini telescope. This paper, althought written by a Scientific American journalist, describes many (too many, I would say) problems encountered by the Gemini project.

March 1999

• Missiles for all: the new global threat?
  J.Oberg
  IEEE Spectrum, March 1999
  More missiles flood the world and reach farther than ever

February 1999

• cent'anni
  Il Nuovo Saggiatore, vol.14, 1998, No. 3-5
  Special issue for the 100 years of the Italian Physical Society.
  Very nice summary of 100 years of physics, with particular reference to the big contributions given by Italian scientists.

January 1999

• Fusion Special Issue
  europhysics news, Vol. 29, Number 6 Nov/Dec 1998
  What is the current status of Fusion research in the world and in Europe in particular?
  What is going on with the ITER project?
  I am not involved in fusion research since many years, but I am still very interested in what happens in that important research area, but unfortunately the news are not good.
• La Figura di Marie Curie a cento anni dalla scoperta del radio
  U.Amaldi
  Il Nuovo Saggiatore, vol.14, 1998, No. 6

1998

July 1998

• With the NASA participation to MIR space missions going to an end, a lot of papers are appearing on various magazines to summarise the results of the cooperation. Among them, have a look at:
• Six months on MIR
  S.W.Lucid
  Scientific American, May '98
  As the Shuttle-Mir program draws to a close, a Veteran NASA astronaut reflects on her mission on board the Russian spacecraft and the implications for the International Space Station.
• Shuttle-Mir's lessons for the International Space Station
  J.Oberg
  IEEE Spectrum, June '98
• Woe is MIR
  S.J.Marcus
  IEEE Spectrum, June '98

May 1998

During this month I have been in Chile at the Paranal observatory, so I found a lot of time to read books, magazines and papers that were waiting since many monthes. Among these I found particularly interesting the following:

• Il Nuovo Saggiatore
  Bollettino della Societa' Italiana di Fisica
  Vol. 13 Anno 1997 No.5-6
  This issue contains 3 interesting papers:
• L'educazione delle scienze sperimentati nella nuova scuola con particolare riferimento all'insegnamento della fisica. (Education to experimental sciences in the new italian school, with particular reference to Physics)
  G.Bonera et al.
• Un'indagine sulla qualita' delle conoscenze fisiche fornite dal Corso di Laurea. (A research on the quality of physics knowlege imparted by the University Degree Course)
  U.Buontempo et al.
• La ricerca sulla fusione termonucleare controllata condotte sul Tokamak FTU. (The research on controlled termonuclear fusion on the FTU Tokamak
  F.Romanelli

• Scientific American, April '98
  Special report: Wireless Technologies
  Demand for cellular phones and wireless modems is skyrocketing, and they represent only a fwe of the applications for the new wave in communcations on-the-go technology. In this special report, experts size up the infrastructure being built today for billions of consumers tomorrow.
• Scientific American, March '98
  Special report: Preventing the next oil crunch
  Global production of oil from conventional sources is likely to peak and decline permanently during the next decade, according to the most thoughtful analyses. In these articles, industry experts explain why and describe technologies that could coushion against the shock of a new enery crisis.
• Scientific American, March '98
  The Challenge of Antibiotic Resistence
  S.B.Levy
  Bacteria have evolved invulnerability to drugs that once tamed them, resurrecting the possibility of untreatable plagues. If the effectiveness of antibiotic is to be saved, physicians and the public must end misuse and overuse.

Apr 1998

• C.Barbieri - Il Telescopio Nazionale Galileo
  Il Nuovo Saggiatore
  Bollettino della Societa' Italiana di Fisica
  Vol. 13 Anno 1997 No.5-6
  A brief divulgative presentation of the characteristics of the Italian National Telescope in Canary Islands, a 3.5m baset on the ESO NTT project.
• P.Creola - Space Visions for the 21st Century
  Europhysics News
  January/February 1998
  P.Creola is chairman of the Long Term Space Policy Committee at the European Space Agency. He is charged with the task of looking into our future in space.

1997

December 1997

• Nuclear Energy: Special Report IEEE Spectrum, Nov. '97
  W.Sweet, F.Felix, J.Beard
  This month IEEE spectrum analyze the current status and perspectives of the nuclear power industry. The point of view is very different from what one usually reads on newspapers and magazines, also scientific ones. It appears that in this industry it is going on much more that what I expected: it is not at all an extinguishing race.

October 1997

• Ballistic missile defense: it's back IEEE Spectrum, Sep. '97
  R.Braham
  Again a very interesting Special Report from Spectrum. This time they go in depth on the current status of the U.S. ballistic missile defense and on what is goind on after the S.D.I. project. Really worth to read.

September 1997

• In search of the future of Air Traffic Control IEEE Spectrum, Aug. '97
  T.S.Perry
  A very deep and interesting analisys of the giant U.S. air traffic control system update project. In 16 pages provides insights information on the technology used and on the advancements of the upgrade project.

April 1997

• The Physics of Star Trek
  L.M.Krauss
  Fascinating review of how the science and technology of the fictional 24th Century of Star Trek compares to current scientific theory. From warp engines to wormholes, from teleportation to tractor beam's, Lawrence Krauss, a real physicist, explains how these marvels might and might not(!!) work within the constraints of the universe as we understand them today.
  From the foreword by Stephen Hawking:
  Today's science fiction is often tomorrow's science fact. The physics that underlies Star Trek is surely worth investigating. To confine our attention to terrestrial matters would be to limit the human spirit.

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Last modified: Thu Dec 30 15:28:31 MET 1999