Editorial
The Pantaneto Press will be publishing its first book, Motivating Science, on the 1st May 2005. This will be a compilation of twenty-six articles taken from the first five years of The Pantaneto Forum. The book will be available in paperback from May at £13.95. We are offering a 20% discount for direct orders; email info@pantaneto.co.uk for more information. We are seeking to publish books in the area of science and philosophy. If you have a book proposal, please send in sample chapters and a précis.
A multidisciplinary approach to science often acts as an impetus for new knowledge. In Joel Cohen’s intriguingly titled: “Mathematics is Biology’s Next Microscope, Only Better; Biology is Mathematics’ Next Physics, Only Better” the interplay between mathematics and biology is analysed from a historical and contemporary viewpoint. Cohen also lays down ten challenges. Five are from biology, which could benefit from mathematics, and five mathematical challenges that would contribute to the progress of biology.
Lam, Li and Yang highlight an interesting anomaly in their article: “Why there are no professional popular science book authors in China”. With a population of 1.3 billion, and an important world economy, one would expect that science popularisation would play a more important role in China. The authors detail the problems and suggest remedies which could increase dramatically the sale of popular science books in China.
In “Narrative Science Journalism” Wolfgang Goede describes a movement among science journalists to communicate their message in a more engaging way by enhancing the story-telling aspects. Far from distorting science, a narrative approach can make the subject matter clearer and illuminate the context and background of research. Science need not be dry, nor depend on an incessant wow factor, in order to be interesting and informative.
Nigel Sanitt
Editor
ISSN 1741-1572