Brian Clegg
@brianclegg.bsky.social
Science author and communicator - editor of the www.popularscience.co.uk review site.
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Brian Clegg
@brianclegg.bsky.social
· Nov 18
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As I'm newish here, I write science books (my latest is Brainjacking www.brianclegg.net/brainjacking... on the science of informing, influencing and manipulating through story) and all my online writing is available as a free weekly email - sign up here: authory.com/BrianClegg/s...
I look back 10 years to uncover some advice on checking a great source for lessons on how to write well: it is, of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/five... #stories #fictiontips #masterpiece
November 11, 2025 at 9:41 AM
I look back 10 years to uncover some advice on checking a great source for lessons on how to write well: it is, of course, Buffy the Vampire Slayer: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/five... #stories #fictiontips #masterpiece
Review: Ghosted: Alice Vernon **** - An entertaining read on the nature of ghost hunting, a topic that teeters on the border between science and self-deception. Would benefit from a more scientific approach, but still engaging. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/ghos... #bookreview #ghosthunting
Ghosted - Alice Vernon ****
It might seem odd to review a book on ghost hunting as popular science, but the book's blurb says it is 'A social, historical and scientific...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
November 10, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Review: Ghosted: Alice Vernon **** - An entertaining read on the nature of ghost hunting, a topic that teeters on the border between science and self-deception. Would benefit from a more scientific approach, but still engaging. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/ghos... #bookreview #ghosthunting
To celebrate the new look for my book Conundrum I've set up a free bonus challenge - a four part puzzle to test your mental muscles. Can you crack four Christmas-themed clues to establish the address, time and date of a secret meeting? brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/crac... #puzzles #ciphers
Cracking Christmas Challenge
To celebrate Conundrum , my book of codes, ciphers and challenges, being given a shiny new cover I have published a new Cracking Christmas ...
brianclegg.blogspot.com
November 10, 2025 at 11:10 AM
To celebrate the new look for my book Conundrum I've set up a free bonus challenge - a four part puzzle to test your mental muscles. Can you crack four Christmas-themed clues to establish the address, time and date of a secret meeting? brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/crac... #puzzles #ciphers
How not to do science example. I saw several fat squirrels on my morning walk (real data, but insignificant sample). Anecdotally, animals are good at predicting bad winters. So their feeding up tells me this winter in the UK will be harsh. #dataisnotthepluralofanecdote
November 9, 2025 at 8:54 AM
How not to do science example. I saw several fat squirrels on my morning walk (real data, but insignificant sample). Anecdotally, animals are good at predicting bad winters. So their feeding up tells me this winter in the UK will be harsh. #dataisnotthepluralofanecdote
Conundrum, my book of codes, ciphers and challenges, has been given a shiny new cover ready for the Christmas season. The ultimate trial of knowledge and cunning, Conundrum features 200 cryptic puzzles and ciphers. Find out more: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/crac... #puzzlesolving #giftbook
Crack the Conundrum
Conundrum , my book of codes, ciphers and challenges, has been given a shiny new cover ready for the Christmas season. The ultimate trial of...
brianclegg.blogspot.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:07 AM
Conundrum, my book of codes, ciphers and challenges, has been given a shiny new cover ready for the Christmas season. The ultimate trial of knowledge and cunning, Conundrum features 200 cryptic puzzles and ciphers. Find out more: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/crac... #puzzlesolving #giftbook
Graphs are really useful to help visualise what's happening to changing data - but it's always important to check what's written against the axes to make sure what you see is what you get: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/bewa... #datavisualisation #dodgygraphs
Beware dodgy axes (on graphs, not chopping wood)
Every now and then I feel the need to remind people that whenever you see a graph you should take a look at the axes (I'm thinking of the pl...
brianclegg.blogspot.com
November 5, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Graphs are really useful to help visualise what's happening to changing data - but it's always important to check what's written against the axes to make sure what you see is what you get: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/bewa... #datavisualisation #dodgygraphs
Headlines are dangerous things if mishandled. I am now worried about palaeontologists suffering mating injuries. Here's the real story: www.qub.ac.uk/home/News/Al...
November 5, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Headlines are dangerous things if mishandled. I am now worried about palaeontologists suffering mating injuries. Here's the real story: www.qub.ac.uk/home/News/Al...
Review (mystery): If P. G. Wodehouse had set out to write a murder mystery, it would have been a lot better than this one... but there is no doubt that Faith Martin gives a Wodehouse-lite feel to this cosy 1920s village-set murder mystery. brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/murd... #bookreview
Murder by Candlelight - Faith Martin ***
If P. G. Wodehouse had set out to write a murder mystery, it would have been a lot better than this one... but there is no doubt that Faith ...
brianclegg.blogspot.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:44 AM
Review (mystery): If P. G. Wodehouse had set out to write a murder mystery, it would have been a lot better than this one... but there is no doubt that Faith Martin gives a Wodehouse-lite feel to this cosy 1920s village-set murder mystery. brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/murd... #bookreview
Review: Everything Evolves: Mark Vellend ***- An interesting topic of how evolution applies to things like economics and politics, but doesn't go into enough depth in these, and seems mistaken in calling evolution a science in its own right. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/ever... #bookreview
Everything Evolves - Mark Vellend ***
The interesting premise of this book is that evolution goes far beyond its biological applications, reaching into everything from economics ...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
November 3, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Review: Everything Evolves: Mark Vellend ***- An interesting topic of how evolution applies to things like economics and politics, but doesn't go into enough depth in these, and seems mistaken in calling evolution a science in its own right. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/ever... #bookreview
Review (SF): Halcyon Years: Alastair Reynolds ***** - Though it takes a while for our hero to get anywhere, this future-set gumshoe noir (with detective Yuri Gagarin) is quite possibly Reynolds' best novel yet - and that's saying something. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/halc... #bookreview
Halcyon Years (SF) - Alastair Reynolds *****
Mystery novels have become one of the best sub-genres of science fiction. Think, for example, of the classic Asimov The Caves of Steel, Ala...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 31, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Review (SF): Halcyon Years: Alastair Reynolds ***** - Though it takes a while for our hero to get anywhere, this future-set gumshoe noir (with detective Yuri Gagarin) is quite possibly Reynolds' best novel yet - and that's saying something. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/halc... #bookreview
Review by Andrew May - The Pale View Data Point: Jon Willis ***** - A refreshing contrast with other astrobiology books, using the only data point we have for the nature of life on a planet: our own Earth. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #bookreview #astrobiology #popularscience
The Pale Blue Data Point - Jon Willis *****
The title tells you exactly what this book is about, if a little cryptically. The ‘pale blue dot’ is our own planet Earth, seen from a cosmi...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 30, 2025 at 9:21 AM
Review by Andrew May - The Pale View Data Point: Jon Willis ***** - A refreshing contrast with other astrobiology books, using the only data point we have for the nature of life on a planet: our own Earth. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #bookreview #astrobiology #popularscience
Reposted by Brian Clegg
I have a very bad feeling about this...
October 27, 2025 at 4:51 PM
I have a very bad feeling about this...
Interview: Historian of science Michael Gordin tells us why he and Diana Buchwald felt there was room for another book on Einstein, why fascination with Einstein remains high, and new areas of Einstein research. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/mich... #interview #einstein #historyofscience
Michael Gordin - Five Way Interview
Michael D. Gordin is Rosengarten Professor of Modern and Contemporary History and Dean of the College at Princeton University. A specialist ...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 28, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Interview: Historian of science Michael Gordin tells us why he and Diana Buchwald felt there was room for another book on Einstein, why fascination with Einstein remains high, and new areas of Einstein research. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/mich... #interview #einstein #historyofscience
Review: Discordance: Jim Baggott **** - An in-depth exploration of the emergence of the Hubble tension, where two ways of calculating the constant produce different values. Sterling effort, but a lot of data nit-picking involved. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/disc... #bookreview #astronomy
Discordance - Jim Baggott ****
Jim Baggott is one of the most reliable hands in the business when it comes to exploring complex physics and cosmology issues in an approach...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Review: Discordance: Jim Baggott **** - An in-depth exploration of the emergence of the Hubble tension, where two ways of calculating the constant produce different values. Sterling effort, but a lot of data nit-picking involved. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/disc... #bookreview #astronomy
Review (mystery): Devices and Desires: P. D. James **** - Slight oddity in the James canon, this slightly old-fashioned 1989 novel has Dalgleish sidelined and takes a sudden twist where it feels a spy thriller author took over. brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/devi... #bookreview #murdermystery
Devices and Desires: P. D. James ****
This has to be one of the most unusual of P. D. James’s classic Dalgleish mysteries, and not only because Dalgleish isn’t the central charac...
brianclegg.blogspot.com
October 25, 2025 at 10:19 AM
Review (mystery): Devices and Desires: P. D. James **** - Slight oddity in the James canon, this slightly old-fashioned 1989 novel has Dalgleish sidelined and takes a sudden twist where it feels a spy thriller author took over. brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/devi... #bookreview #murdermystery
Very much enjoyed chatting with Matt on The Interplanetary Podcast about my new @iconbooks book The Multiverse www.brianclegg.net/multiverse.h... - listen at podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/3... , soundcloud.com/matt-interpl... or wherever you get your podcasts #multiverse #sciencepodcast
October 24, 2025 at 9:12 AM
Very much enjoyed chatting with Matt on The Interplanetary Podcast about my new @iconbooks book The Multiverse www.brianclegg.net/multiverse.h... - listen at podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/3... , soundcloud.com/matt-interpl... or wherever you get your podcasts #multiverse #sciencepodcast
Reposted by Brian Clegg
Monty Python understood p-hacking
October 23, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Monty Python understood p-hacking
Review by Andrew May: The Multiverse: Brian Clegg **** - Trip through wild cosmological ideas using ‘bait-and-switch’: appearing to cover an exciting sci-fi-like topic while explaining serious & difficult physics popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #bookreview #popularscience #multiverse
The Multiverse - Brian Clegg ****
‘When One Universe Isn’t Enough’, it says on the undeniably eye-catching cover of this book. But why should anyone feel short-changed by the...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 23, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Review by Andrew May: The Multiverse: Brian Clegg **** - Trip through wild cosmological ideas using ‘bait-and-switch’: appearing to cover an exciting sci-fi-like topic while explaining serious & difficult physics popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #bookreview #popularscience #multiverse
Review (mystery): Guilty by Definition - Susie Dent *** - I enjoyed this lexicographical mystery set in an OED clone, but use of obscure concealed messages didn't quite work, and the writing lacked impetus: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/guil... #bookreview #mysterynovel
Guilty by Definition - Susie Dent ***
Although I mostly avoid books written by celebrities (or even worse books 'written' by celebrities) like the plague, there are honourable ex...
brianclegg.blogspot.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Review (mystery): Guilty by Definition - Susie Dent *** - I enjoyed this lexicographical mystery set in an OED clone, but use of obscure concealed messages didn't quite work, and the writing lacked impetus: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/guil... #bookreview #mysterynovel
After being invited to apply for Editor in Chief for what appears to be an academic journal, despite zero academic experience, I wonder quite what is going on: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/just... #sciencejournals #academicpublishing #papermills
Just call me Mr Editor in Chief
I have recently received an invitation I never expected to see. Apparently I am in demand to be the editor of a scientific journal - the pre...
brianclegg.blogspot.com
October 18, 2025 at 12:05 PM
After being invited to apply for Editor in Chief for what appears to be an academic journal, despite zero academic experience, I wonder quite what is going on: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/just... #sciencejournals #academicpublishing #papermills
Review: Royal Observatory Greenwich: a history in objects ***** - Impressive collection of illustrated articles based on objects located in the observatory, picturing it, or are relevant to it, across the first 10 Astronomers Royal. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/roya... #bookreview #astronomy
Royal Observatory Greenwich: A History in Objects - Louise Devoy *****
Even as someone who rarely gets on with 'bitty' books, I was captivated by this collection of articles based primarily on objects in or rela...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 16, 2025 at 9:55 AM
Review: Royal Observatory Greenwich: a history in objects ***** - Impressive collection of illustrated articles based on objects located in the observatory, picturing it, or are relevant to it, across the first 10 Astronomers Royal. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/roya... #bookreview #astronomy
Interview: Science writer and news editor Michael Banks tells us why physics appealed to him, the importance of relating physics to everyday life, and where to keep your toothbrush safe from toilet flush aerosols. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/mich... #interviews #physics #everydayscience
Michael Banks - Five Way Interview
Michael Banks is a science writer and author and is currently news editor of Physics World magazine. As well as Physics World, he has writte...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 15, 2025 at 10:10 AM
Interview: Science writer and news editor Michael Banks tells us why physics appealed to him, the importance of relating physics to everyday life, and where to keep your toothbrush safe from toilet flush aerosols. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/mich... #interviews #physics #everydayscience
Review: God: the Science, the Evidence - Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies *** - A translated French bestseller using scientific evidence to support the existence of a creator - and other things - in a very oddly structured book. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/god-... #bookreview #god
God: the Science, the Evidence - Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies ***
This is, to say the least, an oddity, but a fascinating one. A translation of a French bestseller, it aims to put forward an examination of ...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 14, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Review: God: the Science, the Evidence - Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies *** - A translated French bestseller using scientific evidence to support the existence of a creator - and other things - in a very oddly structured book. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/god-... #bookreview #god
I get irritated by the headline 'Science fiction's "warp drive" is speeding closer to reality' and indulge in a bit of a rant: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-wa... #warpdrive #hype #badsciencecommunication
A warped headline - hype in hyperspace
One of the most damaging things science communication can do is exaggerate the implications of a scientific paper, theory or discovery - it ...
brianclegg.blogspot.com
October 13, 2025 at 10:05 AM
I get irritated by the headline 'Science fiction's "warp drive" is speeding closer to reality' and indulge in a bit of a rant: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/10/a-wa... #warpdrive #hype #badsciencecommunication
Review: The War on Science: Laurence Krauss (Ed.) **** - Not as it might seem on fighting climate change deniers, but rather universities, governments and pressure groups attempting to undermine the scientific method. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #philosophyofscience #rationality
The War on Science - Lawrence Krauss (Ed.) ****
At first glance this might appear to be yet another book on how to deal with climate change deniers and the like, such as How to Talk to a S...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
October 11, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Review: The War on Science: Laurence Krauss (Ed.) **** - Not as it might seem on fighting climate change deniers, but rather universities, governments and pressure groups attempting to undermine the scientific method. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-... #philosophyofscience #rationality