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...
Really interesting and thoughtful piece on the nature of broadcast journalism and why what has happened at the BBC is far more than just a couple errors of judgement: quillette.com/2025/11/14/a...
A Journalism of Deception
A former BBC journalist explains how the corporation discarded impartial journalism and why we need a news revolution.
quillette.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Really interesting and thoughtful piece on the nature of broadcast journalism and why what has happened at the BBC is far more than just a couple errors of judgement: quillette.com/2025/11/14/a...
Fancy a challenge this weekend? Try out my free fiendish 4 part Conundrum challenge. As a little taster you need to solve this: 'Village where a warlock started for Bethlehem. Down the pub: where a lost plough is replaced by a nautical vessel.' brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/crac...
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 14, 2025 at 2:45 PM
Fancy a challenge this weekend? Try out my free fiendish 4 part Conundrum challenge. As a little taster you need to solve this: 'Village where a warlock started for Bethlehem. Down the pub: where a lost plough is replaced by a nautical vessel.' brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/crac...
How does AI affect authors? In part by bombarding us with AI-generated emails claiming to be from readers' groups. Spam is evolving: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-... #spam #artificialintelligence
How does AI affect your job? By being irritating
As an author, I'm often asked if I now make use of AI in my work. Simple answer: no, except as a way of doing preliminary research that I wi...
brianclegg.blogspot.com
November 14, 2025 at 12:40 PM
How does AI affect authors? In part by bombarding us with AI-generated emails claiming to be from readers' groups. Spam is evolving: brianclegg.blogspot.com/2025/11/how-... #spam #artificialintelligence
Strangely disappointed Reeves has dropped the 2p tax rise. Partly because .she's weakly giving in as she did on benefit cuts, but also because there is going to be a mess of new taxes mostly likely hitting self-employed like me who the govt don't seem to think are working people.
November 14, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Strangely disappointed Reeves has dropped the 2p tax rise. Partly because .she's weakly giving in as she did on benefit cuts, but also because there is going to be a mess of new taxes mostly likely hitting self-employed like me who the govt don't seem to think are working people.
This Facebook ad is possibly the most unnerving thing I’ve seen online (though I have led a sheltered life)
November 13, 2025 at 8:46 PM
This Facebook ad is possibly the most unnerving thing I’ve seen online (though I have led a sheltered life)
Review: The Infinite Alphabet - Cesar Hidalgo **** - Like a 1980s business book, this exploration of how an understanding of knowledge can make or break businesses and governments intrigues but lacks practical direction. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-... #economics #knowledge
The Infinite Alphabet - Cesar Hidalgo ****
Although taking a very new approach, this book by a physicist working in economics made me nostalgic for the business books of the 1980s. Mo...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
November 13, 2025 at 9:40 AM
Review: The Infinite Alphabet - Cesar Hidalgo **** - Like a 1980s business book, this exploration of how an understanding of knowledge can make or break businesses and governments intrigues but lacks practical direction. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/the-... #economics #knowledge
Senior Curator at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Louise Devoy tells us about the many ways the observatory has contributed to science, the First Light project and the power of 100+year-old glass plates. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/loui... #astronomy #historyofscience
Louise Devoy - Five Way Interview
Dr Louise Devoy is Senior Curator at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, UK. Louise has a background in astrophysics and the history of scienc...
popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
November 12, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Senior Curator at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich Louise Devoy tells us about the many ways the observatory has contributed to science, the First Light project and the power of 100+year-old glass plates. popsciencebooks.blogspot.com/2025/11/loui... #astronomy #historyofscience
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