 | popular science
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International Year of Astronomy
2009 celebrates the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of the telescope and has been declared the International Year of Astronomy.
You can join in and celebrate a fun astronomical year with Wellington Astronomical Society and Wellington City Libraries as we bring you events, activities, displays and talks throughout 2009.
Upcoming Events
Mata Ora - Celebrating Māori Celestial Navigation: Tuesday 24 November 2009, 7-8pm at Central Library
The Christmas Star - is there a scientific explanation for the Star of Bethlehem?: Tuesday 1 December, 7-8pm at Central Library (final event for this programme)
recent science books
(for the latest science books every month, click here)
 The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution by Richard Dawkins."Dawkins begins The Greatest Show on Earth with a short history of his writing career. He explains that all of his previous books have naïvely assumed the fact of evolution, which meant that he never got around to laying out the evidence that it [evolution] is true. This shouldn't be too surprising: science is an edifice of tested assumptions, and just as physicists must assume the truth of gravity before moving on to quantum mechanics, so do biologists depend on the reality of evolution. It's the theory that makes every other theory possible.Yet Dawkins also came to realize that a disturbingly large percentage of the American and British public didn't share his enthusiasm for evolution. In fact, they actively abhorred the idea, since it seemed to contradict the Bible and diminish the role of God. So Dawkins decided to write a book for these history-deniers, in which he would dispassionately demonstrate the truth of evolution beyond sane, informed, intelligent doubt." (Amazon.co.uk) |
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 As Easy As Pi: Stuff about numbers that isn't (just) maths: All the Stuff That Isn't (Just) Maths, by Jamie Buchan."It's hard to imagine a world without numbers in this day and age, when our whole life is centred around commerce and money, and it is the only language that is the same the world over. However, did you know that for a long period of time people could not get their heads around the idea of zero, a figure representing nothing, and that it was even regarded as heretical in some circles? "Easy as Pi" is an entertaining and accessible guide, written for those who love numbers - and those who don't - and uncovers a great deal of lore and intriguing information, including: snippets of fascinating numerical facts; myths and mysticism in the world of numbers; numbers in language and used as slang; pop-culture trivia; and, useful mathematical rules to remember (and some that it would be easier to forget). Taking a quirky and insightful look at the world of numbers, "Easy as Pi" will delight and entertain any number enthusiast." (Amazon) |
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finding science books in the library
| 500 | Natural sciences |
| 510 | Maths |
| 520 | Astronomy |
| 530 | Physics |
| 540 | Chemistry |
| 550 | Earth Sciences |
| 560 | Paleontology |
| 570 | Life sciences |
| 580 | Botany |
| 590 | Zoology |
| 600 | Applied Sciences & Technology |
| 610 | Medicine |
| 620 | Engineering & Electronics |
At Central Library, science books are on the 1st floor. If in doubt, search the catalogue; if you need further assistance, ask one of our library staff members next time you visit or email us.
biographies
If you want a biography of a scientist, the library catalogue will give you the location. Here are some selected biographies grouped by specialisation:
botanists | zoologists | astronomers | paleontologists | physicists | women in science | Gale Biography Resource Center
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magazines
Science magazines are held on the 1st floor of Central Library, and all branches have a small collection of popular titles. You can search for articles in our mygateway.info science databases. We keep back-issues of many magazines, eg Scientific American (1878-1908, 1927- ).
 magazines you can borrow: | |
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General Astronomy Australasian Science Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Cosmos Discover Natural History New Scientist New Zealand Mathematics Magazine New Zealand Science Review Physics Today Popular Science Science Scientific American Sky and Space Sky and Telescope Southern Stars (Inc. RAS newsletter) Weatherwise |
Animals & the environment Audubon BBC Wildlife Clean Air Ecologist Ecos Forest & Bird Futurist Greenpeace Habitat: Australia International Wildlife (ceased) Nature (to 14th December, 2006)(ceased) Nature Australia (ceased) Our Planet (to 1996) Sierra Wildlife Australia WWF New Zealand |
databases & science mags online
We have many science magazines available for full text reading online through mygateway.info.
EBSCO magazines include Astronomy, BioScience, Discover, Nature (12 month full text delay), National Geographic (3 month full text delay), New Scientist (6 month full text delay), Science (12 month full text delay) and Scientific American.
(Links require that you have logged into EBSCO recently, if error occurs click here)
ProQuest Science Journals cover chemical, electrical and mechanical engineering, physics, transportation, astronomy, biology, earth science, and more.
You can find more science links in mygateway.info.
science magazine websites - a selection:
National Geographic
Nature
New Scientist
Science News
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websitesNew Zealand | General | Women and Science | Meteorology Earthquakes | Volcanoes | Astronomy | Science can be Fun! |
Featured websites:
UNC Minerals in thin section - minerals under a microscope and their different optical properties.
WebElements Periodic Table
general:
mygateway.info Science: Our information gateway to reliable information on the Net relating to Science, including our subscriber databases.
Science Daily: Breaking news about the latest discoveries and hottest research projects in everything from astrophysics to zoology.
SciTech Daily: Links to science-related articles from around the Internet
Intute: The UK gateway to Science, Engineering and Technology. It covers the physical sciences, engineering, computing, geography, mathematics and environmental science.
Environmental Ethics: Directory of unannotated links to general environmental ethics Web resources.
The Why Files: The science behind today's news headlines.
Smithsonian Institution: Science & Technology
Yahoo! Science and Biology
Google Directory: Biology and Botany
New Zealand birds
new zealand:
Te Puna Web Directory - New Zealand Science & Technology
IndexNZ.com science links
GNS Science
Latest NZ earthquake
NIWA: National Institute of Water & Atmospheric Research
women and science:
Women-Related Web Sites in Science/Technology
science can be fun!:
Live chemistry
Insanely great science websites
Who is Sue? The world's largest and best preserved T.Rex
HotAIR" Tidbits from the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), featuring winners of the annual Ig Nobel Prize for "for achievements that cannot or should not be reproduced."
World Flood Map: Raise sea level up to 14m and see if your house gets flooded
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meteorology:
MetVUW, weather and climate service
World sunlight map
List of all online weather stations in the country.
Weather Underground: Provides global weather forcasts and much more..
earthquakes:
Kidscat Earthquakes
Library material on earthquakes
New Zealand - general information
Geonet: Find out about the latest New Zealand earthquake and information on New Zealand Volcanoes
IRIS - Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology
New Zealand: Earth Sciences
volcanoes:
US Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program
Current volcano activity
USGS: FAQ about volcanoes
Kidscat Volcanoes
astronomy:
Astronomy magazine
NASA
NASA: Image gallery
Observing the sky blog
Astonomy New Zealand
Downloadable sky maps
360 Sky map of Northern Germany. Controls are in German, but are very easy to work out.
Our own Kids Catalogue Web has great links to our science books and recommended websites
dvds & videos
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