Will there be water in the sun? And salt water on Mars? And what about Jupiter's orange spot? What was the Portuguese queen artificially inseminated? Do women see more colors than men? Will it be possible to “see” dreams? These are some of the questions that are explored in the book “Íris Científica 3”, by science communicator António Piedade, which has just been published in an author's edition. This is the sixth book of scientific dissemination by this author, whose family lives in Loulé and who did all pre-university studies in Faro.
«António Piedade is a talented science communicator. In recent years, it has revealed itself to be an original voice in the communication of science in Portuguese, a voice that manages with apparent ease to overcome the barrier between the first explorers and those interested in learning new about exploration», wrote Professor Carlos Fiolhaes.
“There is a very peculiar element in António Piedade's writing that greatly contributes to the pleasure of reading: it is the literary mark, sometimes even poetic, that he knows how to imprint on his writing”, added Carlos Fiolhais.
In turn, science evangelist João Lourenço Monteiro wrote, in a critical review, that «this is a book divided into two parts, in which the author, first, looks outside, telling us about the most recent research on space, and then look at what is happening on our planet, approaching laboratory research».
«The macro and micro scales find space in this book of about 140 pages. They are small texts that tell us about the most diverse scientific themes, in a fascinated and literary way, almost poetic. In fact, it couldn't start better: “I look at knowledge with a new fascination!”. Or, further on, before talking about the spectrum of sunlight that our eyes are unable to capture, he writes: “I embrace the rainbow with my visible gaze”. A last example, at the end of the book, after explaining the color of the leaves of the trees in the various seasons, using the physiology of the plants, he concludes: “Let us enjoy the beauty of the autumnal palette, because there is no other like it!”», wrote João. Lourenço Monteiro.
“Íris Científica 3” brings together 32 chronicles of scientific dissemination, which allow the reader to revisit and travel through some of the scientific advances registered in recent years, in various areas of knowledge.
The 32 texts intersect views on various areas of science such as biology, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, astronomy, anthropology, the history of science, among others.
As a whole, these chronicles take an interdisciplinary approach that allows for a broad look at science.
They are grouped into two chapters: the first, “Beyond Space”, with texts on the discovery and understanding of what exists beyond the Earth and on the history of the evolution of the Universe in which we exist; the second, “Here on Earth”, on topics more related to life on this planet and also to the history of science.
Each of the texts can be read independently of the others. Thus, the reader can decide the reading path that his curiosity suggests. It's a book to be explored.
António Piedade is a biochemist and science communicator. He published over 600 articles and chronicles of scientific dissemination in the Portuguese press, namely in the Sul Informação, and 20 articles in international scientific journals.
He is the author of six books for the dissemination of science: “Iris Científica” (Mar da Palavra, 2005 – National Reading Plan),”Caminhos de Ciência” (Press University of Coimbra, 2011), “Silêncio Prodigioso” (Ed. author, 2012), “Íris Científica 2” (Ed. author, 2014), “Diálogos com Ciência” (Ed. author, 2015) prefaced by Carlos Fiolhais, “Íris Científica 3” (Ed. author, 2016).
He is also responsible for the “Science in the Regional Press” project, which distributes scientific dissemination articles through a network of regional newspapers, of which the Sul Informação is part.
The book “Íris Científica 3”, which costs 12,5 euros (postage included), is not for sale in bookstores, and those interested in buying it can contact the author through message on your facebook wall or by email [email protected].
List of texts included in the 140 pages of this book:
BEYOND IN SPACE
closer to far
What is the mass of the Milky Way?
Earth, the martian afternoon star
Salt water on Mars?!
The wind that carried the atmosphere of Mars
What's up with Jupiter?
Juno came to Jupiter
A huge sea on a Jupiter moon
Brief history of the Rosetta probe
In the light of the Hubble Space Telescope
New gravitational waves detected
solar water
bloom in space
a cosmic duet
HERE ON EARTH
Oxygen and the evolution of life
What atoms are we made of?
See the substance of genes
DNA: the molecule of heredity
An explosion of color in the female vision
see the dreams
before a gesture
Where do words live?
The “lost” egg among birds and dinosaurs
Sex between Neanderthals and Modern Humans
The artificially inseminated Portuguese queen
bumblebees and flowers
News about red blood cells
April, thousand waters
the colors of autumn
a poorly told story
Einstein was right
The Enlightened Planet
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