Australian Lizards: A Natural History
Steven K. Wilson, CSIRO Publishing, $49.95
Australia has more than 700 species of lizard. The discovery that most are venomous, some are more intelligent than previously recognised and at least one species has a truly remarkable system of sex selection (AS, Jan/Feb 2011, p. 7) provide plenty of reason to read up on their behaviour, habitat and reproduction, bolstered by 400 colour photographs.
Australia’s Greatest Inventions and Innovations
Christopher Cheng and Linsay Knight, Random House, $24.95
Produced in conjunction with the Powerhouse Museum, this book is for everyone who has heard that Australians are really inventive but can’t think of examples beyond the stump jump plow and the Hills hoist. Adults will be reminded of many of the inventions they have forgotten, or feel a new sense of national pride. Children may be inspired that they, too, will have an opportunity to invent something that will change the world.
Shifting Sands
John McAneney, Createspace, $15.00
Shifting Sands is a work of fiction but this account of murder and corporate intrigue in New Zealand’s Bay of Islands draws on the author’s experiences of the commercialisation of scientific research and the insurance industry’s response to natural disasters....
