A new issue of Edge is out. From MAA, estimating probabilities can be a tricky business: Representing real-world problems correctly to calculate probabilities is notoriously difficult; and an article on mathematical card tricks from Martin Gardner. Catherine Asaro on the similarities between ballet and math. Cultural Evolution: William L. Benzon on a vehicle for cooperative interaction between the sciences and the humanities. A review of books on Darwin and the Galapagos islands. Heavy, rough and hard: A look at how the things we touch affect our judgments and decisions. A review of The Real History of the End of the World by Sharan Newman. You say God is dead? There’s an app for that. The atheist and the rabbi: Arguing about God with Christopher Hitchens (and more). David Horowitz on the complexities and contradictions of Christopher Hitchens (and part 2). A review of The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824 by Harvey Sachs. A profile of Slavoj Zizek, the world’s hippest philosopher (and an interview at BBC; and more at Der Spiegel; and more on his Living in the End Times). How superheroes conquered the planet: A former cavalry officer with a new business plan, a paper surplus, and two teens with big dreams — seventy-five years ago, a pop-culture explosion began. More on Stan Cox's Losing Our Cool: Uncomfortable Truths About Our Air-Conditioned World (and Finding New Ways to Get Through the Summer). More and more and more and more on Absence of Mind by Marilynne Robinson. With all its talk about aliens, SETI is often lumped together with occult topics or pseudosciences, but it might indeed make its greatest contribution in the nuclear arena. Rich People Things: The rich crave release from their shackles!
