The other day I went online to look for some books At A Large Well-Known Online Book Seller, and searching for books was pretty difficult. If I started in one menu I’d get a different list of science books than I would starting from a different menu with the same search terms. Most didn’t have reviews, and the ones that did were, um, less than useful. Anyone with an agenda – or having a bad day – can downvote a great book just because they feel like it.
We’re still in the early stages of e-books, and clearly finding good ones online can be difficult, and getting trustworthy reviews even harder. What’s a reader to do?
Enter Download the Universe, a website created by science journalists and scientists who have a lot of writing experience between them. Their goal is to review science e-books so that you can figure out what’s what. A lot of good folks are involved – among them my friends Carl Zimmer, Jennifer Ouellette, Sean Carroll, and Annalee Newitz – and I suspect that over the coming months this will be the go-to place for science e-book reviews. I already have it bookmarked. So should you.
