Books in brief

2010 Nature  
Charles Darwin's ideas about evolution were received differently in latin america than elsewhere. Focusing on Darwin's use of analogies, science philosophers adriana novoa and alex levine explore how argentina's culture influenced interpretations of evolution in the nineteenth century. Darwin's 'tree of life' became a 'tree of death' in the hands of one local scientist. argentina's diverse peoples and unusual fossils also contributed alternative views of nature. Once Before Time: A Whole Story
more » ... f the Universe Martin Bojowald KnOPf 320 pp. $27.95 (2010) the origin of the universe before the Big Bang is difficult to model mathematically. Physicist Martin Bojowald describes his own work to overcome this problem using loop quantum cosmology -a model he developed a decade ago based on the theory of loop quantum gravity, which merges general relativity and quantum mechanics. He explains his search for testable hypotheses. If verified, these might show that the Big Bang was not a one-off event, but one of many recyclings of a universe that alternately swells and contracts.
doi:10.1038/468631a fatcat:fkz4bctqd5bzrmohw77y3suvn4