book recommendations

We will be asking all our speakers this week to recommend some further reading in connection with their events. All books will, of course, be available from all good booksellers, but Waterstone's Inverness have been wonderfully supportive of Monsterfest and would be delighted to help you!

MONDAY: HERBS FOR HEALTH?
SPEAKER: DR JAMES MCLAY
Recommended books:
Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine on Trial  by Simon Singh and Edzard Ernst
From the blurb: It is honest, impartial but hard-hitting, and provides a thorough examination and judgement of more than thirty of the most popular treatments, such as acupuncture, homeopathy, aromatherapy, reflexology, chiropractic and herbal medicine.In Trick or Treatment? the ultimate verdict on alternative medicine is delivered for the first time with clarity, scientific rigour and absolute authority.

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre
From the blurb: Full spleen and satire, Ben Goldacre takes us on a hilarious, invigorating and ultimately alarming journey through the bad science we are fed daily by hacks and quacks.

TUESDAY: SECURING THE FOOD SUPPLY
SPEAKER: PROF GEOFF SQUIRE
Recommended books:
So foul and fair a day - a history of Scotland's weather and climate by A. Dawson
 

Changing natures - hunter gatherers, first farmers, and the modern world by B. Finlayson and GM Warren
 

Peatbogs, Plague and Potatoes by E. Wood
 

Nature contested - environmental history in Scotland and northern England since 1600 by TC Smout.

WEDNESDAY: SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO WEIGHT LOSS
SPEAKER: DR ALEX JOHNSTONE
Recommended books:
Fat Matters: From sociology to science
Gina Tsichlia & Alexandra M. Johnstone
 

The Diet Delusion
Gary Taubes
An interesting read, written by a journalist.
 

THURSDAY: THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKING
SPEAKER: DR ELIZABETH BARRON-MAJERIK
Recommended books:

McGee on Food and Cooking - by Harold McGee.
An encyclopaedia of kitchen science, history and culture - complete with lots of recipes too.

What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained - by Robert L. Wolke.
There is also What Einstein Told His Cook 2: Further Adventures in Kitchen Science.
 

FRIDAY: THE DARK SECRETS OF CHOCOLATE
SPEAKER: DR LUISA OSTERTAG
Recommended book:

Mindless Eating - Why we eat more than we think by Brian Wansink
On the cover it says:
"In this much-talked-about book, food psychologist Brian Wansink revolutionizes our awareness of how much, what, and why we're eating - often without even realizing it. His findings will astound you"

and

"Director of the Cornell University Food and Brand Lab, Wansink uses fun and fiendishly clever experiment - like the 'bottomless soup bowl' - to reveal the hidden dynamics behind our dietary habits. Starting today, you can make more mindful, enjoyable, and healthy choices at the dinner table, in the supermarket, at the office - even at a vending machine - wherever you satisfy your appetite."

And an article:
J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2006;47 Suppl 2:S99-102; discussion S119-21.
"Vascular action of cocoa flavanols in humans: the roots of the story." by K Hollenberg N.
Can be found online here.