BBC Focus 02.2020

RADAR

DISASTERBY CHOICE

IL ANKELMAN

£16.99,OXFORDUNIVERSIT YPRESS

Justhow‘natural’arenatural

disasters?IlanKelmanargues

theyarea resultofhuman

actions.It’sthechoiceswe’ve

madethatturnnaturalhazards

intowidespreadsueringand

disaster.Butwecanchangethis.

DisasterByChoiceis dedicated

tothosewho’vesuered

greatly,andpraisesthose

workingtopreventthenext

hazard becoming a disaster.

READING LIST

NEW BOOKS TO THUMB THROUGH

QUALITYLAND

MARC-UWEKLING

£14.99,ORION

InQualityland,lifeis optimised.

There’snoneedfordeliberation

orconfusion:youridealmateis

chosenforyou,a personal

assistantlivesinyourear,and

algorithmsdeliverpackagesto

yourdoorbeforeyou’veeven

thoughtaboutpurchasing.

Thisdystopiannovelis

entirelyconvincingasa possible

futureandis currentlybeing

adaptedforTVbyHBO,the

producersofGame Of Thrones.

MAGICIANS

MARCUSCHOWN

£14.99,FABER& FABER

“TheUniversehasa

mathematicaltwin,”writes

MarcusChown,“butwhyit has

sucha twinis a hugemystery.”

Magiciansis thestoryofthe

scientistswhowritethe

Universe’srulesasequations.

Thosewho,usingmathematics,

predictedtheexistenceof

thingssuchasblackholes,

subatomicparticles,unknown

planetsandantimaer,before

they were discovered.

EDITOR’S

CHOICE

byAmyBarrett

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

P

erhapsit’sbecauseit’sthemonthoflove,but

beautyseemstobeoneveryone’smindsrightnow.

Butif you’rethinkingofbuying,oraskingfor,

makeupthisValentine’s,youmightwanttowatchBeauty

LaidBareonBBCThreefirst.Thisthree-partprogramme

seesfouryoungadultsinvestigatethecosmeticindustry

tofindouttherealpricethattheworldis payingforour

obsessionwithartificialbeauty.Thoughthepresenters’

aitudestowardsmakeupseeminitiallysuperficial,they

begintoquestiontheirownrelationshipwithcosmetics

whentheyaempttogetthetruthfrombigbeauty

businessesontopicslikeanimaltesting,wagesand

recycling.Despitesomeoftheshockingfactsposedby

BeautyLaidBare,it managestoprovidea senseofhope

andoptimism.Theproofthatmakeupcandogoodcomes

in the form of Shirley Raines,whooersmakeoverstothe

homelessindowntownLos

Angeles.AvailableonBBC

Threefrom2 February,it

reallyis a must-see.

TheBBCRadio 4

documentaryseriesArtOf

Nowexploresworldwide

culturalissuesandtrends,and

thismonththeyarelookingat

aestheticsfroma dierent

angle.Theepisodeon 18

February,seeslecturerand

writerVickyNealeoera

mathematician’sguideto

beautybymeetingtheartists

andmathematiciansworking

togethertoredefineand

innovatetheartscene.

Makea noteinyour

calendartocheckoutthe

eventshappeninginyourarea

thisBritishScienceWeek(6-15

March).Mostuniversitieswill

havea programmeforthe

festival,butyoumightalso

wanttotryrunningyourown

activity– whynotgather

friendsandfamilyone

eveningtotakepart in a Star

Count (p90)?

RECOMMENDED

WHAT’S CAUGHT OUR ATTENTION THIS MONTH

“Fouryoungadults

investigatethe

cosmeticindustry

tofindout thereal

pricewe’repaying

for artificial beauty”