Social Science Space

In this brief, crisply written memoir, “In a Flight of Starlings: The Wonders of Complex Systems,” Parisi takes the reader on a journey through his scientific life in the realm of complex, disordered systems, from fundamental particles to migratory birds. He argues that science’s struggle to understand and master the universe’s complexity, and especially to communicate it to an ever-more skeptical public, holds the key to humanity’s future well-being.

The idea that the poor are impoverished morally as well as materially, that they lack humanity as well as means, has a long history.

Amanda Paul at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto reviewed Opening Doors to Diversity […]

In The Scopus Diaries and the (Il)Logics of Academic Survival, Abel Polese helps to demystify many of the inner workings of academia for researchers and the challenges that these present through a FAQ format that readers can dip in and out of to explore topics ranging from organizing a panel at a conference to arranging your bibliography and writing good abstracts. This is a useful eye-opening guide for new academics that emphasizes the value of setting one’s own goals and personal boundaries when navigating academia, writes Hind Hussein.

Research Impact and the Early Career Researcher presents chapters that reflect on the experiences that ‘early career researchers’ have had in relation to research impact. The collection is not a manual or textbook on how to achieve impact, but instead presents different voices on how researchers experience and react to the demand for impact.

The higher education system rests on the principle of meritocracy, with entry into the ‘top’ Russell Group universities supposedly the product of ability. This is despite growing attention to the over-representation of independent school students studying at the ‘top’ universities, with state school students and disadvantaged groups less likely to secure admission.

How you structure the thesis itself is only one part of the overall structure of your doctorate. In their new book, Mike Bottery and Nigel Wright discuss the importance of three different areas in which a good structure is crucial to your success…

In ‘How to be a Happy Academic: A Guide to Being Effective in Research, Writing and Teaching,’ Alex Clark and Bailey Sousa aim to support fellow academic workers at all career stages to become more efficient, successful and happier through focusing on fostering good habits over and above talent or skills. Eddy Li welcomes this insider perspective on seeing, doing and – most importantly – taming academic work, even if it leaves open the question of how exactly we measure and define “success”.

In ‘A Survival Kit for Doctoral Students and Their Supervisors: Traveling the Landscape of Research,’ Lene Tanggaard and Charlotte Wegener offer a hands-on guide for both students and supervisors that seeks to engage with the ‘actual and messy practices of doctoral training,’ says Sroyon Mukherjee. 

In Anthropologists in the Stock Exchange: A Financial History of Victorian Science, Marc Flandreau traces the interwoven development of anthropology, global finance and scientific study, placing all three at the heart of late-19th-century British imperialism.

In Metric Power, David Beer examines the intensifying role that metrics play in our everyday lives, from healthcare provision to our interactions with friends and family, within the context of the so-termed data revolution. This is a book that illustrates our growing implication in, and arguable acquiescence to, an increasingly quantified world, but, Thomas Christie Williams asks, where do we locate resistance?

Reviewer Sarah Lewthwaite finds that in ‘100 Activities for Teaching Research Methods,’ Catherine Dawson offers an important and welcome addition to the emerging literature on the practical aspects of teaching research methods.