Volume 127 Issue 6 November/December 2012
Columns
- Inspired by witch trials
- Musician Darren Hayman on the making of his new album, The Violence
- How Darwin took on Intelligent Design
- The argument from design is often thought of as the most modern of objections to evolution. But Charles Darwin anticipated right from the start, says James Randerson
- A letter from Syria
- Reporting from the Turkey-Syria border, Padraic Rohan asks whether the West's refusal to aid rebels in ousting Bashar al-Assad is feeding Islamist extremism
Features
- Talking 'bout a revolution
- With the whiff of rebellion again in the air, the work of Victor Serge is being rediscovered. Not before time, says Owen Hatherley
- Malicious intent
- Those calling for a global blasphemy law should heed the lessons from Pakistan, says Beena Sarwar
- Redrawing the lines
- Sociologist Linda Woodhead has just finished a five-year government-funded academic project mapping religion in society. She argues that religion is not disappearing but transforming. Caspar Melville assesses her evidence.
- The chosen ones
- Early in the race for the White House both parties pledged to steer clear of religion. As it comes down to the wire have they kept their word? Abby Ohlheiser reports
- Right to offend?
- As a crude anti-Muslim film triggers protests across the globe, Paul Sims asks whether there can be any compromise on the right to free speech
- Q&A: Alice Roberts
- Alice Roberts’ career as a science broadcaster has flourished with a series of popular documentaries like The Incredible Human Journey, Are We Still Evolving? and Prehistoric Autopsy. She is also Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Birmingham University. She spoke to us about belief, evolution and why she loves bones
- A sense of scale
- Caspar Henderson marvels at airborne beasts great, small and microscopic
- Big ask
- Science, many argue, can answer the ‘how’ questions but can’t tell us anything about the ‘why’. Nonsense, says Michael Brooks
- Christmas: an atheist survival guide
- Myra Zepf's hints for a happy humanist holiday
Regulars
- Chown's Cosmos: Circle in a spiral
- Saturn’s rings stumped the most famous astronomer of them all, but not Marcus Chown
- Endgame: Skin deep
- Laurie Taylor springs a leak
Book Reviews
- Book review: Where Have You Been? by Joseph O'Connor
- Philip Womack revels in the short stories of Joseph O'Connor
- Book review: Bad Pharma by Ben Goldacre
- In his new book, the Bad Science author Ben Goldacre takes on the faulty practices of the pharmaceutical industry. Is it a battle he can win? asks Martin Robbins
- Book review: You must change your life by Peter Sloterdijk
- Jonathan Rée enjoys the latest performance by 'the Lady Gaga of philosophy'
- Book Review: The Atheist's Primer by Michael Palmer
- If you're looking for a handy arsenal of arguments against religion this is the book for you, says Michael Bywater
