From the Editor

As we approach the longest day, if you live away from the city, sit out in the evening and look at the darkening sky. It seems now almost claustrophobic to imagine a time when the Universe didn't stretch beyond the planets and a fixed sphere of stars just beyond. The recognition of galaxies as great islands of stars changed all that - suddenly the Universe was vast, and galaxies formed the units of the new cosmology. Even now, they are yielding surprises: to find out more, read John Gribbin's Galaxies: a Very Short Introduction.

If the interactions of colliding galaxies are complex, back down on Earth, they are nothing to the complexity of human society. Did you know that the famous Christmas truce across the trenches in World War I was not an isolated incident? Across those lines, time and again, groups of men formed informal arrangements with their 'enemies', creating bonds of fraternity across the bleakness of No Man's Land. It is just one example of the building of Trust explored in Marek Kohn's essay of that name. In a wide-ranging exploration beginning with what evolution has bequeathed us as social animals, Marek looks at the alienating factors of modern society, but he also sees much to fill us with hope.

Alan Sokal came to notice with his powerful parody of postmodernism, but in Beyond the Hoax, he broadens his targets to movements influenced by postmodernist ideas, including radical environmentalism, pseudoscience, and religion. In a careful analysis, he considers why the scientific, evidence-based approach is vital and why it is the only reliable way we have of learning about the world.

But don't just listen to me, listen to the authors Marek Kohn and Alan Sokal in the 'Meet the Author' interviews.

Science with social responsibility can improve our world, while opening out the depths of the cosmos, reminding us how fragile is our 'pale blue dot' of a planet.

Latha Menon, Popular Science Commissioning Editor