Friday links – July 6, 2012

Want to have better meetings? Ditch PowerPoint – For some, a PowerPoint presentation causes them to automatically tune out. Here’s what to do in your meetings instead.

The Classic, Beautiful and Controversial Books That Changed Science Forever – Without the work of intellectual giants like Einstein, Newton and Darwin, we might still be in the dark ages. But how many scientists still read the dust-ridden texts where these luminaries first expounded their theories? Here’s the story of 10 famous publications that spun the scientific world off its orbit.

This just in: Mermaids are NOT real, U.S. agency says