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Nature and Science December 2020
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| The Secret Lives of Planets: Order, Chaos, and Uniqueness in the Solar System by Paul MurdinWhat happens: Astronomer Paul Murdin takes readers on an accessible tour of the solar system.
Further reading: Mark Thompson's A Space Traveler's Guide to the Solar System or Erik Asphaug's When the Earth Had Two Moons.
Did you know? "The bottom line is that our solar system has no parallel among the known planetary systems. Astronomy has no fully accepted explanation for this yet." |
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| Ice Walker: A Polar Bear's Journey Through the Fragile Arctic by James RaffanIntroducing: Nanurjuk ("Nanu"), a seven-year-old polar bear, and her cubs, Siu and King, who live in the wilderness surrounding Hudson Bay.
What it's about: In this "bear's-eye view of a changing Arctic" (Kirkus Reviews), Canadian author Raffan vividly evokes a rapidly transforming landscape while documenting its inhabitants' struggle to survive.
Did you know? Although they've existed since the Pleistocene, polar bears have left almost no fossil record due to the fact that most have never set foot on land. |
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Apocalypse never : why environmental alarmism hurts us all
by Michael Shellenberger
An environmental expert unleashes a scientific, fact-based broadside against eco-alarmism and the excesses of the left, arguing that climate change and other environmental problems are real but not apocalyptic and require practical, not radical, solutions. 25,000 first printing.
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The nature of nature : why we need the wild
by Enric Sala
"The Nature of Nature explores how the natural world works, outlines the consequences of its unraveling by our activities, and offers practical solutions-with a description of societal and economic benefits. The first ten chapters of this book are a step-by-step crash course in ecology-you might call it "ecology for people in a hurry": what species do, how they co-exist, and how the natural world self-assembles and works, compared to our human-built environment-with ideas on how to run our society and economy more efficiently. Chapter 11 discusses the moral case for the conservation of life on Earth, because utility cannot be the only lens through which we see the world. In other words: Do other creatures have a right to exist, and why? And finally, Chapter 12 explains why it makes more economic sense to protect more of the natural world than to degrade it. By talking to the brain and the heart, and at the same time reaching into the pocket, this book illuminates an inner appreciation for all life on Earth, instills a greater sense of humility, and helps us understand why we need a world with wild places"
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Vesper flights : new and collected essays
by Helen Macdonald
The award-winning author of H Is for Hawk presents a collection of top-selected essays about humanity's relationship with nature, exploring subjects ranging from captivity and immigration to ostrich farming and the migrations of songbirds from the Empire State Building
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| Molly: The True Story of the Amazing Dog Who Rescues Cats by Colin ButcherMeet: Molly, a rescue dog trained to track down lost pets; Molly's human partner, Colin, the former police officer who started the UK Pet Detective Agency, which has so far reunited 74 cats, 6 dogs and one tortoise with their families.
Read it for: Molly and Colin's heartwarming bond, details of Molly's rigorous on-the-job training, and an eye-opening tale of how they tracked down an Eastern European dognapping ring.
Other working dogs: Cat Warren's What the Dog Knows, Susannah Charleson's Scent of the Missing, or Melissa Fay Greene's The Underdogs. |
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| Into the Planet: My Life as a Cave Diver by Jill HeinerthWho: Canadian cave diver, explorer, and filmmaker Jill Heinerth, who proudly claims that adventure is in her DNA.
Where she's been: Florida's extensive network of caverns; Mexico's Sistema Huautla, the Western Hemisphere's deepest cave network; the interior of Antarctic iceberg B-15, at the time the largest free-floating object on Earth.
You might also like: Julie Hauserman's Drawn to the Deep; William Stone's Beyond the Deep. |
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The underdogs : children, dogs, and the power of unconditional love
by Melissa Fay Greene
Describes the unbreakable bond between humans and canines through the story of a severely disabled woman who began training her own service dogs after she was deemed “too disabled” to receive one by every agency in the U.S. 100,000 first printing.
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The nature of life and death : every body leaves a trace
by Patricia E. J Wiltshire
A leading forensic ecologist blends science writing with true-crime narrative in a tour of the lesser-known interface between crime and nature, drawing on her decades as a college professor and expert consultant for the UK police.
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The Forgotten Genius of Oliver Heaviside : A Maverick of Electrical Science
by Basil Mahon
Tells the complete story of one of the great pioneers of electrical science, whose work led to huge advances in communications and became the foundation of the subject of electrical engineering as it is taught and practiced today. By the co-author of Faraday, Maxwell, and the Electromagnetic Field.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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